Month: November 2025

from an interview with Pinhole Poetry, January 2025

Would you like to tell us a little bit more about your poem? For instance, how or why you wrote it, or perhaps provide some extra context? 

My poem “Winter Solstice at Barrow—Utqiagvik” is part of a longer sequence, now included in my new poetry collection, HAWKING THE SURF [Silver Bow Publishing, December 2025].  I often work in poetic series (narrative and imagistic) and in this case the series surfaced from early journals that I kept while I was a student at University of Victoria, way back in the mid-seventies. The journal entries were accompanied by a correspondence that I kept with my mentor. I weave in and out of Pacific Northwest (Cascadia) and far north landscapes, including Alaska. Each title includes geographic coordinates for the poem’s setting.  In this poem, I touch on themes of isolation, instinct, and adaptation during the coldest and darkest period in the far north and the imagery parallels the speaker’s experience with relational isolation and loss.  Barrow’s name officially changed in 2016 to the indigenous name Utqiagvik. The location has been home to the Iñupiat, an indigenous Inuit ethnic group for more than 1,500 years.  The name Utqiagvik refers to a place for gathering wild roots.  The town is 330 miles north of the Arctic Circle and experiences the ‘polar nights’ (when the sun remains below the horizon) between sixty-four and sixty-seven days.  The Snowy Owl has been seen as far north at 82^o mid-winter and appears in my poem as a symbol of resilience and adaption.

Silver Bow Publishing, December 2025

Hawking the Surf is an invitation to wholeness, art in every breath. In wordsmithing wizardry from earth to sea, Hayes steers us through heavy storms, her call for compassion permeating as we battle mortality in the search for meaning. She evokes universal knowing, every leaf and wave realms of intergenerational connection, literary traditions woven like DNA, all of it alive. With symbolism seeping through photos like “Bridging the White Water” and close ups of roses and dragonflies, musicality hooks readers, then transports them beyond words to mood and time, to that space within, that paradoxical connection with eternity in moments of peaceful presence. Poems like “How Do You Spell Joy?” and “Walk the Labyrinth” invoke reverence, to open to the unique flavor of now, while others like “Memory of Wonder” are perceptibly restorative. “I see you in the apple trees next to the gabled shed/ climbing, always reaching higher…/ Know I will be there in the flowers—/dahlias, hydrangeas, dianthus, pansies,” Hayes writes of loved ones looking on, then passes the torch to readers, “Your hand now holds this pen—/your poem forms the song./ Sing now, I am not far on the wind.” For every connoisseur of literature and every emerging writer seeking the way—if you only buy one book of poetry, this should be it.

–Cynthia Sharp, WIN Vancouver Poet Laureate & Award-winning Author of Ordinary Light & Rainforest in Russet (Silver Bow Publishing)

Imagine a meeting between Robert Frost and David Attenborough, and they make poetry together. Hawking the Surf is it; a masterpiece that takes the reader on a grand journey to the Western shores on the wings of butterflies. As you travel through the latitudes, share in the memories and dreams of the poet, you will undoubtedly be carried on as this reader was. This is a collection that you will want to read again and again, something not so common with poetry anymore. It is full of emotions, passions, and realities that are most relatable to all of us. Although you may never have traveled to those realms, you are certain to experience them as if you had. The author gives us access to an entire natural world, and we want to hug it with all our might, love it, and preserve it, however much pain we may have to endure as we do so. This is a winner written by one but made for all.

–Fabrice Poussin, Professor, Shorter University, Rome, Geogia U.S.A. and author of: Through the Lens of Solitude; Forgive Me For Dreaming; In Absentia; Half Past Life; and The Temptation of Silence

Looking for Cornelius, a novella by Diana Hayes

Secrets to be uncovered. A journey of familial discovery. A once-in-a lifetime trip. Looking for Cornelius by Diana Hayes is an epic, heart-forward adventure that’s not to be missed.

Having always felt a pull to her home country of Ireland, Canadian-based music teacher Deirdre Ó hAodha welcomes the opportunity to explore her roots and bring her star pupil, Éamon O’Connor, along for the ride. Both avid fiddle players, Deirdre is thrilled to see their shared passion opening doors for Éamon, who will audition for a scholarship at Cork College University during their travels. The precise descriptions of the songs he practices, and the musical elements and lyrics within them, is notable; Hayes writes musical passages so vividly that you can almost hear the notes lift off the page, making the reader wish for an accompanying soundtrack. Together, Deirdre and Éamon share a devotion to traditional Irish fiddle that becomes the heartbeat of the novella.

The pair weaves their way across Ireland, with Hayes unfolding rich historical and cultural detail into every stop. As a silent companion along for the adventure, readers can enjoy the same cultural education, picking up information about Irish landmarks, writers, musicians, and folklore along the way. The experience is further deepened by a helpful Glossary of Irish Words and Phrases at the back of the book, a lovely touch for readers wanting to immerse themselves fully.

Lingering at the edges of the story is the novella’s namesake—Cornelius—and Deirdre’s great-grandfather. For as long as she can remember, his ghost has visited her, seeing her through good times and bad, and guiding her when she needs it most. Although Cornelius is the one who encourages Deirdre to start her journey, it is Éamon who ultimately helps her see it through. This novel is a story of mentorship, but also of mirrored growth—a mutually beneficial relationship between teacher and student, taking them both on a unique voyage of self-discovery that allows them each to explore where they came from, what they’re capable of, and where their talents can take them.

Heartwarming and enriching, Looking for Cornelius brings Ireland to life, starting with the eye-catching cover. Beautifully told and rich with emotional and cultural depth, Hayes’ novella is a must-read for lovers of Irish literature, intergenerational storytelling, and journeys that stitch the past and present together with grace. Perhaps most importantly, it carries a resonant truth that readers of all backgrounds will feel deeply: no matter how long you’ve been gone, or for how many generations, you can go home again.

—CANREADS BOOK REVIEW