Richard Stevenson
photographs by Ellen McArthur

In The Emerald Hour, poet Richard Stevenson returns to the Japanese forms of haiku and tanka, seemingly the simplest yet most precise of poetic forms. This is his third book of Japanese forms published by Ekstasis Editions. In the first of the series, Hot Flashes, explored Stevenson’s experience of living and teaching in Africa, using haiku to capture the essence of that colourful world. In A Charm of Finches the poet returned home to Alberta, a land more familiar but no less exotic when viewed through the lens of haiku. Now in The Emerald Hour Richard Stevenson focuses clearly on nature, the traditional subject of Japanese forms. From settings such as idyllic Henderson Lake, shown in evocative photographs by Ellen McArthur, to interior British Columbia and hometown of Lethbridge, Stevenson, offers monuments to moments, even Basho would enjoy.

Stevenson is adept at making his own poetic windows, framing experience and impression with a feel for how words sound and images might be perceived… His own often off-kilter takes on things are permeated with a gently rueful sense of humour.
Valerie Warder, NeWest Review

Richard Stevenson has become a charter member of the Great Poetry Orchestra, playing with the likes of Langston Hughes, Amiri Bakara, Corso, Ferlinghetti, and Frank O’Hara. It’s illustrious company to be sure, but Live Evil is that good.
Doug Beardsley, Quill and Quire

Ellen McArthur lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, where she draws in pen and ink and photographs people, cityscapes, landscapes, etc. Her other passions include cooking, hiking, reading, family and friends.

Richard Stevenson lives and teaches in Lethbridge, Alberta. His other Ekstasis Editions titles are From The Mouths of Angels, Flying Coffins, Nothing Definite Yeti, Hot Flashes, A Charm of Finches and Bye Bye Blackbird.