In Love of Mirrors, Gary Hyland blends the most evocative work from his six prior collections with fourteen previously unpublished poems, to reveal an astonishing range of human experience. Calling upon a lifetime of subtle observation, Hyland uses a range of styles and techniques to take his reader on a journey from the playful innocence of childhood, through the bitter compromise of mid-life, to ultimately discover peace in the simple joys of daily life beneath a lengthening shadow of mortality. The resulting collection possesses a narrative voice strong enough to draw the reader inexorably along a path full of the unexpected twists that comprise a life.

Hyland is not content to limit himself to the internal personal struggle, but also addresses the superficial glitter and lingering ambivalence of our post-9/11 society.  Not shying away from the hollow pain of random violence and abuse, he creates a cast of vivid characters that challenge readers to slip beneath their skins and experience their haunting stories directly. In the end, the reader will possess the feeling of having traveled far and experienced much on a route that, even when it brushes the darkest acts, ultimately leads to a haven where even the unworthy can rise above their circumstances and the feel the transcendence of hope.

"If the mastery of the colloquial and the voicing of the lost were all that Gary had to give us, it would be enough. But he is a smart, curious, and richly imaginative man who reflects on the last sermon of the 14th Dalai Lama, the mathematics of John Nash, Leroi-Gourhan’s insights into Paleolithic cave drawings, the movements of Tai Chi, the burning of a child in Viet Nam, the mirror of Elvis Presley." – from Lorna Crozier's introduction to Love of Mirrors. Read Lorna's introduction...

[Gary Hyland’s poetry is]...required reading for those who insist contemporary Canadian poetry is boring, unreadable, esoteric.” – Sheila Robertson, Saskatoon StarPhoenix