Katherine Lawrence
Katherine Lawrence is the author of the young adult novel-in-verse Stay, and three poetry collections. Stay (Coteau Books, 2017) received the North American Gold Moonbeam Award for Children’s Poetry and was nominated for two Saskatchewan Book Awards: Poetry, and Children’s Literature. Never Mind (Turnstone Press, 2016) was nominated for the Saskatchewan Book of the Year, and the City of Saskatoon Book Award. Lying to Our Mothers (Coteau Books, 2006) was nominated for the Saskatchewan Book Award for Poetry. Ring Finger, Left Hand (Coteau Books, 2001) won the Saskatchewan Book Awards’ Brenda Macdonald Riches Best First Book Award. Katherine was born in Hamilton, Ontario. She has lived in Saskatoon for over thirty-five years with her husband and their two daughters.
Black Umbrella
Published by Turnstone Press
In this poetic memoir, Katherine Lawrence rides the electric charge of childhood innocence to its moment of impact with adult manipulation and betrayal.
Black Umbrella offers a bold portrait of family breakdown through the lens of a child, a teenager, and later as an adult who approaches love with wariness and longing. These poems speak of long-held secrets, strained loyalties, love, loss, and the courage required to embrace happiness through the thickening underbrush of adulthood.
A tough and tender collection, Black Umbrella shares a compelling view of the contemporary family in transition.