The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
When Glenda Walker-Hobbs retired five years ago, a friend predicted that it wouldn't be long before the publication of poetry books bearing her name. She smiled but didn't put much stock into the idea. How things have changed. Walker-Hobbs is now preparing to simultaneously launch her second and third books of poetry, both very personal pieces of work. The Waldron Wild Cats is a collection of poems about the many cats in her life, while In and Out of the Shadows expresses the sometimes painful struggle with weight she and friends have endured. "It's a way I can express myself," said the poet, who moved to Flin Flon in the mid-1970s. "What I like about poetry is that it's succinct. You have to kind of crystalize your thoughts. I might put as much effort into one poem as someone else puts into a novel." Walker-Hobbs' first book combined her love of poetry with her love of Flin Flon. Published two years ago, The City on the Rocks featured poems such as Smoke Stack Images, Autumn at Bakers Narrows, Mandy Mine, and Marijuana Capital. Her latest thin paperback books pack an emotional punch. The Waldron Wild Cats (the title refers to Waldron Avenue, where she lives) details the joys and sorrows of being a pet owner. One writing reflects on the diabetes-related death of one of her beloved cats. Proceeds from the book will go to the Flin Flon, Creighton, and Area SPCA in memory of Tiffany. "I've just always loved cats," said the former McIsaac School library technician. "Each cat has its own unique personality. You never know what they're going to do next. They're nice literary mascots." In and Out of the Shadows also ventures to both ends of the emotional spectrum as Walker-Hobbs describes her lifelong struggle with weight and shares similar stories from friends. "I wrote the book on the theory that if you have a weight problem, you hide in the shadows, and when you lose weight, you come out," she said. Walker-Hobbs doesn't shy away from the somber details of her weight problem, dealing with issues such as prejudice, rude comments, and obscene phone calls. See 'Theraputic' P.# Con't from P.# Many people would no doubt have a terribly difficult time putting those kinds of experiences in print, but she found it therapeutic. "There's always this cliché that fat people are jolly and stupid," she said. "I hope this proves there's at least one intelligent woman with a weight problem." For Walker-Hobbs, who seriously took up poetry more than three decades ago, the books are a grand achievement. "It's kind of nice to tell someone, 'Well, that's my book over there,'" she smiled. "I guess there's still enough of the kid in me to get me excited about seeing something in print with my name on it." Having written at least 200 poems, Walker-Hobbs believes she has at least four or five more books within her imagination just waiting to come to fruition. Already she's at work on poetry collections about her hometown of Birtle, Manitoba, as well as Ottawa, where she lived for five years. Walker-Hobbs will read her work at the official launch of her new books this Tuesday, July 20, at the Flin Flon-Creighton Public Library beginning at 7 p.m. Copies of all three of her books are available at the library or from the author or publisher, Lighthouse Publishers (2000).
