<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>A descendent of Armenian genocide survivors on her mother's side, Simon Fraser University professor Celeste Nazeli Snowber explores the relationship between longing, belonging, and identity. In <em>The Marrow of Longing, </em>her third book of poetry, Snowber traces her own aches of heart, intergenerational trauma, yearnings of body and the lessons learned in kitchen conversations to uncover universal themes and, in doing so, she effectively leads readers to discover what has shaped their own lives.</p><p><br></p><p>The inherited trauma of the Armenian genocide marked Snowber's childhood. Her poems express both the sense of loss which that event created within the culture and the counterbalancing satisfaction of being a survivor and witness. In reflecting on her own childhood, <em>The Marrow of Longing </em>explores universal experiences: fragmented memories of grandparents, parents' love letters, prayers in the night, cooking in the kitchen, and relationship to place. "Fragments can hold a world," says Snowber.</p><p><br></p><p>Snowber's work is always both deeply personal and deeply interpersonal. In excavating her own vulnerabilities and longings she invites the reader into a community of reflection. "look beneath the surface / how many dimensions/ one object, one heart holds.</p><p><br></p><p>"Motherhood is a recurring theme within<em> The Marrow of Longing. </em>Snowber recalls the lessons learned in kitchen conversations with her mother: the biographical details, the recipes of the old country, the wisdom of the ancestors. "My mother had an / eggplant soul / a beauty of both / dark and light / rough and tender...the meeting of art and life / just beneath the skin of plum black."</p><p><br></p><p>In other poems, Snowber speaks directly to her ancestral homeland as a living entity, "I am letting you / wash over me Armenia / stone to stone /kachkar to kachkar, / lavash to lavash/ ... dance my olive skin / on your baptized land."</p><p><br></p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>Celeste Snowber is a creative dynamo encompassing music</p><p>and dance into her poetry in such a way that it echoes with a</p><p>a myriad of emotions reflecting like a mirror in which we can</p><p>see our own heart and soul. The Marrow of Longing is a</p><p>gentle generational walk down a highway of smiles and tears</p><p>that weaves us into Snowber's blanket of lyric and dance that</p><p>permeate the fabric of relationships and life. The words and</p><p>emotions in this mix of free verse and prose poetry dance</p><p>with eloquent ease to the surreal symphony they evoke in the</p><p>reader's mind.</p><p>Candice James, Poet Laureate Emerita, </p><p>New Westminster, BC and author of Rithimus Aeternam</p><p><br></p><p>Harrowing, beautiful and surprising...through her exquisite</p><p>capacity to listen, Celeste shows us person & place, land &</p><p>love, all that is treasured beyond time, can be discovered</p><p>within the living heart. It is clear to me that these poems are</p><p>made with the soles of her bare feet, listening.</p><p>John Fox</p><p>The Healing Art of Poem-Making</p><p><br></p><p>I savored this volume with its carefully constructed fragments</p><p>about identity, food and longing, all of them representations</p><p>of love and wisdom. A morsel of joy.</p><p>Lola Koundakjian</p><p>Author of The Moon in the Cusp of My Hand</p><p><br></p><p>In this period of tremendous loss for the Armenian nation, </p><p>it's good to see that our artists continue to so carefully share</p><p>our complex and unresolved history through their personal</p><p>journeys.</p><p>Atom Egoyan, Film Director, Writer, Producer</p><p><br></p><p>Celeste Snowber's The Marrow of Longing is a liminal</p><p>site where land, food, bodysoul, the domestic, and the wild</p><p>intermesh. These poems celebrate the succulent riches of</p><p>Armenian cuisine in a tradition where food-making and</p><p>artmaking are one, the kitchen a studio holding an eggplant's</p><p>"plum black" richness. Readers are invited to open hearts</p><p>and minds to the intergenerational traumas of the Armenian</p><p>genocide of 1915 while stepping into a world where an</p><p>Armenian mother's sweeping of floors sweeps us into an ever</p><p>present, enduring love.</p><p>Susan McCaslin, Author of Into the Open: </p><p>Poems New & Selected</p><p><br></p><p>Here, held in the warm love of the familial kitchen and the</p><p>embrace of earth longing, you can taste beneath the skin of</p><p>black plum, experience sticky bursts of knowing dancing</p><p>on your lips, and hear the grace in mother's admonishment</p><p>of "Do it again, sweep the floor with love." Be swept into</p><p>Snowber's embrace as she wraps you in voices, echoes and</p><p>sighs, journeying us through heart and earth healings. While</p><p>these poems share Snowber's cultural memory fragments, </p><p>her words echo universal themes bringing us back to</p><p>ourselves into the generational embodied cycle of mother, </p><p>child, mother earth, child, repeating. We are reminded that</p><p>love is created in making, through birthing, and Snowber</p><p>generates love in the recursive process of helping us</p><p>remember. Read and be reborn.</p><p>Pauline Sameshima, Canada Research Chair, </p><p>Poet and Artist</p><p><br></p><br>