Accidental Animals

Here are poems that present diverse visions of the past and present, as well as the order and disorder of our times. Trussler is a poet who gets under your skin, with the powerful explorations of the lives of artists, lovers and the eccentric lady down the street. In Accidental Animals Trussler is responding with insight and a distilled passion for family life, history, and inheritance. "There are so many species/ of failure the consolations/ of perception merely vanish,// even as art abandons/ its various companions, leaves each/ to untoward death."   

This is a large-hearted book, full of stories and observations that will startle and delight the reader. The strength of Trussler's writing is his ability to reveal a worldly view, in a voice that sings of the personal and the universal in a way that defies expectation.

Michael Trussler

Michael Trussler was born in Kitchener, raised in New Hamburg, ON, and currently lives in Regina, SK. He received a BA and MA in English Literature from York University and a PhD from the University of Toronto, completing his doctoral thesis on the contemporary American short story. In 1997, Trussler began teaching English courses on American literature, literary theory, and the short story at the University of Regina. He has published book reviews, literary criticism, poetry, and short fiction. Trussler has also won three teaching awards, and is the Chief Editor of Wascana Review. He has travelled widely in the United States and Europe, is a father of two, an amateur photographer, and has a fascination with visual art. Trussler's first book of short-fiction, Encounters (NeWest, 2006) was awarded the Saskatchewan Book of the Year and the Regina Book Award at the 2006 Saskatchewan Book Awards. Accedental Animals is a finalist for he Saskatchewan Book of the Year and the City of Regina Book Award in the 2007 Saskatchewan Book Awards.