flora, fauna & h. sapiens... is a romp, a ramble and a jog down the many paths where poetry leads us. But, more importantly, it's a dialogue between a pair of imaginative minds.-- from the Foreword by Andrew Brown
flora, fauna & h. sapiens is a sometimes wistful, sometimes joyous, sometimes flat-out funny collection of poems by two talented Vancouver Island poets whose acute observations on life will get you thinking. -- Paul Baran
flora fauna & h. sapiens is a sometimes wistful, sometimes joyous, sometimes flat-out funny collection of poems by two talented Vancouver Island poets whose acute observations on life will get you thinking. — Paul Baran, Ladysmith, BC
I am fairly certain that I will, eventually, slip this book into my library. But presently, I am nesting in it. Which is tricky. Because these poems tickle and poke. They catch on familiar feelings and shift in unexpected ways to reflect on humanity and our relationship with the natural world. It seems every time I feel settled with flora fauna & h. sapiens, I am tugged back in by the candor and cadence of Ian and Pat’s voices. So, for now, I am mindfully resigned to my inability to leave the nest. — Anne-Marie Carson, Blue Mountain, Ontario
I feel privileged to have heard many of the poems before … and they are as moving and funny and weird as ever… the physical presentation of the poems works really well. It's true that poems, unlike prose, really are physical things -- and if one can't hear them, one should see them. — Tanya Lebar, Vancouver, BC
Regularly whimsical, sometimes deep and frequently prophetic, poems from this collection stimulate emotion on topics that might otherwise be devoid of expression… I would recommend this assortment of poems to anyone who has ever pondered, ever examined, ever cried, or ever laughed. A highly imaginative read. — Dana Pynn, Nanaimo, BC
Ian Cognitō and Pat Smekal blew me away at their book launch of flora, fauna & h. sapiens. It's one thing to write poetry a reader will want to read, it's entirely another to present it in such a way that it captivates an audience. Ian and Pat had the perfect mixture of humour and poignancy, and the connection between the two poets was obvious. It was all I could do to keep from shouting, "Go team! GO!" — Cindy Shantz, Nanaimo, BC
