Following the Summer (8 page)

A census taker has climbed all the steps, descended all the

hollow roads. The count is untrue. Too many children

with ivory skin and tawny hair are born, have

disappeared. The town is closed, it is strewn with scraps of

them. Everything is asphalt, as far as the lamps. Impatient

women urge the seasons, which change on dusty squares.

Here there was once gold, and water, and men stirred the

earth. They wrote their names in mauve ink that welled

from the lake. A line races across the paper. Who turned it

yellow? The account is untrue.

About the Publisher

House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian-authored books, a mandate that continues to this day even as the list has branched out to include internationally acclaimed thinkers and writers. The press immediately gained attention for significant titles by notable writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, George Grant, and Northrop Frye. Since then, Anansi's commitment to finding, publishing and promoting challenging, excellent writing has won it tremendous acclaim and solid staying power. Today Anansi is Canada's pre-eminent independent press, and home to nationally and internationally bestselling and acclaimed authors such as Gil Adamson, Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Peter Behrens, Rawi Hage, Misha Glenny, Jim Harrison, A. L. Kennedy, Pasha Malla, Lisa Moore, A. F. Moritz, Eric Siblin, Karen Solie, and Ronald Wright. Anansi is also proud to publish the award-winning nonfiction series The CBC Massey Lectures. In 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Anansi was honoured by the Canadian Booksellers Association as “Publisher of the Year.”