Saturday Poem

TÊTE-À-TÊTE

The hog
invited me to dinner.

I didn't mind the bristles
on his chinny-chin-chin.

And the truffles by candlelight
were a definite hit. I hadn't

known the porcine heart
was so similar to my own.

Is it true, I asked, that you eat your own kind?
(I had witnessed it with my own eyes,

but wanted to hear him answer.) His wet
snout trembled over the china rims, pink

and blind. You must think I am a monster!
And dabbed a tear with scented linen.

When he did not come back to bed that night
I knew something was wrong.

Tiptoeing down the cold halls I found
an empty room where his body hung

from a hook, like a gorged tick. How
he had climbed up there, and cut his own throat

I do not know. But the blood fell at my feet
like roses.

From Penny Dreadful (2009) by Shannon Stewart.

Blockbuster Poem

Every Friday, the Tyee has run a "blockbuster poem." The 10-poem series, intended as "a perfect way to pause and drift a bit before rejoining the fast-moving flow of the Internet," was organized by Josh Massey and so far has published work by Max Middle, Elizabeth Bachinsky and Ken Belford. Our very own Shannon Stewart appeared last week, with a poem from Penny Dreadful (2009).

Say What?

In the photo above is the desk of Vancouver poet Rob Taylor, as seen by his left big toe. But it's this statement, on our own Signal poet Shannon Stewart, that really caught my attention:

"I’ve read Penny Dreadful three times, I know all about Shannon Stewart’s computer monitor, but I’ve never seen an assortment of her rumpled blouses piled in a hamper. Can I really call myself a fan?” To me, these are the kinds of questions any real lit nerd must ask in this day and age.

Read the rest of what this kook has to say here

"Robert Frost of the Supermarket Aisle"

The Vehicule office is abuzz: major tabloid Weekly World News has featured a poem from Shannon Stewart's Penny Dreadful on their website!

Of course, the attention is utterly appropriate. Penny Dreadful is partially inspired by the bizarre headlines Stewart would scan while standing in the checkout at Safeway.

For more on the book, read her interview with Newfoundland poet Danielle Devereaux on the Maisonneuve website.

Beating the Monday Blues

A mini-deluge of good news for Signal poets. First, a couple of excellent notices for Shannon Stewart's Penny Dreadful. One from Brian Campbell, who reviewed it for Rover ("many of these poems," he says "have a mordant, singsong quality; though penny-sized, they pack a powerful punch"). The other from the Utne Blog ("Rather than disengage from the horrific news, Stewart used her poetry to engage with it through humor").

We also just learned that Jason Guriel squeaked into the inner sanctum of the IFOA. He is one of five poets who, following last week's "verse-off," has been extended an invitation to read in the festival in October. The winner was Jacob McArthur Mooney.

The photo to the left features a "good luck charm shelf" from Stewart's home. You can read all about it here.

The Grasshopper's Guide to CanLit

Marianne Perron, part of the delightful crew at Tragically Unhip, has started a much-needed book reviews site called Grasshopper Reads. I'm very happy to point to her very sharp, shrewd take on Shannon Stewart's Penny Dreadful.

"Much of the book’s punch comes from Stewart’s ironic rendering of the gruesome as mundane, and her daringness to package the disappearance of so many women as quotidian. What results is a commentary on our ability to absorb the abnormal."

Read an interview with Shannon Stewart here.

The Tabloid Addict

Maisonneuve has just posted a terrific interview with Signal poet Shannon Stewart on the subject of her new book, Penny Dreadful.

"The influx of graphic violence in our daily lives is overwhelming and the line between newsworthiness and sensationalism isn’t always clear. What is our relationship to news and what do we do with a packet of horror that lands on our doorstep every morning?"

More here.