Winner of the 2018 Archibald Lampman Award

A charm can protect, inflict or influence. Charm, the second collection by poet Christine McNair, considers the craftwork of conception from a variety of viewpoints–from pregnancy and motherhood, to how an orchid is pollinated, to overcoming abusive relationships, to the manual artistry of carving a violin bow or marbling endpapers.

Through these poems, McNair’s poetic line evolves as if moving in a spellbound kaleidoscope, etched with omens, fairytales, intimacy’s stickiness, and the mothering body.

Praise for Charm

McNair’s Charm is unyielding. Replete with precision, elegance and power, an attentive intensity thrives in these poems. She is fearless in her examination of how impermanent objects are treated–of how we ourselves are objects. What lingers is a provocative sensuality, preserved from intimacies, inherent vices, destructive influences, harms, and decay. Her Charm is stunning and alchemical. –Sandra Ridley, author of Silvija and The Counting House

Christine McNair’s Charm is a textile bracelet stitched together with a gasp an echo a tune that will catch at your pumpernickel heart. Jubilantly sample the starched linen and cloth pages as these poems embolden you to bite into its promiscuous orchids and chew on the enchanted, hanked-tone stanzas. –Nicole Markotic, author of whelmed and Bent at the Spine