In my last post, a reference was made to Michelle Desbarats’ poem “Peas” appearing in a shop window in the Glebe. This seems like a good moment to talk about another Ottawa poet who resided temporarily in a Glebe window. Michael Dennis’ 1986 collection poems for jessica-flynn (Ottawa: Not One Cent of Subsidy Press) wasContinue reading “Michael Dennis – poems for jessica-flynn”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Michelle Desbarats: A (sort-of) Interim Finding Aid
Michelle Desbarats is a widely appreciated, if arguably under-published, poet in Ottawa. Her first and only trade collection, Last Child to Come Inside, was published in 1998 by the Harbinger Poetry Series at the Carleton University Press. For years now her working biography for readings, magazines, and anthology appearances has declared some variation of theContinue reading “Michelle Desbarats: A (sort-of) Interim Finding Aid”
Jay Macpherson, Emblem Books
Jay Macpherson died earlier this year (21 March 2012) at the age of 80. Her death was met with a surprising silence in its immediate wake (with a handful of exceptions). Macpherson is known primarily as a poet. Her reputation is built on a small number of collections in the 1950s, culminating in a GovernorContinue reading “Jay Macpherson, Emblem Books”
Diversity and Representation
I’m late to this conversation. On May 4, Natalie Zina Walschots published a captivating post on her blog regarding the disparity between the numbers of books by men and women reviewed in the National Post in the previous year and a half. Just over a year ago, Sina Queyras wrote passionately about gender bias inContinue reading “Diversity and Representation”
Notes on Five Canadian Small (micro) Publishers
rob mclennan recently published a piece called “Notes on Five Canadian Small (micro) Publishers” in the Australian magazine Cordite Poetry Review. Holy cow, what a list, and my own little Apt. 9 was lucky enough to be included. The other four presses are four of the best outfits going in Canada: AngelHousePress The Emergency ResponseContinue reading “Notes on Five Canadian Small (micro) Publishers”
The Hard Return by Marcus McCann
Hey, I’ve got three words in a book with a spine! I was at Octopus Books yesterday where I picked up Lisa Robertson’s new Bookthug title Nilling, as well as Marcus McCann‘s second trade collection, The Hard Return, published by Insomniac. Marcus lives in Toronto currently, but he was a longtime stalwart of Ottawa’s creativeContinue reading “The Hard Return by Marcus McCann”
Grey Matters: The Peace Arts Anthology (Ottawa: Peace Arts Publishers, 1985)
My formal literary education, as well as my small press/little mag educations, find their origins at Carleton University. I spent several years working with a little mag and chapbook press called In/Words run out of a small office on the 19th floor of Dunton Tower. At the time, it felt as though Carleton had veryContinue reading “Grey Matters: The Peace Arts Anthology (Ottawa: Peace Arts Publishers, 1985)”
Hello, World!
Ok. So I’ve started a blog. First, my apologies. Second, I intend this blog to be a site to collect and document my various interactions with the literary community (most directly in Ottawa, but hopefully more broadly). Initially, I’ve gathered up some reviews and research notes previously published at Ottawa Poetry Newsletter, as well asContinue reading “Hello, World!”
Something Else
Something Else was a short-lived Ottawa-based literary magazine. It survived for a single issue published in March 1963. I turned up a listing for it in the process of searching for previously uncollected William Hawkins poems. Hawkins edited the mag along with Denis Faulkner. Harry Howith and F.A. Harvey are listed as “Associates” on theContinue reading “Something Else”
Review: Notes from a Cartywheel by Christine McNair
[Originally published at Ottawa Poetry Newsletter, 26 November 2011] Notes From A Cartywheel Christine McNair Ottawa: AngelHousePress, November 2011 A cartwheel is a strange thing. It implies movement but also return. It is cyclical. It is repetition with change. One arrives somewhere familiar but not quite the same as where one started. The cartwheel, orContinue reading “Review: Notes from a Cartywheel by Christine McNair”
Cameron Anstee 