Best Seller
Yellow Pears
Paperback
$17.00
Available on Mar 23, 2027 | 112 Pages
From the bestselling author of A Grandmother Begins the Story comes a luminous exploration of grief, family, and the enduring connections between kinship and land.
Against the backdrop of global crises that have become everyday events, the poems in this stunning and hopeful collection bring the readers to the edge of everything and ask, “What are you doing Saturday, while you wait for the world to end?”
These poems explore what comes before, during, and after the end: a grandmother leaving her knowledge in an old clunker by the roadside for her descendants to rediscover, yellow pears as a balm for starvation and grief, two sisters vaulting fences in search of their uncertain futures, a brother pacing the halls of a psychiatric ward, a mother transforming into a tree as a daughter considers how to bury her father in one, bison gifting themselves to hunters, and a woman interpreting the language of dirt. Through these vivid vignettes, the collection celebrates the quiet moments that emerge amid endings and departures. It reminds us of the enduring brightness of yellow pears and the joy that persists in the world.
Intimate and evocative, Yellow Pears considers how grief and survival intertwine. It reveals where the pain of loss yields to moments of unexpected beauty and collective belonging.
Against the backdrop of global crises that have become everyday events, the poems in this stunning and hopeful collection bring the readers to the edge of everything and ask, “What are you doing Saturday, while you wait for the world to end?”
These poems explore what comes before, during, and after the end: a grandmother leaving her knowledge in an old clunker by the roadside for her descendants to rediscover, yellow pears as a balm for starvation and grief, two sisters vaulting fences in search of their uncertain futures, a brother pacing the halls of a psychiatric ward, a mother transforming into a tree as a daughter considers how to bury her father in one, bison gifting themselves to hunters, and a woman interpreting the language of dirt. Through these vivid vignettes, the collection celebrates the quiet moments that emerge amid endings and departures. It reminds us of the enduring brightness of yellow pears and the joy that persists in the world.
Intimate and evocative, Yellow Pears considers how grief and survival intertwine. It reveals where the pain of loss yields to moments of unexpected beauty and collective belonging.
Author
Michelle Porter
MICHELLE PORTER is the descendent of a long line of Métis storytellers. Many of her ancestors told stories using music and today she tells stories using the written word. She holds degrees in Journalism, Folklore, English, and a PhD in Geography. Her academic research and creative work focus on home, memory, and women’s changing relationships with the land.Her most recent book, Scratching River, a memoir exploring the meaning of her Métis heritage through her older brother’s life story, was published by Wilfrid Laurier Press in April 2022. She’s also published a book of creative nonfiction about her great-grandfather, a fiddler from the Red River, called Approaching Fire (shortlisted for the Indigenous Voices Award 2021) and a book of poetry, Inquiries, (shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award). Michelle has won numerous awards for her poetry and journalism and her work has been published in literary journals and magazines across the country. Currently she is teaching creative writing and Métis Literature at Memorial University. She is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation and she lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
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