Griffin Prize

Griffin Prize finalists were announced yesterday. My feelings about this prize are really conflicted (I vent a little in this essay), though Jake's take seems spot on. That said, I'm happy to see John Steffler on the shortlist. We published his selected poems, Helix, in 2002.

Effin' good

I'm a little late with this, but want to put in a good word for the second issue of Riddle Fence, the smart new Newfoundland literary magazine. A couple of Signal poets make an appearance. Jason Guriel (whose Pure Product is slated for Spring 2009) reviews George Murray's The Rush to Here, and John Steffler (Helix: New and Selected Poems) has four poems.

Highlights also include poetry by the now Montreal-based Danielle Devereaux ("You'll know me when I'm / an old woman. I'll be the one with ratty / fingernails. Jowls."), David O'Meara ("The numbers predict tomorrow / will be cold, with a chance of rain") and David Hickey's hilarious baker ditty ("Even the baker hates me now / Even the baker hates me / Even the baker hates me now / For sins against Lord Bread").

The standout piece, however, is novelist Joel Thomas Hynes' torrentially abusive manifesto, "God Help Thee." Maisonneuve has bravely reprinted it on their website. Or you can hear Hynes' recitation of it -- as well as purchase the MP3 download -- at Riddle Fence.