New Releases by Sally Ito

In her fourth book of poetry, Sally Ito traverses the complex channels and tributaries of a heart mapped by the ineffable pull of family and faith. In Ito''s careful hands, this same heart becomes ocean and cathedral, a hallowed space in which poetic organ-song crystalizes into poems resonant with hope, love, doubt, and longing. Heart''s Hydrography charts the vital ebb and flow between the personal and the divine.

"During the Second World War, approximately 4,000 Japanese-Canadians were "repatriated" to Japan. Among those Canadians sent back were members of author and poet Sally Ito''s family. As a Japanese Canadian child growing up in the suburbs of Edmonton, Alberta, Ito''s early life was a lone island of steamed tofu and vegetables amidst a sea of pot roast and mashed potatoes. Through the Redress Movement, Parliamentary acknowledgement of wartime injustices, and the restoration of citizenship to those exiled to Japan, Ito considers her role as an author, meditating on culture and identity. Later, she returns to Japan and re-lives the displacement of her family through interviews, letters, and shared memories. Her journey compellingly weaves her family''s path through the darkest days of the Pacific War, its devastating aftermath, and the repercussions on cultural identity for all the Emperor''s orphans."--

Plunging deep into the soul, Sally Ito renders a spiritual examination like no other in her new poetry collection, Alert to Glory. With this cohesive meditation of creativity, motherhood and poetry, Ito discerns spiritual gifts in daily acts of raising children and writing. Her images tie in to profound moments with clear, fearless language: a clematis vine ceases to exist when the speaker is distracted by a poem – her first child. “I’m the poem, he says./Look at me!” Children’s teeth falling out, the endless exhaustion of mother’s work, and the sight of an old baby carriage connect to deeper insights.

Season of Mercy explores the different "seasons" of spiritual life and examines issues of faith and responsibility. This evocative collection charts the passage of the soul through time, from the darkness of despair to the awakening and understanding of one''s own caling and vocation. "A long battle of constellations we are,/ clinging clandestinely/ to light after light/ swinging back into darkness/ once more into mercy." Skillfully drawing on myth, nature, biblical themes, and her own experience as a writer and mother, Ito weaves a philosophic and poetic landscape from which the world can be comprehended with grace and compassion. This second volume of poems by award-winning Sally Ito follows her successful debut Frogs in the Rain Barrel, which was runner-up for the Milton Acorn''s People''s Poetry Award. Season of Mercy explores the different seasons and issues surrounding faith and responsibility; from the darkness of despair to the awakening and understanding of one''s own calling and vocation. Skillfully drawing on myth, biblical themes, the natural world, and her own experiences as a mother and writer, Ito weaves a philosophic and poetic landscape, commenting on the necessity of viewing the world around us with mercy, compassion and faith. Touching on each of the four seasons, Ito addresses a vast range of subjects and muses - including adultery, Good Friday, rape by water, prayer, seahorses and the allure of floating islands. The poetry is rich, the language alive with allusion and metaphor.

In the emotional and social distance between emigration and real arrival, between travel and understanding the place one visits, is the floating shore of identity. The stories in Sally Ito’s book explore, from different angles and perspectives, the newness of arrival, and how it can alter personality, vision and lives. Ito’s vision is beautiful and commanding, and her writing is moving and honest.

The debut poetry collection by Sally Ito, one of Canada''s most important up-and-coming writers. Runner-up for the Milton Acorn People''s Poetry Award.