Best Selling Books by Robert Hilles

The Pink Puppet now extends Robert Hilles'' literary reputation into the world of Flash Fiction. The twenty-six pieces span many time periods and locations. Here is what the Author says about this literary form: "I came to flash fiction through the prose poem. But now I am drawn to flash fiction because the form presents opportunities neither in the prose poem nor longer fiction allows. I like the rudeness and brevity of them. Unlike the prose poem, flash fiction focuses on key fictional elements like character, plot, dialogue, and drama. It is the drama and precision of the form that draws me to flash fiction. I like that in as little as one to three pages it is possible to convey complex relationships between characters. The briefness of the form presents huge challenges to writers, but it is that brevity that has allowed flash fiction to thrive over the past few decades. A key reason that readers are drawn to flash fiction is because in a few minutes of reading they can take in an entire story. The form demands as much of readers as it does of writers."

In his seventh book of poetry, Hillies describes his feelings of affection and admiration for his mother-in-law, and the sense of loss the family experienced upon her death of cancer in her middle years. An astounding collection of poems, Cantos from a Small Room won the Governor General''s Award for poetry.

From acclaimed novelist and Governor General’s Award-winning poet Robert Hilles comes a haunting story about the desperate choices made in wartime, and lives affirmed or shattered in a moment. In the final, chaotic days of the Second World War, Tommy, a young Canadian soldier, is separated from his unit and lost in enemy territory. Seeking shelter among the rotting haystacks and devastated farmhouses of the German countryside, he follows a cry to a bloodied and terrified girl. When he decided to save her from starvation, or worse, Tommy’s life is forever changed. And in 1960s northern Ontario, fourteen-year-old Judith discovers what her mother, Alice, has already learned: that when circumstances and frustrated desire force you from home, sometimes all you can do is begin life afresh. Impetuous, intelligent and suspicious, Judith is on the verge of bringing old mistakes into a new world. These lives are woven into a story at once grand and intimate. Spanning continents and generations, A Gradual Ruin is an engrossing account of lives damaged in the present those lost in the past. With patience and empathy, Robert Hilles vividly captures the ache for the missing parent or lover, and the guilt for those imperfectly loved, or unintentionally betrayed. From Stalin''s gulags to the farms and paper mills of northern Ontario, A Gradual Ruin probes a life''s purpose, and a heart''s responsibility in a world far beyond our power to control. In the theatre of war as within the confines of family, our lives often turn not on our goodwill or our careful plans, but on the caprice of fate. He crawled a good distance into the forest before he heard the whimpering. At first, he thought he imagined it, fatigue playing tricks on him. But as he moved forward, the sound grew stronger. Worried that he was stumbling into a trap, he thought for a moment about heading back, but his heart drew him to the sound against his better judgment. He inched closer, and the sound became more clearly that of a crying child. Near the source, the bush opened up, and he saw someone lying in the dirt, so covered in filth and blood that at first he couldn''t make out whether it was a boy or girl. He pulled himself to within a few feet and the sobbing stopped. The girl had seen him, but she made no attempt to flee or defend herself. Tommy reached out a shaking hand to brush aside the dirt and mud, and she screamed so loudly he clasped his hand around her mouth, but she bit him and he had to let her go. Her hair clung to her head in matted, muddied clumps. She was only thirteen or fourteen. -- from A Gradual Ruin

Profiles of twenty-two baseball greats provide an outline of baseball history.

Raising of Voices consists of a series of prose pieces that form the loose narrative following one family''s journey through madness and alcoholism to love. Daniel''s world is torn apart first by his father''s drinking and then by his mother''s madness. But through all the terror and pain an understanding begins to be shaped. Set in the bush near Kenora, Ontario, the landscape is a haunting presence throughout the book.

Robert Hilles’ latest book of poetry, time lapse, refuses to stay in one place, or indeed, in one time. From the streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand, to recollections of building a romance, Hilles pitches us backwards into childhood anecdotes of an uncle with a glass eye and family lost in the fog. The poems in time lapse are like memories, fleeting, specific and ever-changing, at once in the present, past, and future.

The novel features two main narratives in alternating chapters. The first narrative is set in Khon Kaen Thailand in 1970. This narrative follows the developing love story between Tuum and Roong. Tuum is a high school mathematics teacher and Roong has been forced to work in a wealthy family''s home to pay off a family debt. As they fall deeply in love, Roong''s circumstances become more precarious and dangerous. The second narrative in present day Thailand follows Canadian ex-pat Ed Linn, married to a Thai woman. While Ed is helping her great uncle Song harvest his rice crop, he witnesses a murder. He soon learns that there are very powerful and complicated connections between him and the murder victim. Over time these connections get more and more complicated and eventually this narrative converges with the first narrative.

Nothing Vanishes convinces his audience that Hillies'' talents are still multiplying. If you only read one book of poems this month, let this be the one.

In his fourteenth book of poetry, Partake, Governor General''s Award winning poet Robert Hilles writes frankly about the death of his younger brother from cancer. He travels to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to grieve and heal and through these poems we see East meeting West. Partake chronicles the power of family and the spiritual journey from loss to renewal. "In Partake, Robert Hilles proves himself to be a poet of bluntness and deep feelings. He writes about the untimely death of his younger brother with arresting, tactile metaphors and a sense of sorrow that spans mere distance and becomes a series of sunken islands and stark mountain peaks. He writes about several different deaths here, the death of innocence primary amongst them. These are poems that utter themselves in cries of grief and praise, poems that are vastly, vitally alive." Ð Barry Dempster, author of The Burning Alphabet and Love Outlandish

Robert Hilles''s fifteenth book, and twelfth book of poetry, continues his fascination with the complexities of daily life. For the first time in one volume readers are able to have the best poems spanning his career to date. Throughout this volume, the Governor General''s Award-winning poet writes poems that are at times philosophical, tender, and sensual. Although his poetry is candid and does not shy away from difficult subjects, it maintains a sense of hope, a sense of healing. Robert Hilles divides his time between Calgary and Salt Spring Island.

An investigation into what we mean by work "wild." Robert Hilles has won the Governor General''s Award for poetry and is author of 11 books of poetry and 3 of prose.

A book full of compassion and love, without a shred of sentimentality. Hillies'' earlier books of poetry include Look the Lovely Animal Speaks, The Surprise Element, An Angel in the Works and Outlasting the Landscape.

From God''s Angle is a collection of poetry dedicated to physics and metaphysics. Focusing on the Chernobyl accident, Robert Hilles uses prose poetry to weave a narrative of this disaster and the nearly thirty-five years that have passed since. Hilles branches in several directions in this collection, exploring the impact Chernobyl had on the people and the ecosystem. Woven throughout, a love poem sequence called A Piece of Rag Wrapped Gold, serves as a backbone to the collection. Exploring the various nuances and tentacles of particle physics, including concepts such as Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Prompt Neutrons, and Delayed Neutrons, Robert Hilles commands a breadth of emotion that will keep the reader turning the page for more.

Robert Hilles, the winner of the 1991 Governor General''s Award has returned with a new book of odes, dealing with ordinary things surrounding his life. They cover everything from war to love, drawing you into their fresh intimacies with the world.