Gimp Crow (Turnstone Press)

A quirky little set of rhymes about a crow with a bad leg blossoms into a free-flying grace of words as the clumsy bird tears free from his boring life in the prairies and his nagging �ol lady� in search of a bigger destiny. Along the way, Gimp Crow collects a magpie from Alberta and a raven from the West Coast, and learns about love and loss.

This collection takes Turnstone Press back to its original poetry roots in the grand (or rather modest) tradition of Dennis Cooley, evoking prairie simplicity of language and an unpretentious approach to the age-old themes of self-discovery and yearning for a different life. Evoking dust-bowl prairie, Hank Williams songs of yearning, and a simple, but meaningful life, Kowal�s story poems bring to life a character that speaks to the heart of any prairie-dweller. Turns of phrase and constant, light-hearted word play make this collection enjoyable to read and accessible to non-poetry readers.

Ken Kowal is a Winnipeg resident who has long been involved in the city�s poetry scene. His chapbook I dream of my father�s hands (1997) was short listed for the Heaven Chapbook award in 1998, and his poems have been featured in the Poetry in Motion project in several cities. He has published two smaller collections of poetry.