Ignite

Poetry. A finalist for the Alfred G. Bailey Prize, IGNITE is a collection of elegiac and experimental poetry powder- kegged with questions about one man's lifelong struggle with schizophrenia. Born into a strict Mennonite family, Abe Spenst's mental illness spanned three decades in and out of mental institutions where he underwent electric shock treatment and coma-induced insulin therapy.

Merging memory and medical records, Kevin Spenst recreates his father's life through a cuckoo's nest of styles that both stand as witness and waltz to the interplay between memory, emotion and all our forms of becoming.

...with a fearless layering of voice, IGNITE is upfront and unswerving. A novel- esque torrent tracing a troubling history of illness, part confrontation and part chronicle, this collection is daring with its dark narrative. Here is a willingness for, and enviable strength in, extending poetic range. Ignite heals and ascends. There are books that need to be written and this is one of them. This is a collection which gives more and more with every read.--Sandra Ridley, judge, Alfred G. Bailey Prize

A selection of poems from IGNITE won the Lush Triumphant Award for Poetry.