Bracebridge writer and artist Kathy Ashby has written poems, short stories and other works for a wide variety of books and publications, but for the first time ever, she’s releasing a poetry book all her own.
Along with her novel Carol ‘A Woman’s Way’, Ashby’s work has been featured in the Toronto Star, Muskoka Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul books and more. Her debut poetry collection, From the Rim of the Bowl, came out earlier this month. She got the idea of creating her own poetry book after having four pieces of poetry published earlier this year. She thought back over the different poems she had accepted throughout her career and decided to start the process of creating her own collection. She joined the League of Canadian Poets, found an editor and submitted the collection to a publisher in September.
“Here, about a month later, it’s available for sale,” Ashby said. “It really was an astonishingly quick turnaround that I actually have a book available, so it’s all been just sailing along here.”
Ashby will be doing a book reading and signing at the Bracebridge Library in April 2024. The collection includes some previously published poems as well as several new works. In her 20 years of writing, one topic Ashby always returns to is nature, and her new book of poetry is no exception.
She loves to hike, snowshoe and garden, so many of her poems are based on her meditations during those activities. She’s also a proud feminist, so that’s another area she touches on in her collection.
“That area of women’s empowerment is important to me, so when I collected my favourite poems in a group, I noticed they could be in sections,” she said. “From the Rim of the Bowl has six sections and they are Earth, young women, snow… love and other things, elders and creative journey.”
The name of the book comes from one of the poems, which recounts the story of Ashby’s granddaughter eating cereal. Ashby noticed she was saving some of her cereal pieces on the rim of the bowl, and when her granddaughter saw her looking, she explained that she wanted to save some crunch for later. Ashby liked the idea of keeping something delectable aside to savour, so she made it the name of the collection.
She said it feels “very complete” to be releasing her own book of poetry after all of her other writing endeavours. Most of her poetry rhymes, so she put one of her poems to music and hopes to do it for more pieces. She’s constantly writing and submitting her work, so another book could be on the horizon for her.
“I’m already starting a folder where I’m having other poems, and I’m very inspired,” Ashby said. “It’s sort of like these ones are at rest now, or they’re available to be seen and read, and I can move on to new projects.”
Ashby already has one poem about Muskoka, and it may lend itself well to a musical backing, so she hopes that can be something for locals to look forward to. She knows poetry can be intimidating to some, but she encourages people to leave their worries behind and simply enjoy the written word.
“Start exploring it,” she said. “Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t worry if you don’t get it, it’s not about that. Just immerse yourself in it.”
For more information about From the Rim of the Bowl, click here. To get a copy of the book, visit Cedar Canoe Books (special order), Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
