Standing in a River of Time merges poetry and lyrical memoir on a journey exposing the intergenerational effects of colonization on a Métis family. Kirton does not shy away from hard realities, meeting them head on, but always treating them with respect and the love stemming from a lifetime of spiritual healing and decades of sobriety. This collection unravels painful memories and a mixed-blood woman’s journey towards wholeness. The Ancestors whisper to Kirton throughout, asking her to heal, to bring them home, so that within these stories of redemption and loss the dead walk with us, their presence felt as the story unfurls in unexpected ways. Kirton does not offer false hope, nor does she push us towards answers we are not yet ready for. Instead, she gestures towards the many healing modalities she has explored as she discovers that the path to reconciliation is not only a long and winding road, but also that it begins with those closest to us.
“Kirton travels backward and forward in her life, weaving poetry and lyric prose into a formally taut, spiritually expansive memoir of trauma, loss and survival.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“Her poetic memoir…is a testament to the necessity of forging an emotional alliance with one’s distant ancestors, not just for the purpose of forming a solid identity, but for the process of healing from trauma.”
—E.R. Zarevich, Herizons
“The author writes in short paragraphs and the sentences flow like the symbolic river she is standing in, the waters bringing forth the wreckage of her past. The author pulls the debris out, one item at a time, to show us that revealed, they represent the events she is trying to understand. Kirton complements her prose by adding poems to each section.”
—Mary Barnes, Prairie Fire
“Standing in a River of Time is not interested in standing alone — it is Kirton’s recognition of her abundant relations, and an invitation to the reader to engage with her. The events, emotions, and stories of these pages make up the messy landscape of what it looks like to hold and heal.”
—Jasmine Gui, Canthius
“If a picture paints a thousand words, then Jónína Kirton’s poetry creates a thousand pictures with her beautiful choice of words and fresh metaphors that ripple immediate understanding of experiences needing words to heal. From beginning to end, Jónína takes us through the stages of grief and lets the ‘blood’ spill on the page in the gentlest way possible. In Standing in a River of Time, Jónína Kirton takes us on a healing journey of sorrow, acceptance, understanding, love, loss, and forgiveness.” —from the foreword by Wanda John-Kehewin
Jónína Kirton, a Red River Métis/Icelandic poet, author, and facilitator, was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba (Treaty One). She currently lives in the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Sḵwxwú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh. Kirton graduated from the Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio in 2007 where she now teaches a workshop titled Pen & Sword. She is a longstanding member of their Advisory Board. A late-blooming poet, she was sixty-one when she received the 2016 Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for an Emerging Artist in the Literary Arts category.
…The second book we’d like to recommend is Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton . This lyric memoir explores the … decades of sobriety. An excerpt from “Rooted” in Standing in a River of Time: “turning towards the invisible I can see the …
…light, both raw and refined, on monstrosity. 4. Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton Standing in a River of Time …
…Standing in a River of Time , the lyric memoir by Jónína Kirton was reviewed …
…Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton was named on Winnipeg Free …
…Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton was reviewed by Jasmine Gui in … Canthius! From the review: “Standing in a River of Time is not interested in standing alone — it is …
…been released and we are delighted to say that Standing in a River of Time by the phenomenal Jónína Kirton is among their …
…Did you catch Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton in Herizons? From the review by …
…Standing in a River of Time , the latest poetry collection from Jónína …
…titles from the last few years here: 1. Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton 2. Inheritance by Daniel Arnold, …
…New from Jónína Kirton comes Standing In a River of Time . Part poetry collection part memoir, Standing In … A resolute exploration of intersectionality, Standing In a River of Time examines what can and cannot be effaced; which … for you to wade into Jónína Kirton’s Standing In a River of Time . Pick up your copy here. …