There are other times, however, when Panofsky needs to give us more. Note her thoughtful line breaks when describing Hoda giving a hand job to the butcher Yankl: There are times when Radiant ShardsРІР‚в„ў minimalism serves PanofskyРІР‚в„ўs gamble well. And a few pages later: РІР‚СљI am small / I am scared / but no one sees / no one cares.РІР‚Сњ РІР‚СљWhat else can I do / to hide the shame / that cuts through me / but slink away,РІР‚Сњ she bemoans in a poem about her cruel schoolteacher, Miss Bolthomsup. In several poems, we see Hoda through the lens of victimhood, a weak and simpering girl ruminating on her lot. While Wiseman presented her as a strong woman in love with love, Panofsky takes a different approach.

What makes Radiant Shards such a curio is how Panofsky chooses to interpret Hoda. One of the first questions we might ask when approaching Radiant Shards is why read this book at all, when you can simply pick up WisemanРІР‚в„ўs novel? What additional insight does Panofsky bring to this memorable character from Canadian fiction? Prairie literature has a long tradition of exploring actual historical figures through verse РІР‚вЂњ think Dennis CooleyРІР‚в„ўs Bloody Jack, about outlaw John Krafchenko, and countless works about Louis Riel РІР‚вЂњ but Panofsky is trying something riskier: to create and sustain an entire poetry collection around a fictional character. Here, Panofsky attempts a poetic rendering of the life of CrackpotРІР‚в„ўs saucy protagonist, Hoda, the daughter of Jewish immigrants in Winnipeg who turns to prostitution to support her blind father, Danile.

Adele WisemanРІР‚в„ўs classic 1974 novel, Crackpot, provides inspiration for this narrative poem by Wiseman scholar and Ryerson University English professor Ruth Panofsky.

The radiant one lady and shard