Daphne Marlatt

Daphne Marlatt was born in Melbourne, Australia, and spent her childhood years in Malaysia before immigrating to Vancouver in 1951. In 1981, she and her son, Kit, visited England to reacquaint themselves with her mother's roots--in family and language. How Hug a Stone (excerpted here), which chronicles this journey, was recently published by Turnstone Press (201-99 King St., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Among Marlatt's books are What Matters, poems & journal entries; Zocalo, a nonfiction novel; and Steveston, a historical drama aired on CBC. Touch to My Tongue will be out this year from Longspoon Press. Marlatt helped to organize the Canadian literary conference "Women and Words / Les femmes et les mots" at the University of British Columbia last year.