To This Cedar Fountain

Emily Carr recorded the experience of the West Coast soul in her living landscapes and her portraits of BC’s towering firs. Kate Braid, in To This Cedar Fountain, engages Carr in conversation as only a kindred spirit could: a West Coaster, an artist, a woman with an affinity for timber. In these poems Carr’s sensual paintings envelop Braid; Emily romances the trees while Kate bears witness.

To This Cedar Fountain is a dialogue between two BC women, each a distinct voice for her own generation but both indisputably coastal souls. The first edition of this book was nominated for a Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.

"Trees and sky have never lived like this-or they always have, but it's taken these two women [Kate Braid and Emily Carr] to chronicle their joy." -Georgia Straight

Kate Braid has had a diverse career including secretary, carpenter, teacher and writer. Her first book of poems 'Covering Rough Ground' won the Pat Lowther Award for best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. Her second, 'To This Cedar Fountain', was nominated for the BC Book Prize, and her third, 'Inward to the Bones: Georgia O'Keeffe's Journey with Emily Carr', won the Vancity Book Prize. In 2005 she co-edited with Sandy Shreve 'In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry'. Braidhas also written several non-fiction books and essays. She lives in Burnaby, British Columbia. Braid is a devoted (to say the least) fan of Glenn Gould - and of J.S. Bach.