The poet Russell Thornton discusses his new collection Two Songs: Selected Poems 2000-2025 (Harbour Publishing, 2025), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Two Songs

Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.  

Russell Thornton joins me again. He’s got a new collection out, Two Songs: Selected Poems, 2000-2025. It reflects a period of time in the writer’s life, as well as selections from poetry collections published over the last quarter century. You see the writer at his most perceptive, not just of places here and abroad, the sounds and smells that linger, as well as the memories of people past and present that evoke happy as well as sad memories. We see Russell write of Vancouver’s North Shore, where he lives, with a reverence that applies to other places he’s been, giving the reader new insights and new vistas to imagine themselves. I found the collection fascinating because it allowed me the chance to read between the lines, not just what Mr. Thornton has written, but oneself, one’s own memories; even people one hasn’t thought about in a while. I’ll ask Russell about writing, and whether he always wanted to write. I’ll ask him as to what growth he’s seen of himself as a writer and as a person. Russell Thornton is a Canadian poet with nine previously published collections. His 2013 collection Birds, Metals, Stones & Rain, which he first appeared on this program with, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, the Raymond Souster Award, and the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. This new collection is from Harbour Publishing. He joined me from his home in North Vancouver last week. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Russell Thornton; Mr. Thornton, good morning.

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