Driven

by Betsy Struthers

Betsy Struthers, a poet, novelist and critic, and former president of the League of Canadian Poets, has written eight books. Driven, her fifth book of poetry, is about being "driven" from one place - physical and metaphorical - to another. It is a book about duality, the being-in-between generations. In the first part, she writes about her father's death and a son's coming of age, with the speaker in the middle of her own life story, caught between what is ripening and what is passing away. In the second part, Struthers writes about "body and soul," and searching for answers in runes and cards. The language has a lyrical simplicity, but at an emotional level that is powerful and touching. Struthers has been a runner-up for the Milton Acorn People's Poetry Award. She also was short listed for the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award. Her work has been praised for its narrative clarity, distinctive voice, and erotic play of language.

80 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2000

About the author

Betsy Struthers (born 1951) is a Canadian poet and novelist. Born in Toronto, Struthers has lived in Peterborough, Ontario since 1977. She was co-editor (with Sarah Klassen) and contributor to Poets in the Classroom, an anthology of essays about teaching poetry workshops written by members of the League of Canadian Poets. She was president of the League from 1995 to 1997 and has served as chair of its Education Committee and Feminist Caucus. She works as a freelance editor of academic non-fiction texts. Her book Still won the 2004 Pat Lowther Award for the best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. Struthers's poetry has been praised for its narrative clarity, distinctive voice, and erotic play of language.