Pauline Butling

Born in Kaslo, BC in 1939, Pauline Butling began her life at Deanshaven, her grandparents’ home near the town of Riondel on Kootenay Lake. Her family lived there for a year, then at nearby Walkers’ Landing (now the Yosadhara Ashram) before settling in Nelson in 1942. After graduating from LV Rogers High School in Nelson, she completed a BA and MA in English at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and a PhD at the State University of New York in Buffalo. In 1962 she married Nelson-poet Fred Wah. In 1967, they returned to their beloved Kootenays and settled in the village of South Slocan where they raised their two daughters, Jennifer and Erika, and taught at Selkirk College in Castlegar and Nelson. They now maintain a three-season home on the former family home site at Deanshaven, which they share with their daughters, sons-in law, and grandchildren. Previous publications include Seeing in the Dark: The Poetry of Phyllis Webb and two co-authored books (with Susan Rudy), Writing in our Time: Canada’s Radical Poetries and Poets’ Talk: Interviews.