In Accidents, her third collection of poems, Genni Gunn takes us on a roller coaster ride through past and present in different continents, to explore the various upheavals that alter our lives. From her birthplace in Trieste, where she attempts to unravel the mysterious lives of her parents; to Vancouver with its urban alienation and attraction; to Burma, where disruptions are a way of life under the Generals. Along the way, she treats us to a sardonic and sometimes appalling history of masks, and of spontaneous combustion.
Poem by poem, Gunn examines the emotional, political, and geological upheaval that inevitably shape us as family members, as lovers, and as citizens, and the humble talismans we carry as reminders of the past. Heartbreak and humour leaven and disrupt these poems in equal measure, as does love.
About the Author: Genni Gunn is an author, musician and translator. Born in Trieste, she came to Canada as a child. She has published twelve books: three novels -- Solitaria (longlisted for the Giller Prize 2011), Tracing Iris (made into a film, The Riverbank), and Thrice Upon a Time (finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize); three short story collections -- Permanent Tourists (finalist for ReLit Award), Hungers and On the Road; three poetry collections -- Faceless, Mating in Captivity (finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award), and Accidents and a collection of personal essays, TRACKS: Journeys in Time and Place. As well, she has translated from Italian three collections of poems by two renowned Italian authors: Devour Me Too (finalist for the John Glassco Translation Prize) and Traveling in the Gait of a Fox (finalist for the Premio Internazionale Diego Valeri for Literary Translation) by Dacia Maraini, and Text Me by Corrado Calabrò. Three of Gunn's books have been translated into Italian and Dutch.
As well as books, she has written an opera libretto, Alternate Visions, produced by Chants Libres in 2007 (music by John Oliver). Her travel essay ?Birth Stones? about Matera is nominated for Best American Travel Writing 2021. She has held many residencies and performed at hundreds of readings and writers? festivals. Before she turned to writing full-time, Gunn toured Canada extensively with a variety of bands (bass guitar, piano and vocals). Gunn has a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia. She lives in Vancouver.
