It's interesting to consider that this is one area where Canadian poetry -- too often out-flanked on the international stage -- can consider itself competitive, as Zach Wells reminds us in this short essay on James McIntyre's world-class stinker "Ode On the Mammoth Cheese."
Breaking news. Literary exhortation. Entertainments. And occasionally the arcane.
Monday, 30 July 2007
Cheese by any other name
It's interesting to consider that this is one area where Canadian poetry -- too often out-flanked on the international stage -- can consider itself competitive, as Zach Wells reminds us in this short essay on James McIntyre's world-class stinker "Ode On the Mammoth Cheese."
Friday, 20 July 2007
Stand up and cheer
So much so, in fact, that its publication closes yet another stage in the accelerated and astonishing maturation of one of Canada's newest small presses: Biblioasis. Both as publisher and editor, Dan Wells’ horse sense (photo to the left) has become, it seems, damn near faultless. Design-wise, the magazine has never looked sharper. There are authoritative and adventurous essays by heavy-hitters Zach Wells, Shane Neilson and Alex Good. But there’s lots of new faces as well: Patricia Robertson, Matthew Fox, Asa Boxer, and Mark Callanan. All of whom contribute lively, sly, deeply considered pieces. Craig Poile has a wonderful quartet of new poems. David Balzer—who survived a brief stint as marketing manager here at Vehicule in the late 90s—pens a provocative essay (“Ugly is ugly”) on the crisis facing Canadian art criticism. And Gaspereau publisher Andrew Steeves writes a fascinating manifesto on the importance of “house type” (Simon Dardick’s eye for design comes in for some high praise).
“We don’t want boring.” That’s the gauntlet Canada Council director, Robert Sirman, threw down last year to Canadian publishers and writers. But readers also have a responsibility in ensuring that successful risk-taking thrives in this country. They can encourage such ambition the only way that counts: cold hard cash. Buy this issue.
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
In Vino Veritas
The launches of Jeffrey Archer's books involve Krug. The Champagne at Lady Annabel Goldsmith's enchanting -- but unlikely to give Ali Smith sleepless nights -- biography of her dog Copper was spectacular.
When Madonna took over the Kensington Roof Gardens to launch her first children's story a few years back, drinks were of such deliciousness that I can't even remember the title of the book.
A slim, tortured literary novel of impeccable pedigree, on the other hand, will invariably be accompanied by tanninous purple Bulgarian Cabernet Sauvignon glugged from those indestructible little round wineglasses you rent from Bottoms Up.
Everyone's teeth go black and guests look like they have clown make-up round their mouths. I shouldn't be at all surprised if at the launch party for Four Quartets, T S Eliot was drinking warm gin out of a tooth mug."
We're confident that we've never served wine quite that bad at our launches, but the hilarious article from which the above is taken is worth a read.
New Canonites invade Washington
Christopher Patton, Barbara Nickel, and Elise Partridge will be reading in Bellingham at Village Books at 6pm on Thursday July 19. They will read a few poems from The New Canon, as will as from their own volumes—Fielder’s Choice (Elise, far right), Domain (Barbara), and Ox (Christopher). Maybe some newer work too. You can find out a bit more about the occasion here.
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Mary Dalton at large
Prairie Fire Review of Books sent us a link to their recent review of Mary Dalton’s Red Ledger. We’ve been told that there’s another excellent notice in the June/July issue of Books in Canada (though we haven't laid eyes on it yet). Other good news is that Dalton is off to Banff in the Spring of 2008 for three weeks— she’s invited to be one of the resident faculty for the Writing Studio. In the pipeline as well is a chapbook of riddles with the excellent Newfoundland-based micro-press Running The Goat Books. And do check out the very useful CBC Word at Large page devoted to her (Dalton was their poet of the month last March).
Monday, 9 July 2007
Anglo-Quebec poetry buzz.
Also, Jason Camlot and Todd Swift, co-editors of the recent Language Acts: Anglo-Québec Poetry, 1976 to the 21st Century, are currently assembling a feature on Quebec's English language poets for the international online magazine Jacket. It's slated to appear in Autumn 2007.
In the spirit of things, we’d like to direct your attention to a rather special YouTube movie created by Barbara Golden who spent a couple of weeks in Greece with Irving Layton (thanks to The Danforth Review)
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Neglected but not forgotten
Included among the issue’s 13 contributions are essays by Signal Editions poet Anita Lahey (on Dorothy Roberts) and Signal Editions Editor Carmine Starnino (on James Denoon) as well as a very special piece by Asa Boxer (last photo on the left) who wrote about his father, Montreal poet Avi Boxer (1932-1987) —a piece the editors Anita Lahey and Matthew Holmes describe as an “uncompromising analysis” which provides “a new layer on legendary 1950s Montreal, the land of Layton and Klein." Asa’s poetry debut The Mechanical Bird is forthcoming from Signal Editions in October, and as a special treat we're readying a new edition of our Virtual Chapbook which will feature something Asa discovered among his father’s effects following his death: rare and candid photos of CanLit lions in their younger days (Al Purdy, Margaret Atwood and Louis Dudek among them). Not to be missed.
In the meantime, here’s Asa reading his father's poem "Galileo's Telescope" and here's Asa reading at Zeke’s Galley on July 7, 2006 as part of the launch for Anita Lahey's Signal book Out to Dry in Cape Breton
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