Relative to Wind: On Sailing, Craft, and Community [Paperback]

A lingering, long-haul collection of writing about sailing for readers of Julietta Singh and Kyo Maclear.

InRelative to Wind, Phoebe Wang delivers a poetic rendering of her decade-long journey of learning to sail and a deep dive into what it means to be a newcomer to an old tradition. From working along­side crewmates in tempestuous conditions to becoming an avid racer and organizer to drafting a wistful love letter to a Wayfarer dinghy—while examining the loose tether between sailing and a creative life—Wang delivers a book for sailors and would-be sailors that is thoughtful and surprising at every tack.

"A thoughtful, illuminating look at life away from land."—Kirkus

Phoebe Wangis a first-generation Chinese-Canadian who lives and sails in Toronto, Canada. She is the author of the poetry collectionsAdmission Requirements(M&S, 2017), shortlisted for the Gerald Lambert Memorial Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the Trillium Book Award, andWaking Occupations(M&S, 2022), and her fiction and nonfiction have been widely published. She is an adjunct professor and mentor in the University of Toronto Creative Writing MA program.

"A thoughtful, illuminating look at life away from land."—Kirkus

"Although it takes place mostly on the water, Phoebe Wang’s absorbingRelative to Windcovers a lot of ground. In formally inventive chapters, Wang touches upon the history of sailing, the legacies of colonization and discrimination, the emergence of North American yacht clubs, and the evolution of Toronto’s waterfront. She does so with poetic prose."—The Literary Review of Canada

"This is a unique and fascinating memoir, and I’m glad I read it. You should read it too, and be open to the lessons of sailing―and life."―The Miramichi Reader