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The House the Spirit Builds
Renowned poet Lorna Crozier offers a masterful collection of poems inspired by Diane Laundy and Peter Coffman’s photographs taken in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere in Southwestern Ontario. Beginning in this setting, The House the Spirit Builds extends to include any region, any place that ignites the human mind and heart. Something astonishing happens when the poems and photos sit side by side and speak to one another in a language that is timeless, lucid and they bring us to a wisdom that might mitigate the damage we do to others and the natural world. While acknowledging the loss and suffering that infuse our days, the poems and photographs invite us to expand our sense of wonder, our sense that all things are connected, no matter where we live. An image of a slice of light falling across a tablecloth, a black beetle on a these poems speak of moments “when the dragonfly lands and grips the skin / on the back of your hand” or “rain stops falling / but / hangs around / like the shape of lust / in bedsheets.” The impressions and expressions vary, but remind us that if we pay attention, even the smallest things can bring us joy and remind us we are not alone in our brief sojourn on this earth.
80 pages, Paperback
Published March 28, 2020
21 people want to read
About the author
Lorna Crozier
56 books85 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 18, 2021
I'm not generally a fan of poetry books inspired by accompanying photographs, so it's kind of amazing that I gave this three stars. Crozier is a terrific poet, even within these constraints. You may love it a lot more than I did, if you enjoy poems inspired by accompanying pictures.
June 4, 2020
Meditative! The House the Spirit Builds opened like a warm hug and during this period of self-isolation and social distancing, this 80-page collection of poetry and photography proved to be a great distraction from the negative noise around me.
I have never been to Wintergreen Studios, where the founding director wrote in the book’s introduction that “it flourishes as an educational retreat centre where people are nourished by the land, by the arts, and by one another.” (p. 9) However, upon reviewing the book, I could certainly feel the healing forces of not only nature, but this mystical place tucked in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere of Southwestern Ontario.
Canadian poet Lorna Crozier, along with photographers Peter Coffman and Diane Laundy, beautifully re-created the magic of Wintergreen's everyday living, the things that mostly go unnoticed like the details of stacked teacups and/or ceramic bowls and nature’s creatures such as frogs, toads, the weather, and frozen ponds.
I especially enjoyed the way the photographers captured light and shadow, especially with the images of the key on the back cover and the shadow from the back of a chair. My only minor frustration stemmed from wanting to know which photographer took which photo. I especially loved the image of the three vases casting pink and white light (p. 74) and the closeup of water droplets on blades of grass (p. 62)
As for the poetry, Crozier is renowned for her work and these short (no more than one page of free verse) ekphrastic poems proved that less is sometimes more. Despite being sparse, the verse sang out like the spirits that built this retreat and book. For example, “If wind needed a place to rest,/to while away the afternoon//it would choose this chair.” (p. 18) Or “These leaves conjure Monet:/float in the canvas of the pond/and enter a painting.” (p. 64)
Definitely a book to pull off the shelf when you feel like running away from the city!
I have never been to Wintergreen Studios, where the founding director wrote in the book’s introduction that “it flourishes as an educational retreat centre where people are nourished by the land, by the arts, and by one another.” (p. 9) However, upon reviewing the book, I could certainly feel the healing forces of not only nature, but this mystical place tucked in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere of Southwestern Ontario.
Canadian poet Lorna Crozier, along with photographers Peter Coffman and Diane Laundy, beautifully re-created the magic of Wintergreen's everyday living, the things that mostly go unnoticed like the details of stacked teacups and/or ceramic bowls and nature’s creatures such as frogs, toads, the weather, and frozen ponds.
I especially enjoyed the way the photographers captured light and shadow, especially with the images of the key on the back cover and the shadow from the back of a chair. My only minor frustration stemmed from wanting to know which photographer took which photo. I especially loved the image of the three vases casting pink and white light (p. 74) and the closeup of water droplets on blades of grass (p. 62)
As for the poetry, Crozier is renowned for her work and these short (no more than one page of free verse) ekphrastic poems proved that less is sometimes more. Despite being sparse, the verse sang out like the spirits that built this retreat and book. For example, “If wind needed a place to rest,/to while away the afternoon//it would choose this chair.” (p. 18) Or “These leaves conjure Monet:/float in the canvas of the pond/and enter a painting.” (p. 64)
Definitely a book to pull off the shelf when you feel like running away from the city!
November 22, 2023
I had never heard of the Frontenac Biosphere in southwestern Ontario, but after reading The House the Spirit Builds, I want to go there. Poet Lorna Crozier collaborated with photographers Peter Coffman and Diane Laundy for this splendidly produced volume. Crozier performs her magic addressing such disparate photographic subjects as a broken salt shaker (" Did the moon last night / slide its bovine across the table, across the part of you / that's damaged?") and a wee frog perched on a lily's petal ("If the lily had ears to hear / it would be happy--it has / a rain-splashed throat, / crimson and longer than a frogs ").
May 6, 2020
Lovely poems and photographs capturing the essence of the tiniest beautiful creatures and plant life around a special biosphere / retreat in Ontario. Crozier is the master of bringing inanimate objects to life by taking the feelings associated with their everyday use and attaching them to deeper memory. Spending time in nature becomes an experience of worship.
January 16, 2022
Read in one afternoon and my soul was awakened! The language of poetry well written speaks volumes and brings one to their senses. The certainty of one’s path is illuminated when reading a volume of poetry and photographs of this caliber.
April 2, 2025
When I read a Lorna Crozier poem, many times I pause and marvel at how she does what she does with words. With a stroke of her pen, every day things ( teacups on a windowsill, a shovel, a toad,) get a chance to be regal. A beautiful read.
October 6, 2019
Beautiful words and pictures. I'm sure that even the poems that didn't connect with me will have others finding meaning in them.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews