Mori McCrae

Poetry 2018

Passersby published by Grey Borders in 2018 containing "peopled poems."
Excerpt from Passersby:

Garden Gloves

We garden as we grieve
when it hits me--
my brothers miss their father
in a way I, his daughter
never could, nor would.

'Dont overfill those leaf bags" reprimands Dan
"damp weight exceeds the lift strength of any given man
"Be careful" warns Paul "the springs on gates store harm
for small wild things."

I raise my garden gloves
a hand in each, spattered rosebuds on their backs
"Stop" I say, "I've heard enough idolatry of men for man,"

But now I fear
I've said to much
its not my nature
to crush, to causse a smear
where wet already stains
my brothers cheeks

Mori McCrae was born in Toronto in 1961. She attended the Ontario College of Art from from 1982-1986 graduating from Fine Art, winning the Forsythe Scholarship for painting in her final year.

For the last 22 years, McCrae has lived and worked in the Niagara Region. She is a founding member of the Jordan Art Gallery (2001), where she currently exhibits her work and actively promotes artists from the Niagara Region. She is also a member of The Canadian Authors Association.

The artist has received numerous exhibition assistance grants from the Ontario Arts Council, for travel, teaching and exhibiting.

In 2011 McCrae was awarded an artists residency at the renowned Cill Rialaig Artist Residency in Ireland where she expanded her practice to include the limenal shift from image to word.
In 2013 she attended Sim Residency in Iceland and in 2015 and 2018 at The Tyrone Guthrie Centre to further this exploration.

Cherish 18x24 inches mixed media drawing 2018

Poetry 2017

Image Credit: Sandy Middleton

Shelf Life, currently available at the Jordan Art Gallery is Mori McCrae's debut chapbook ( now available in its second perfect bound edition published by Grey Borders Books, containing poems reflecting a life lived in Niagara between the escarpment's edge, and Lake Ontario.

"McCrae tells very short stories about very simple moments that make up a normal day. Her poems are unpretentious and forthright. She does not suppose that her readers want inflated melodrama, and she has no use for hyperbole. Her honesty, in that sense, separates her from ...me. If we were to put our poems on some kind of sliding dignity scale, Mori McCrae would be at one end, with sunshine and flowers…..Buy this book for someone who likes to read but needs to chill out. An older audience will appreciate it more than a younger one. Do you go to a church with a library space? It could use a copy. It would also sell well at a fruit stand on Hwy 8 or a fruit stand on Lakeshore Road in NOTL"
-Reviewed by Terry Trowbridge

Available Works on Display 2018