Emptying the Ocean by Kim Fahner

Kim Fahner’s contemporary immram takes the Celtic journey to the Otherworld and spins it into a book in which powerful female spirits of transformation trade strategies to keep their heads above water, or dive deep into mysterious depths and come back changed. This is the season of Fahner’s swamp witch, whose advice to “Tread water. Kick hard” will leave you breathing with every inch of your lungs. - Tanis MacDonald, author of Straggle: Adventures in Walking While Female

Emptying the Ocean is a poetic journey based on the ancient Irish immram tales—the soul voyages taken by a woman who moves mystically through the four elements and the spirited Otherworld. Water, earth, air, and fire are woven through with imagination, inspiration, and spirit.

The voice of the selkie bookends the collection, and the character of the sailor finds himself caught up in her wake.

Rooted firmly in Irish myth and lore, with references to strong female figures who shapeshift and move between dimensions, there are Atlantic echoes of both Ireland and Newfoundland at work in these poems. 

Kim Fahner lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario. She was the poet laureate for the City of Greater Sudbury (2016-18). Emptying the Ocean is her fifth book of poetry. Visit her website at kimfahner.com.