Fables from the Women's Quarters won the Commonwealth Prize for poetry in 1984. A tribute to the women who create the fabric of life, Fables from the Women's Quarters contains poems that have become classics, including "Where the Sky is a Pitiful Tent," based on the harrowing testimony of Guatemalan writer Rigoberta Manchu, and "Policeman Cleared in Jaywalking Case," inspired by a racist incident on an Edmonton street.