Editor’s Note: Emily Morrison is a 30-year-old from Ontario, Canada. An avid camper, paddler, and winter camper, she spends much of her free time exploring the backcountry of Ontario’s Algonquin Park. This is the same setting where her relative, Tom Thomson, found inspiration for his art, and ultimately where he died under mysterious circumstances in 1917. Emily is working on a written piece for Paddle & Portage where she will share some of her family’s story and connection to Thomson, the acclaimed Canadian artist.

Beyond her own adventures, Emily hopes to inspire her daughter and other mothers navigating postpartum life to discover their strength and capability as women. Emily hopes her travels in the wilderness, along with her poems, show that nature is not only a place of beauty, but also of empowerment and renewal.

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Paddle and Portage is proud to support accomplished writers like Bear Paulsen, Ryan Rodgers and others, as well as people who are being published for the first time. These poems are the first published writing for Emily Morrison.