Larry Sawyer (1970 - February 28, 2025) : (plus fundraiser,

Sad to hear, through Mark Goldstein and Lea Graham simultaneously, that Toronto-based poet, editor and organizer Larry Sawyer died the other night in Toronto. An active and community-minded poet, publisher and reading series organizer, he authored a small mound of book and chapbook titles, founded and edited milk magazine and spent fifteen years running the Myopic Books Poetry Reading Series in Chicago before relocating to Toronto with his partner, the poet Lina Ramona Vitkauskas, during the first Tr*mp Presidency. If such might be possible, there's currently a fundraiser going on, to help raise funds to hold proper memorials for him in Chicago, Fairborn and Toronto.

above/ground press produced his small chapbook A Chaise Lounge in Hell (2003), and I originally connected to him and his work through his online poetry journal milk magazine (begun as a print journal back in 1998). It wasn't until they'd moved north that I had a chance to meet him, once he'd started the milk magazine reading series over at Type Books on Queen Street, and I read there at least twice, including in 2022 [see my note on such here]. According to his Facebook page, he signed a contract with Guernica Editions back in May, 2024 for The Blue Butterfly (2026). It would have been nice for him to have seen that publication through. Tony Trigilio posted a note on him here, with another tribute offered by Mark Lamoureaux here. Larry was a good fella, and huge supporter of poetry. He will be missed.