With the lucidity that characterizes his work, Paul Chamberland questions our connection to the earth.

The Intimate Frailty of Mortals collects in English translation the titles Intime faiblesse des mortels (1997), Au seuil d’une autre terre (2003), and Comme une seule chair (2009). This book is a magnificent celebration of Chamberland's 50 years of publishing poetry.

"This collection tackles the warrior’s pain ogand his irresistible lust for murder that quenches his thirst for blood. Lucid, totally alive: this is how we qualify this extraordinary book that Chamberland offers to us under the sing of urgency and lack of time."
Hughes Corriveau, on Intime faiblesse des mortels

"The hypothetical reader addressed in this book is a survivor, fully alive — a character out of the future? — who lives in a world broken by alienation. This reader is a true ‘oracle’ who imagines with no difficulty the world that will arise out of the ‘new age of darkness’."
Gilles Côté, on Au seuil d’une autre terre

"The radical orientation of these poems leads us to the essence of the poetic voice, which also concocts a song of insubordination. This is a poetry of questioning and commitment."
Babelo.com, on Comme une seule chair

"Paul Chamberland’s books are not circumstantial and demand from us concentration. Such a colossal oeuvre upsets and involves us with its ruthless rigour."
Jonathan Lamy, on Comme une seule chair

Born in 1939, Paul Chamberland published two major poetry collections, Terre Québec (1964) and L’Afficheur hurle (1965) that would forever shift the landscape of French-language Quebec literature. With colleagues he founded the cultural magazine, Parti pris. He taught at the Université du Québec à Montréal until 2004. In 2007, he received the prestigious Prix Athanase-David. He is a member of the Académie des lettres du Québec.

Poet, novelist, essayist, translator, Antonio D’Alfonso has published more than 40 titles and has made three feature films. He is the founder of Guernica Editions which he managed for thirty-three years before passing it on to new owners in 2010. He won the Trillium Award and other prizes. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.