Forecast: Pretty Bleak

Praise for Chris Bailey and Forecast: Pretty Bleak

“I grew up in Southwest Saskatchewan, about as far from a big body of water as you can get, yet these poems by a writer ‘baptized by sea’ speak in the voices of my prairie ancestors, rough and colourful and true. Few in this country write so eloquently and lyrically about the lives of working people. Chris Bailey throws his net of wonders from his father’s boat and pulls in all the tragedy and humour a life can hold. Often what gets caught are wise lines that break the heart: ‘Maybe it’s best to learn the hard things young / and never forget.’ I won’t forget this book.”
—Lorna Crozier, author of After That

“Chris Bailey’s plainspoken, clear-eyed poems transmit the perils of ‘Existence / carved from sandstone, baptized by sea’ with an eloquence that remains rooted in both its vernacular music and the harsh demands of work. Scrupulously spare yet deeply moving, they recall the work of Alden Nowlan. This is essential reading.”
—Don McKay, author of Lurch

“Clear-eyed and unflinching, but also compassionate, Chris Bailey writes of the realities of commercial fishing in contemporary PEI, ‘of blood and sea.’ His poems showcase a storyteller’s gift for character and narrative tension, attending to the desires, loves, and fears that accompany us through our days.”
—Annick MacAskill, author of Shadow Blight

Chris Bailey is a graphic designer and commercial fisherman from Prince Edward Island. He holds a MFA Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Chris’ writing has appeared in Grain, Brick, The Fiddlehead, Best Canadian Stories 2021, Best Canadian Stories 2025, and elsewhere. His debut poetry collection, What Your Hands Have Done, is available from Nightwood Editions. His piece, Fisherman’s Repose, was a winner of the 2022 BMO 1stArt! Award. Forecast- Pretty Bleak is his second poetry collection.

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