Relative to Wind

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

Humans have sailed for centuries, but as poet Phoebe Wang discovers, when you step on a boat for the first time, the learning curve is steep. Relative to Wind documents Wang’s decade-long journey of learning to sail, becoming an avid racer and volunteer race organizer, and interrogating what it means to be a relative newcomer to an old tradition.

Drawing literary inspiration from books like Jessica Lee’s Turning, Kyo Maclear’s Birds Art Life, and Leanne Shapton’s Swimming Studies, Wang delivers thoughtful renderings of her experiences—from colonial echoes in sailing language to a beautiful look at what it means like to work alongside crewmates in tempestuous conditions, to battling the desire to quit or gender equity in the sporting world.

Following the motif of a race course and structured to help readers apply sailing lessons and techniques to their relationships, to their art, their careers, to community, and to place, these essays recognize the parallels between sailing and a creative life, and between sailing and a sense of belonging and relationship with the land, inspiring both sailors and would-be sailors to embrace restoration and wonder.

Paperback | 288 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"