Ignite

A finalist for the&nbspAlfred G. Bailey Prize,&nbspIgnite&nbspis a collection of elegiac and experimental poetry powder-kegged with questions about one man's lifelong struggle with schizophrenia. Born into a strict Mennonite family, Abe Spenst's mental illness spanned three decades in and out of mental institutions where he underwent electric shock treatment and coma-induced insulin therapy. Merging memory and medical records, Kevin Spenst recreates his father's life through a cuckoo's nest of styles that both stand as witness and waltz to the interplay between memory, emotion and all our forms of becoming. Praise for Ignite: "... with a fearless layering of voice,&nbspIgnite&nbspis upfront and unswerving. A novel-esque torrent tracing a troubling history of illness, part confrontation and part chronicle, this collection is daring with its dark narrative. Here is a willingness for, and enviable strength in, extending poetic range.&nbspIgnite&nbspheals and ascends. There are books that need to be written and this is one of them. This is a collection which gives more and more with every read."&nbsp(Sandra Ridley, judge, Alfred G. Bailey prize) "An outstanding follow-up to Spenst's excellent first collection. (Winnipeg Free Press)" A selection of poems from Ignite won the Lush Triumphant Award for Poetry.