Marymount teacher launches latest poetry collection

She writes about burnt pasta and lost love.

Her poems are quirky, silly, serious, but most of all, her poems are real.

Kim Fahner said her mission is to find “extraordinary things in ordinary rhythms of life.”

“Poetry is often thought of as being inaccessible,” said the local writer. “My goal is to open the doors to poetry.”

Not only does Fahner do this through her work, which is published in her own collections as well as in journals, she also teaches it to her English students at Marymount Academy.

Whenever she assigns them a writing task, the author likes to show the class how it's done, often using her own pieces as examples. According to the longtime Sudburian, it helps illustrate the stages of writing and lets students know real people are capable of creating it.

“Writing is a process, whether it's academic or creative,” she said. “There's never a time when it's perfect.”

While it may never be flawless, Fahner has managed to get 80-some pieces of her poetry to the publication stage for her latest collection, The Narcoleptic Madonna.

The 90-page anthology was printed by Penumbra Press in Prince Edward Island, as was her second collection, Braille On Water. Her first, You Must Imagine The Cold Here, was published locally by Scrivener Press.

The Narcoleptic Madonna compiles 12 years of poems, written in various parts of the world during various parts of Fahner's life.

Many distinct Sudbury elements are written into her creative works — the Super Stack, the water tower and even familiar scenes like the birds on the arena roof make appearences in her pieces.

Hints of faraway places, like her family's Ireland homeland, are also evident. It doesn't matter where she is — when inspiration calls, Fahner answers.
“I always carry paper,” Fahner said.

Sometimes it's to scribble down a line; other times it's to transcribe entire pieces.

“It's like something visits you — I have to write.”

Much like Fahner feels compelled to write, her good friend and fellow educator Trish Stenabaugh is compelled to create visual art. That's how the cover of the book was created.

Stenabaugh created the graphic, a blond woman nodding off, that matches well with Fahner's title.

Copies of The Narcoleptic Madonna will be available at the Tree of Life North on Regent Street. On Dec. 7, Fahner will also be hosting a launch for her collection at 7 p.m. at the Ernie Checkeris Theatre at Thorneloe University. The community is welcome to attend the event to hear her read from her latest collection and speak with the author.

For more information on Fahner, visit www.kimfahner.wordpress.com.