Anne Archer launches new book of poetry, From the Frontenacs

Jeff Green | Sep 07, 2022

Frontenac County’s resident flautist, Anne Archer, is set to release her second collection of poems, From the Frontenacs, at a launch at Novel Idea Bookstore in Kingston on September 15.

“My first book, Ich Heisse Clara, was about Clara Shumann and her relationship with Robert Shumann and Johannes Brahms. It came from my musical background, obviously, and it was a story that stuck me, it kind of became an obsession.”

Her new book is based on experiences from closer to home, much closer, in fact.

Archer lives on a back road, not far from Sharbot Lake, and she is a consistent, you might say persistent, walker.

“I take three walks a day,” she said, in different directions from my house, along the road and on some of the local trails.”

It is these walks that provided the inspiration, and subject matter for “From the Frontenacs”.

“My walks are very much meditative,” she said. I walk alone or with a small group of my Sharbot Lake buddies. The walks are where the poems came from,” she said.

The poems in From the Frontenacs are spare, and descriptive, invoking a very strong sense of place. They connect to the sounds, the weight of the air in different seasons, and the birds that share the landscape on Archer’s ritual walks.

“I tried, with these poems, to observe my physical environment as accurately as I could. Trying to talk about what is in front of my eyes. They are poems of observation as opposed to point of view poems.

Continuing with the hyper local theme of From the Frontenacs, the cover illustration and the images inside the book, are all taken from the work of printmaker Martina Field, who is Anne Archer’s neighbour, one of the few people who live within the range of her daily walks.

“I was really fortunate that Martina agreed to let me use her work. The images fit the words perfectly.”

The launch on September 15, at Novel Idea, is a joint launch with Chantel Lavoie, and Meg Freer, who have written a book about the Sisters of Providence - Serve the Sorrowing World With Joy.

Proceeds from the sale of From the Frontenacs will go to the North Frontenac Food Bank.