Books

Jiro Asada is my favourite writer. Unfortunately, only a handful of his books are translated into English. One of them is “The Stationmaster,” a collection of his short stories. It was also made into a film, The Railroad Man, in 1999. 

For many years I’ve immediately re-read poetry books. Some collections pull me back for a deeper appreciation of their language, music and structures; others I find disappointing and frustrating, yet I remain curious enough to give them a second go. Immediate re-reading, however, rarely carries over into my experiences of novels or books of non-fiction (now and then I do read back through short-story collections right away).

My wife and I moved during the pandemic, from the historic house in a former whaling village where we raised our kids to a late 20th Century human terrarium along a river. Every day since moving-in four months ago, I take advantage of the myriad pathways that wind through the woods along the side of our new habitat not facing the river, traversing a couple miles per wander in bucolic bliss. I have seen fox, heard coyotes, come upon wild turkeys congregating in groups larger than I’d imagined turkeys mingled. Neighbors report black bears, but I’ve so far been spared those encounters.

Kate Cayley has written two short story collections, two collections of poetry, and a number of plays. She is a frequent writing collaborator with immersive company Zuppa Theatre. Her third poetry collection, Lent, is forthcoming from Book*hug in 2023. Kate's poetry is featured in the upcoming winter issue of The Fiddlehead. Pre-order your copy today!