Liza Potvin is the author of several captivating and thought-provoking books that span multiple genres. Her debut, White Lies (for my mother), is a powerful memoir that won the 1992 Edna Staebler Creative Nonfiction Award for its candid exploration of personal and family history. In The Traveller’s Hat (2003), she presents a collection of short stories that delve into themes of identity, place, and belonging.
Her next work, Cougarman Percy Dewar (2005), is a non-fiction narrative that brings to life the true story of a colorful Canadian character. In Dog Days (2010), Liza ventures into the realm of creative fiction with an evocative portrayal of life’s small yet significant moments.
Each of Liza’s books showcases her deep understanding of human nature, her lyrical prose, and her gift for storytelling. Explore her work and discover stories that resonate long after the final page.
LP
The Traveller’s Hat:
Award-winning writer Liza Potvin has fashioned a daring collection of stories around the oldest Western trickster figure, Hermes.
Potvin often sets her characters travelling — some go to Brussels, Malaysia, Alaska, Tibet, while others simply yearn for another life. The final story is a fascinating, unbridled letter to Hermes from Pandora, the woman whose curiosity unleashed all the trouble in the world. Here are complex and surprising stories containing beautifully unexpected shifts and flights.
LP
Cougarman – Percy Dewar
Like the cougars that have exerted a lifelong fascination on him, he was part of a dying breed on this island. From a young age, he developed a reputation as one of the ablest hunters on the island. As a logger and a guide, he lived all over Vancouver Island, and knew it “like the back of my hand.”
LP
Dog Days
An email exchange documents a year Liza spent living in a Tibetan monastery with her children, described in correspondence with her friend Carol, who lived on Protection Island off Canada’s west coast, and linked by their shared responsibility for a dog named Victor. While the crisis of 911 unfolds in the background, various adventures follow “the path of dogs.” Writer Marilyn Bowering describes the women “as two candles: articulate, funny, occasionally wrong-headed, but always searching for what is right — and with such light.”
LP
White Lies (for my mother)
Based on fifteen years of her own journal entries, the author explores her scattered memories of being sexually abused by her father and grandfather and the impact of this abuse upon her relationship with her mother.
LP
Reviews
Traveller’s Hat Review:
