From handling of the chessmen you infer the secret springs of human character. To pluck the enemy chessman between your fingers and replace it with your own reveals the cultivated, well-bred killer who cannot stand the sight of blood; knock the chessman over with a small click of wood on wood tells of an aesthetic craving for the fatal instrument, of one more passionate than violent; to push the piece from its intended square is signal of aggressive character and plainly indicates that power is the motive for committing murder; some will hold the captured piece and caress it nervously: these kill from cowardice; those who seem apologetic, taking pawns reluctantly, kill for noble reasons; and he who clears the board with one great sweep of his hand will kill from lack of hope, defeated by the prospect of defeat, as did my father only death could mate.

Reaching for Clear is David Solway's translation of poetry by Dominica's celebrated young poet Rhys Savarin. Savarin now joins the Greek Andreas Karavis and the Turkish Nesmine Rifat in the growing pantheon of figures given life by Solway. An internationalist of the imagination, Solway consolidates his reputation as one of Canada's most original poets with an exciting adaptation of Savarin's lush landscapes, both human and natural. Savarin's bewitching mix of visual acuity and vernacular, his celebratory sense of an island world hedged by magic (or what Savarin himself calls "the flora and fauna of a mythical condition"), has been vividly rendered by Solway into poems distinguished by their clarity, musicality, humour, and insight.