Arguments With the World

by Bronwen Wallace, Joanne Page (Editor)

Book by Wallace, Bronwen

232 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Wallace was born in Kingston, Ontario. She attended Queen's University, Kingston (B.A. 1967, M.A. 1969). In 1970, she moved to Windsor, Ontario, where she founded a women's bookstore and became active in working class and women's activist groups. In 1977, she returned to Kingston, where she worked at a women's shelter and taught at St. Lawrence College and Queen's. She wrote a weekly column for the Kingston Whig-Standard. In 1988, she was writer-in-residence at the University of Western Ontario.

Her collections testify to her social activism involving women's rights, civil rights, and social policy. A primary focus of her work was violence against women and children.

Reviews

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lively collection of essays and poetry—I came for the full text of “Shyly Slipping a Poem from the Purse” and stayed to contemplate storytelling, connection to land & community, women’s lives, boys’ education, having something to say, being heard and being believed, and the power of language, among other things. While some essays seemed dated, there was so much more that was still relevant after all these years—sometimes this was comforting and sometimes not. This book contains beautiful samples of poetry—both Wallace’s own and chosen pieces from other authors. I will definitely seek out more of her poetry.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

“My words are the garment of what I shall never be
Like the tucked sleeve of a one-armed boy.”
― W.S. Merwin, The Lice: Poems

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection