Kerosene

InKerosene her debut book of poetry Jamella Hagen weaves individual memories into a narrative that charts the process of orientation and growing maturity within shifting geographical locations.Patterned on the authors own experience the collection follows the story of a young womans life encompassing the beauty and harshness of a childhood spent in the wilderness of Northern BC the difficult process of adapting to city life a period of extensive travel in South America and her eventual return to the north. From a position of experience the poet is able to contemplate the events of her lifetime with a thoughtful and sometimes gently ironic voice.Equal to the strength and wisdom of the memoir however is the richness and vividness of detail distilled through her clear and accessible style. Whether shes describing enigmatic memories of her mother the exquisite but steadily disappearing Perito Moreno Glacier or the moonshine still on her kitchen table Hagen has mastered the trick of animating fleeting moments with an elegant touch that evokes both familiarity and wonder. About the Author Jamella Hagen grew up in Hazelton BC and has lived in Vancouver Brazil and South Korea. Her poems have appeared in journals across Canada includingArc Event andThe Malahat Review as well as in the anthologiesUnfurled: Collected Poetry from Northern BC Women Ice Floe: New and Selected Poems andThe Best Canadian Poetry in English 2010. Her work has wonThe Fiddleheads Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize placed third inThis Magazines Great Canadian Literary Hunt and been shortlisted for a CBC Literary Award. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from UBC is a former executive editor ofPRISM international and has coordinated the Whitehorse Poetry Festival. She currently lives in Whitehorse Yukon and is an instructor at Yukon College.