Processional is Anne Compton’s second book of poems, the follow-up to her widely-acclaimed, award-winning debut, Opening the Island.

Here Compton is at the head of a poetic procession, a guide leading readers through a house affected by both daily life and the extraordinary - stopping only to take in the change of seasons and prepare the outside yard for it. With one breath, she tells of life and death, with the next, play and metaphysics, joy and heartbreak. She is a guide like no other, accomplished and versatile, leading by example and from a distance at the same time.

Governor General’s Award Winner for Poetry

Anne Compton’s Processional is both a still-life and a tableau, with moments of perfect stillness and of passionate arrival. This book skillfully marries history to the present, and pulls the everyday into light. – Governor General Jury’s Comments

Winner of the 2006 Atlantic Poetry Prize

Shortlisted for the 2006 Pat Lowther Memorial Award