Kim Fahner
Writer ･ Editor ･ Teacher
The Pollination Field
by Kim Fahner
Released August 2025 by Turnstone Press
Kim Fahner’s The Pollination Field is a poetic foray into the literal and metaphorical world of bees, but it also includes an exploration of other pollinators—bats, beetles, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and even humans.
In these poems, Fahner continues with her poetic observation and documentation of how the human world impacts the environment, but also incorporates myth and feminism in her consideration of how women evolve over time.
"As I read Kim Fahner's poems and imaginative folktales of bees, I find my mind conjures a sensory world where a woman stands in a window: sunlight and dust fly around her, as well as bees, birds, pollen, the notion of the world, even. The essence of light haloed around life, this woman, and all things. Then I hit lines like this: Remember this: the lighthouse comes before the man./The man is not the lighthouse even if he shines so brightly, and the layers of time and energy disperse, then coalesce again into the woman and the light. Kim Fahner is part Fae queen, part spirit. Her poems are chains of keys that open rooms where our minds fly on dragonfly wings--gossamer."
— Yvonne Blomer, author of Death of Persephone: A Murder
“Kim Fahner's poems are multidimensional, humourous, full of surprises, streaked with grief and occasional terror. The eco-hymn to the vanishing bees, the troubled earth, our personal losses, and our growing fear of the future closing in on us finds new cachet here: new openings, unexpected ways forward, through wit and bravado, a joyful sense of adventure and a deep, playful dive into the mythic and ancestral, finding directional promises and possibilities there, here, everywhere. Waggle dance, anyone?”
— Di Brandt, author of The Sweetest Dance on Earth
"The poems in Kim Fahner's The Pollination Field carry with them the exquisite wisdom of the hive: a deep, embodied love for the land and the intimacies of place, and a rich understanding of the cycles of loss, grief, resurgence, and thriving. Anchored equally in myth and nature, these poems speak of a woman's walking the long road back to herself after emotional devastation. Fahner's words offer incandescent company to others on the path."
— Jenna Butler, author of Revery: A Year of Bees
Debut Novel
The Donoghue Girl
by Kim Fahner
Published September 2024 by Latitude 46 Publishing
The Donoghue Girl is the story of Lizzie Donoghue, the spirited daughter of Irish immigrants who desperately wants to not only escape Creighton—the Northern Ontario mining town where her family runs a general store—but also the oppressive confines of twentieth century patriarchy. She believes her escape can be found in Michael Power, the handsome young mine manager recently arrived in Creighton from the Ottawa Valley.
Caught up in a complex familial love triangle, Michael first courts Lizzie’s older sister, Ann, but then finds himself more and more drawn to Lizzie. Their lives twist and turn as they are all forced to face the harsh reality of the broken expectations of marriage and family just before the onset of WWII in Europe.
This is Lizzie’s story, from beginning to end, and readers will fall in love with her bright spirit as she comes to realize her true strength.
Available in print and eBook format
"Truly resonant literature takes you to a time and place and makes you feel at home, and The Donoghue Girl does exactly that. Kim Fahner has finely crafted an enchanting novel that intimately explores a community and way of life often overlooked in Canadian history and letters. The authenticity and tenderness at the core of these characters will pull you in and enrich your perspective. As someone who now calls Sudbury home, I’m proud and thrilled to see this novel represent a part of this community’s story."
— Waubgeshig Rice, author of Moon of the Turning Leaves
“The Donoghue Girl transports readers to a Northern Ontario mining town in the late 1930s. Cinematic in scope, as well as emotionally intimate, Fahner’s debut novel is a moving portrayal of the Donoghues, an Irish Catholic family, with special focus on middle sister Lizzie, the “feisty” one. This passionate and beautifully written story explores the challenges that arise in family dynamics, often blurring the line between actions unbidden and by choice. Filled with cutting insights and astute observations, this is a gorgeous read.”
— Catherine Graham, author of Quarry and
The Most Cunning Heart
"I loved spending time in Kim Fahner's northeastern Ontario of the 1920s and 30s, brought vividly to life with her poet's pen in her debut novel The Donoghue Girl. Following the tumultuous relationship between feisty Lizzie Donoghue and troubled miner Michael Power, this story is an ode to place and a smart consideration of the limitations of choice in a time ruled by dangerous work, impending war, and binding gender roles. It left me thinking, longing for that Ontario landscape, and holding Lizzie in my heart... "
— Lauren Carter, author of Places Like These
Emptying the Ocean
Published Autumn 2022 by Frontenac House
Emptying the Ocean is a poetic journey based on the ancient Irish immram tales—the soul voyages taken by a woman who moves mystically through the four elements and the spirited Otherworld. Water, earth, air, and fire are woven through with imagination, inspiration, and spirit.
The voice of the selkie bookends the collection, and the character of the sailor finds himself caught up in her wake. Rooted firmly in Irish myth and lore, with references to strong female figures who shapeshift and move between dimensions, there are Atlantic echoes of both Ireland and Newfoundland at work in these poems.
Signed copies of Emptying the Ocean are available in Sudbury at:
The Art Gallery of Sudbury (215 John Street)
Seasons Pharmacy and Culinaria (815 Lorne Street)
Bay Used Books (124 Elm Street)
Books and Beans (158 Elgin Street)
Chapters (1425 The Kingsway)
Emptying the Ocean:
A long playlist
