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God of Shadows: Poems
The celebrated poet hailed by Ursula K. Le Guin as a "storyteller, truth-teller, and visionary" gives us a mesmerizing new collection of poems that are funny, wise, moving, and surprising.
How many gods can dance on the head of Lorna Crozier's pen?
The poet Lorna Crozier has always been brilliant at fusing the ordinary with the other-worldly in strange and surprising ways. Now the Governor General's Literary Award-winning author of Inventing the Hawk returns with God of Shadows , a wryly wise book that offers a polytheistic gallery of the gods we never knew existed and didn't know we needed. To read these poems is to be ready to offer your own prayers to the god of shadows, the god of quirks, and the god of vacant houses. Sing new votive hymns to the gods of horses, birds, cats, rats, and insects. And give thanks at the altars of the gods of doubt, guilt, and forgetting. What life-affirming questions have these deities come to ask? Perhaps it is simply How can poems be at once so profound, original and lively, and also so much fun?
How many gods can dance on the head of Lorna Crozier's pen?
The poet Lorna Crozier has always been brilliant at fusing the ordinary with the other-worldly in strange and surprising ways. Now the Governor General's Literary Award-winning author of Inventing the Hawk returns with God of Shadows , a wryly wise book that offers a polytheistic gallery of the gods we never knew existed and didn't know we needed. To read these poems is to be ready to offer your own prayers to the god of shadows, the god of quirks, and the god of vacant houses. Sing new votive hymns to the gods of horses, birds, cats, rats, and insects. And give thanks at the altars of the gods of doubt, guilt, and forgetting. What life-affirming questions have these deities come to ask? Perhaps it is simply How can poems be at once so profound, original and lively, and also so much fun?
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 21, 2018
4 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Lorna Crozier
56 books86 followersLorna Crozier was born in 1948 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. As a child growing up in a prairie community where the local heroes were hockey players and curlers, she “never once thought of being a writer.” After university, Lorna went on to teach high school English and work as a guidance counsellor. During these years, Lorna published her first poem in Grain magazine, a publication that turned her life toward writing. Her first collection Inside in the Sky was published in 1976. Since then, she has authored 14 books of poetry, including The Garden Going on Without Us, Angels of Flesh, Angels of Silence, Inventing the Hawk, winner of the 1992 Governor-General’s Award, Everything Arrives at the Light, Apocrypha of Light, What the Living Won’t Let Go, and most recently Whetstone. Whether Lorna is writing about angels, aging, or Louis Armstrong’s trout sandwich, she continues to engage readers and writers across Canada and the world with her grace, wisdom and wit. She is, as Margaret Laurence wrote, “a poet to be grateful for.”
Since the beginning of her writing career, Lorna has been known for her inspired teaching and mentoring of other poets. In 1980 Lorna was the writer-in-residence at the Cypress Hills Community College in Swift Current; in 1983, at the Regina Public Library; and in 1989 at the University of Toronto. She has held short-term residencies at the Universities of Toronto and Lethbridge and at Douglas College. Presently she lives near Victoria, where she teaches and serves as Chair in the Writing Department at the University.
Beyond making poems, Lorna has also edited two non-fiction collections – Desire in Seven Voices and Addiction: Notes from the Belly of the Beast. Together with her husband and fellow poet Patrick Lane, she edited the 1994 landmark collection Breathing Fire: Canada’s New Poets; in 2004, they co-edited Breathing Fire 2, once again introducing over thirty new writers to the Canadian literary world.
Her poems continue to be widely anthologized, appearing in 15 Canadian Poets X 3, 20th Century Poetry and Poetics, Poetry International and most recently in Open Field: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Poets, a collection designed for American readers.
Her reputation as a generous and inspiring artist extends from her passion for the craft of poetry to her teaching and through to her involvement in various social causes. In addition to leading poetry workshops across the globe, Lorna has given benefit readings for numerous organizations such as the SPCA, the BC Land Conservancy, the Victoria READ Society, and PEERS, a group committed to helping prostitutes get off the street. She has been a frequent guest on CBC radio where she once worked as a reviewer and arts show host. Wherever she reads she raises the profile and reputation of poetry.
Since the beginning of her writing career, Lorna has been known for her inspired teaching and mentoring of other poets. In 1980 Lorna was the writer-in-residence at the Cypress Hills Community College in Swift Current; in 1983, at the Regina Public Library; and in 1989 at the University of Toronto. She has held short-term residencies at the Universities of Toronto and Lethbridge and at Douglas College. Presently she lives near Victoria, where she teaches and serves as Chair in the Writing Department at the University.
Beyond making poems, Lorna has also edited two non-fiction collections – Desire in Seven Voices and Addiction: Notes from the Belly of the Beast. Together with her husband and fellow poet Patrick Lane, she edited the 1994 landmark collection Breathing Fire: Canada’s New Poets; in 2004, they co-edited Breathing Fire 2, once again introducing over thirty new writers to the Canadian literary world.
Her poems continue to be widely anthologized, appearing in 15 Canadian Poets X 3, 20th Century Poetry and Poetics, Poetry International and most recently in Open Field: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Poets, a collection designed for American readers.
Her reputation as a generous and inspiring artist extends from her passion for the craft of poetry to her teaching and through to her involvement in various social causes. In addition to leading poetry workshops across the globe, Lorna has given benefit readings for numerous organizations such as the SPCA, the BC Land Conservancy, the Victoria READ Society, and PEERS, a group committed to helping prostitutes get off the street. She has been a frequent guest on CBC radio where she once worked as a reviewer and arts show host. Wherever she reads she raises the profile and reputation of poetry.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 6, 2018
Thank you Penguin Random House for the advanced copy review.
I’m sorry but I don’t know what I just read. Starting out as a great concept where the author would name all the different Gods in the world with an original imagery, ends up being a big mess of randomness. The writing IS beautiful. However, as much as poets love to be mysterious and secret, you must at least give the reader some context or references. Without it, I feel like I’m being thrown a dictionary of different gods and what they do in life.
I’m sorry but I don’t know what I just read. Starting out as a great concept where the author would name all the different Gods in the world with an original imagery, ends up being a big mess of randomness. The writing IS beautiful. However, as much as poets love to be mysterious and secret, you must at least give the reader some context or references. Without it, I feel like I’m being thrown a dictionary of different gods and what they do in life.
October 27, 2018
Tiny (and mighty), perfect, with moving and sometimes sharp commentary throughout ... The premise holds well from start to finish.
October 11, 2018
Wasn't sure I'd like this book. Wow. Changed my mind fast. Some of these poems made me gloriously uncomfortable. Some self-actualizing moments and epiphanies for me. Such authenticity. I loved her last book also. Too many brilliant lines to mention, but a few epigraphs to include in my own works in progress.
April 2, 2020
This book of poetry is about various gods and goddess. From what I can recall from this book of poetry is that the author relates these gods and goddess to real life situations. There are times I found the poems to be muddled, but I'm sure that has more to do with me then the actual writings style.
It is a unique way at looking at things by comparing both or actually relating it together. That's the shining part of this book, is that its just really unique way to approach yourself and poetry to.
It's just some poems were weaker, but not so weak to warrant a low rating. So, definitely read it if you want a different viewpoint, it stands out among its competitors for that alone.
It is a unique way at looking at things by comparing both or actually relating it together. That's the shining part of this book, is that its just really unique way to approach yourself and poetry to.
It's just some poems were weaker, but not so weak to warrant a low rating. So, definitely read it if you want a different viewpoint, it stands out among its competitors for that alone.
May 1, 2019
Every book of Lorna Crozier's is a great pleasure! She is the queen of sequence poems, from the wit of the 'sex lives of vegetable' series, to the original (much copied) angel poems. This collection,
however is particularly soul-searching as Crozier explores "the god of Contrariness" who "spoons sand in the mouths of the emaciated" and the "god of never' with the warning: 'beware the never-dog who's never found a home." God of good-bye, god of last resort, god of stones, Crozier
explores the ordinary in extraordinary lines. Crozier is a master poet, insightful and clever. This book is a must buy.
however is particularly soul-searching as Crozier explores "the god of Contrariness" who "spoons sand in the mouths of the emaciated" and the "god of never' with the warning: 'beware the never-dog who's never found a home." God of good-bye, god of last resort, god of stones, Crozier
explores the ordinary in extraordinary lines. Crozier is a master poet, insightful and clever. This book is a must buy.
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April 23, 2025"He wanted his only commandment to be included on the tablets Moses brought down from the mountain, but the others, bartering for space, thought it was only about arithmetic and left it out. It would have changed the world. It would have made us kinder. [i]Thou shalt carry the one,[/i] he intones to the small desks in empty classrooms, [i]carry the one[/i]."
- 'God of Arithmetic', pg. 5
"Moths come to your porch to dust you in goodbye
...Every rain says [i]adieu[/i] to the sky, snow waves a hundred handkerchiefs as it falls...
Even trainless towns have station platforms where the dead depart."
- 'God of Goodbye', pg. 8
- 'God of Arithmetic', pg. 5
"Moths come to your porch to dust you in goodbye
...Every rain says [i]adieu[/i] to the sky, snow waves a hundred handkerchiefs as it falls...
Even trainless towns have station platforms where the dead depart."
- 'God of Goodbye', pg. 8
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2023
I am not sure I love whatever this poetry style is, but I did enjoy the ride. There were some moving moments in there.
I struggled to find a through line between all the gods - at a certain point I started to feel like Crozier was randomly pulling gods from items she found in her house, her favourite/least favourite animals, and the panoply of Big Events that shape human lives. And I am not clever enough to immediately discern the logic of her divisions between books 1, 2, and 3.
Good cover! I was happy to find Crozier a Canadian poet and I would read more of her work.
I struggled to find a through line between all the gods - at a certain point I started to feel like Crozier was randomly pulling gods from items she found in her house, her favourite/least favourite animals, and the panoply of Big Events that shape human lives. And I am not clever enough to immediately discern the logic of her divisions between books 1, 2, and 3.
Good cover! I was happy to find Crozier a Canadian poet and I would read more of her work.
March 12, 2019
I feel like this collection gets to the essentials of Lorna Crozier's large and beautiful body of work. If you know her poetry, you know that she knows exactly where the gods are, and that she will tell you frankly. They are in nebulous forgotten emotions, and also in insects. If you like how Crozier renders things to their proper size, how she finds the complexity and nuance in simplicity, this collection is it for you. This cuts to the chase.
February 22, 2026
2.5 ⭐️
There were a handful of poems that I really enjoyed and made note of, but beyond those I found the rest to be fairly forgettable. I like the concept of framing the collection around gods of various things but I think that also placed some creative limits when writing SO many with that same prompt.
There were a handful of poems that I really enjoyed and made note of, but beyond those I found the rest to be fairly forgettable. I like the concept of framing the collection around gods of various things but I think that also placed some creative limits when writing SO many with that same prompt.
January 4, 2019
The style of these poems is similar but their topics are wide ranging. While some are serious many brought a smile to my face. Crozier deftly addresses many truths in this poetry using a comedic style.
March 3, 2019
enjoyed this a lot, a really unique concept that was thoughtful & entertaining. favourites were: god of arithmetic, god of bitter, & god of pain.
side note, I also loved the aesthetic of this release cover.
side note, I also loved the aesthetic of this release cover.
May 31, 2022
Crozier masterfully uses poetic language, especially images, to interrogate the mundane and the divine, the numinous and the ordinary all shaped around a series of poems that comprise startling pantheon. Remarkable. A new favorite.
May 4, 2024
Beautiful design- I don’t want to say horrible poetry but I will say I hated it. Depressing for no reason- not even slightly fun to read but then again I dislike most free form poetry so take my review with a grain of salt.
January 31, 2026
what a fascinating book!! reminds me of sum by david eagleman, a bit, but more poetic/surreal.
fav pieces were prologue: and god said, god of acceptance, god of owls, and epilogue: I know your works
learned (and am still working through learning) so many new words from this book!!
fav pieces were prologue: and god said, god of acceptance, god of owls, and epilogue: I know your works
learned (and am still working through learning) so many new words from this book!!
February 25, 2019
Marvellous little book!
Short, sweet, directly to the point.
Great way to open one's own perspective!
Short, sweet, directly to the point.
Great way to open one's own perspective!
February 18, 2020
Lorna Crozier does it again! Her writing is witty, provocative and unexpected. She will make you fall in love with the prose poem and rethink (the) g/God(s) hovering where we least expect.
July 10, 2022
This is one book of poetry book I can keep and read over and over. I purchased a copy for a friend who works with stones for healing. She put it in her medical kit. It's that good.
May 26, 2023
One of my very favourite Canadian poets. Simultaneously witty and profound.
November 15, 2023
Used this in our workshop! I love her poems! Learning a lot too...
September 13, 2025
Read this out loud to my husband while he made dinner.
December 24, 2018
God of Shadows by Lorna Crozier was the last poetry collection I finished during my poetry-reading extravaganza in November. I'm so glad that after owning this collection since it was first released in August, I finally made time for it. Crozier is one of my favourite poets, and her writing is always thoughtful and articulate. These characteristics are especially evident in God of Shadows where each poem is dedicated to the God of a particular object or feeling. There's less of a personal connection with Crozier's poetry in this collection, but the imagery and writing are beautiful, I just wanted a a little more of Crozier in the poems. That said, I am always thrilled to pick up another collection by Crozier, and I plan to go back and read/reread all of her works in 2019.
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November 25, 2020Only Lorna Crozier, whose imagination retains a strong streak of mischief, could have revived the notion of gods who govern our every experience in such a wise yet winsome way. By turns male or female, these gods have strong personalities. Here's "God of Grim": "She's the loveliest. Long white hair and the body of a retired prima ballerina, some severe Madam (fill in a name that sounds Russian) who teaches for meagre wages in the school where shoes bubble with blood. . . Oh the horror, the horror, you can't help say out loud. It's her favourite way for a bedtime story to end." Plenty of home truths bubble up in these wry portraits laid out in three tightly structured parts book-ended with poems of a more contemplative nature.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews