The Distance of a Shout: Selected Poems

Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publish date: 12 March 2026
Pages: 192
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English

Subjects: Poetry, Canadian, Subjects & Themes, Death, Grief, Loss, Places, Family

From independence movements in Sri Lanka to train stations in contemporary Ontario, an intimate and witty selection of Michael Ondaatje's most widely loved poems taken across fifty years

'My life always stops for a new book by Michael Ondaatje' JHUMPA LAHIRI

'Each new book of Michael Ondaatje's is a literary event, but that is particularly true for his books of poetry' TERRANCE HAYES

The poetry of Michael Ondaatje begins in memory: distant landscapes, myths from childhood, fleeting interactions with loved ones, and characters from history itself. In poems that are spare as often as they are fable-like - as tender as they are heart-wrenching - the poet navigates the past, looks toward the future, and unearths inevitable truths about the world.

Assembling Michael Ondaatje's finest poems in one brilliant volume, The Distance of a Shout chronicles the poet's journey - moving book to book, moment to moment, border to border - and leads the reader through the threshold of discovery itself. The Distance of a Shout is a profound and gorgeous collection by an indispensable poet of our time, and proof of why miraculous poetry endures.