Little Dogs, by Michael Crummey. Book report #14 (2019)

Little Dogs, by Michael Crummey. Pub 2016

New and selected poems from a favourite writer, this was a great way to get introduced to Crummey’s excellent poetry. The book includes selections from his previous four collections along with a set of new poems.

The landscapes, the people, the history and the personal details are intertwined beautifully to tell lovely and sad stories from his homeland in Newfoundland. Having heard about some of these elements over the years, it was touching to read about them from a slightly different but aligned perspective. Best were Capelin Scull, Bread, Stars on the Water, Under Silk, and The Hangover.

It was interesting to see the evolution of the poet, as he grows older and moves away from writing about historical events and more to writing about his own personal experiences, still with hints of the past that are so engrained on people from that region – their history written in their genes.