Lost and Found

Shane Rhodes explores the "poetic black op" of Canadian found poetry:

That poetry can be built from the unexpected and the unpoetic that surround us has to be one of the continuing attractions of found poetry. At the same time, what found poetry has always offered to poetic practice—whether now, in the 1970s or before—is a shift away from the expected poetic building blocks of classical allusion, metaphor, simile, rhyme and rhythm to focus instead on poetry’s ability to interrogate histories and engineer a critical space for dissention, commentary and argument. With the ever evolving integration of technology into poetry and the increasing availability of interesting source material and new means of collection, sampling and manipulation, this restoked interest in found poetry—as evidenced by recent examples—is only at the beginning.

(Chair sculpture by Tadashi Kawamata.)

Look No Further

Rob Winger celebrates Linda Besner's first book, The Id Kid, for "dis­play­ing a wry matur­ity and aes­thetic self-awareness most debut poets can only dream of":

"If you’re seek­ing 'a tiger rodeo,' 'de futuro ducks,' or 'stone­henge for black flies,' you’ll find them here. If you’re look­ing for inter­tex­tual nuance and ter­rible puns, they’re here, too. And if you’re seek­ing res­ol­u­tion for the sup­posed con­flicts between high and low, base and super­struc­ture, petty and pro­found, look no fur­ther."

More Praise

Assessing last year's GG poetry shortlist with an open-hearted attentiveness to each of the books, Patricia Keeney has some very kind words for Circus ("an energetic high-wire act that runs on the adrenalin of reforming zeal and the comic anger of satire") and Boxing the Compass ("Technically accomplished, the poems are uniformly paced and assured, telling their stories easily, conversationally.")

Quarc Issue

I picked up my issue of Quarc today (basically because Katia Grubisic told me to). Not sure I can do a better job than Melissa over at The Literary Type in describing the unique features of this science-themed Arc/TNQ double header ("the most epic issue in the history of literary magazines.") So I'll leave you to read her post to get the skinny. I'd simply like to point out a couple of goodies available on the website: an interview between Matthew Tierney and Perimeter Institute physicist Lee Smolin, as well as wicked videos of fidgety microbes taken by "amateur microscopist" Bruce Taylor (who has a superb poem in the issue). Be sure to visit Bruce's YouTube channel for more. I've posted one of my favourites. They're worth a view for the charming soundtrack alone.

New Captain

Katia Grubisic replaces Anita Lahey as editor of Arc Poetry Magazine.

More Crowing

Dean Steadman calls Susan Briscoe's The Crow's Vow "unique and masterfully spare." Check out the review here.