LOWTHER, Christine 1967-

PERSONAL: Born November 19, 1967, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; daughter of Pat Lowther (a poet); father, a magazine publisher. Ethnicity: "Celtic." Education: Attended Capilano College, 1986; earned national certificate in countryside-related studies in England, 1992; attended Simon Fraser University, 1995. Politics: "Radical green." Religion: "Pagan." Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, kayaking, hosting a local radio show, "gazing at waves."

ADDRESSES: Home—Box 127, Tofino, British Columbia V0R 2Z0, Canada E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Friends of Clayoquot Sound, past director.

MEMBER: Federation of British Columbia Writers, Clayoquot Writers' Group, Tofino Natural Heritage Society (director).

WRITINGS:

A Cabin in Clayoquot (memoir), privately printed, 1996.

New Power (poetry), Broken Jaw Press (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada), 1999.

Work represented in anthologies, including Vintage 86, League of Canadian Poets; and Salt in Our Blood, 2003. Author of "It's a Floater's Life," a column in Gig and Sound. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Monday and Cottage.

WORK IN PROGRESS: It's a Floater's Life: The Book, on living on a floating house "far from town."

SIDELIGHTS: Christine Lowther told CA: "I was brought up by writing parents whom I wanted to please. First published at age seven in my father's Vancouver magazine Pegasus, I was hooked. Writing has become an insatiable drive to prove myself, but it is also the one thing that truly nourishes me.

"Nature and wildlife particularly influence my work. Briony Penn, author of A Year on the Wild Side, is an inspiration; her passion for the natural world is only equaled by her sense of humor.

"When writing poetry, expression came easily and with a sense of relief. The poems wrote me. Now I write articles and the odd postcard story, much more laborious processes—sweat, polish, and shine.

"New Power was a book that had to be written for my health. Murder will out. Living on a small island densely covered in Canadian rainforest brought the stillness that was required for the memories to come. I also wanted to have my say on what happened to my mother and to my childhood. [Poet Pat Lowther died in 1975. Her husband, Roy Lowther, was later convicted of her murder.] There are rumors that New Power, along with Time Capsule, my mother's book for which I wrote an introduction, will be translated into French.

"I write articles because I like the idea of getting paid to do what I love, and nonfiction happens to be what I like to read as well. I'm inspired to write about nature and wild creatures because I care about them. They are magical, fragile, and under-represented even while they are alarms going off for all life.

"I'm working on a book about living in a floating house two hours by kayak from civilization because I have to write what I know, and about what I love and enjoy. I hope it will inspire delight in and protection of the wild."