Relative to Wind

Description

Relative to Wind
by Phoebe Wang

ISBN: 9781738009824
Softcover, new

Brief Description:
A lingering, long-haul collection of writing about sailing for readers of
Julietta Singh and Kyo Maclear. Humans have sailed for centuries, but as
poet Phoebe Wang discovers, when you step on a boat for the first time, the
learning curve is steep. Relative to Wind documents Wang’s decade-long
journey of learning to sail, becoming an avid racer and volunteer race
organizer, and interrogating what it means to be a relative newcomer to an
old tradition. Wang delivers thoughtful renderings of her experiences–from
colonial echoes in sailing language to a beautiful look at what it means
like to work alongside prickly crewmates in tempestuous conditions, to
battling the desire to quit or gender equity in the sporting world.
Following the motif of a race course and structured as a kind of manual to
help readers apply sailing lessons and techniques to their relationships,
to their craft, their careers, to community and to place, these essays
recognize the parallels between sailing and a creative life, and between
sailing and a sense of belonging and relationship with the land, inspiring
both sailors and would-be sailors to embrace restoration and wonder.