Fiction: The Octopus Has Three Hearts (Spring 2021 Douglas & McIntyre)
Poetry:
-Marry & Burn
-Song and Spectacle
-Notes on an Arrival and Departure
-Giving my Body to Science
"It is difficult to distill a book as textured as Marry & Burn down without stealing some of its honey, but, broadly, the book spins around things like the death of love and of beings, marriage, beehives, homes, beloveds, friends. And even though these deaths and other sorrows are met with gravity, with heartbreak, and with deep and familiar loneliness, they’re also met with play and with recognition of the absurdity of our small ceremonies and way of being in the world."
--Brenda Liefso
arcpoetry.ca/2017/03/12/tell-i-the-truth-rachel-roses-marry-burn/
"Candid, heartfelt, melodious, Rachel Rose's poems have the virtue of standing at once close to their subject and at a wise remove. Her voice travels intimately into regions of death, love, suffering and exaltation; meanwhile, that same voice performs the role of chorus and spirit-guide, sagely commenting on the travails of her embroiled protagonists."
--Wayne Koestenbaum on Song & Spectacle.
"The heart, the unborn child, even death has a song in these pages. Her language is so dense, so daring, so rich. Who else but Rachel Rose can describe the summer sun as slipping into the ocean "like a placenta in a basin," or a bat as "a black ball of yarn with two hooks." Read this book and you'll discover "The other use for fire."
--Lorna Crozier on Song & Spectacle.
"She is known as a poet whose work openly speaks out against abuse, and her second collection is no less provocative than her first...Rose's fury is as masterful as it is humane, her poetry as haunting as it is vibrant."
--Clarice Foster, The Globe and Mail, 2006
"Wit with teeth."
--Marion K. Stocking, review of Best American Poetry in Beloit Poetry Journal Winter 2001-2002.
POEMS: http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.ca/2002/01/what-we-heard-about-japanese-rachel.html
http://www.rattle.com/poetry/what-we-heard-about-the-americans-by-rachel-rose/
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse/182/6#!/20606293
American Pageant
How we applauded you, pint-sized tart
singing and swinging to A Cowboy’s Sweetheart.
Who taught you the art of sashay, of rouge,
the French manicure? Who taught you to bruise?
Who bleached your pearly teeth before each show?
Who curled your tinted hair and tied the bow?
We can offer you nothing, especially not the promise
it won’t happen again. Jonbenet, angel, one request:
If you see the Smith boys floating around those parts
tell them that Susan still dots her “i’s” with little hearts
in all her prison letters. Tell them she confessed.
A mother who put her shoulder to her work, paused to rest,
pushed. The boys were asleep in the back until they woke
to a lake pierced by headlights, birth in reverse.
There was no phantom African, no dark abductor,
though we pictured him standing where she stood on shore.
Water poured through windows, flooded the cocoon.
Silence of a woman alone with the moon.
Non-Fiction: The Dog Lover Unit
The Dog Lover Unit: Lessons in Courage from the World’s K9 Cops is getting great publicity!
"Enter the intense world of both the dogs and people who form the K9 corps. Every dog has its own unique personality." —Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make us Human
What do you get when a poet does ride-alongs with police K-9 units in four different countries? You get a unique, insightful, and well-written book like this. It is a must read for anyone interested in these dedicated police officers and their valiant canine partners.
Stanley Coren, author of "How Dogs Think" and "The Intelligence of Dogs"
I riff about my high-speed K9 adventures on CBC radio on April 2, and then April 7th. Check out the CBC website: http://www.cbc.ca/radio
The response to my essay about love, marriage and attack dog therapy (ha!) has been tremendously moving. So many people reached out to me, publicly and privately, to connect and to share their own profound transformations with me. You can read the piece here:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/first-person/article-going-to-the-attack-dogs-made-me-feel-alive-in-a-way-i-hadnt-felt/
In a journey through four countries, pursuing canine law enforcement units and their stories, Rose delivers a multi-faceted immersion memoir: observations, interviews, analysis, criticisms, and praise of how different nations approach policing with and without dogs…. Every police dog story reveals courage, dedication, and a will to live life fully, but the most profound narrative is Rachel Rose’s healing. The dogs, the police, and the poet are a convincing team, which demonstrates how courage can come only from exploring our fears. Here’s to those fear-filled adventures that take our breath away and keep us coming back for more.
—Amber Anderson
River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative
I so appreciate this great review of The Dog Lover Unit in The Toronto Star:
“In the case of Vancouver’s poet laureate Rachel Rose, the acuity she’s exhibited in verse is also evident when applied to a new genre. Absorbing, informative and thoughtful, The Dog Lover Unit manages to be emotionally rewarding and provocative as well. The questions raised and poignant episodes linger well after the final page is finished.”
By BRETT JOSEF GRUBISIC
https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2017/11/17/poets-rachel-rose-eileen-myles-write-about-dogs-and-our-bond-with-them.html
More good coverage of The Dog Lover Unit here in Monte Cristo Magazine!
http://montecristomagazine.com/community/dog-lover-unit-lessons-courage-worlds-k9-cops
Marcie Davis, Host of Working Like Dogs Radio, was such an interesting and knowledgeable dog expert. It was a pleasure to talk to her, to learn about her service dogs, and to tell her about my motivation for writing The Dog Lover Unit. You can listen to our conversation here:
http://www.petliferadio.com/workingdogs.html
The Daily Iowan interviewed me while I was reading from The Dog Lover Unit in Iowa City: Thanks so much, Madison Lotenschtein:
http://daily-iowan.com/2017/11/02/rachel-rose-author-essayist-poet-and-dog-lover/
Happy to see this great review of The Dog Lover Unit in the Winnipeg Free Press:
“Rose is a skilled writer, bringing to life the personalities of each police officer she spends time with as they train and work with their dogs.
She evokes the potential danger and thrill of chasing and tracking a criminal in the middle of the night when she accompanies officers on ride-alongs….
In The Dog Lover Unit, Rachel Rose presents a realistic depiction of the lives of K9 units — one that can’t fail to make us more aware of and grateful for these big-hearted dogs and their dedicated handlers.”
--Andrea Geary
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/vancouver-poet-follows-dedicated-k9-units-455117683.html
“Who Let The Dogs Out?” Rachel Rose and RCMP Police Dog Handler Jamie Dopson with K9 Chrisa on Breakfast Television Vancouver live on CityTV:
http://www.btvancouver.ca/videos/the-dog-lover-unit/
RCMP Police Dog Handler Jamie Dopson with K9 Chrisa to speak with Our Vancouver, Host: Gloria Macarenko
on CBC Television:
https://globalnews.ca/video/3930292/the-dog-lover-unit#autoplay
And Corporal Michelle Onysko and Police Dog Drago and I appeared on Global News at noon:
https://globalnews.ca/video/3930292/the-dog-lover-unit#autoplay
Doing the interview and video interview with Vancouver Sun reporter Denise Ryan and VPD Sergeant Ray Wong with K9 Hunter was so much fun!
“Rose is a skilled writer, bringing to life the personalities of each police officer she spends time with as they train and work with their dogs.
She evokes the potential danger and thrill of chasing and tracking a criminal in the middle of the night when she accompanies officers on ride-alongs.”
--Denise Ryan
Read the whole article and watch the video here:
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/1008-going-to-the-dogs
