some author activity: Quartermain, mclennan, Macdonald, Downs, Jirgens, Marlatt, Bowering + Wah,

Meredith Quatermain is in the Canadian Poet Series via Peripety and/or Tronies; rob mclennan is interviewed as part of Kyeren Regehr's The Poet Laureate Podcast; Dawn Macdonald has an essay up at Strange Pilgrims; Buck Downs has new work at The Arts Fuse; and Karl Jirgens has poems for Daphne Marlatt, George Bowering + Fred Wah over at public reverie.

Karl Jirgens reviews Penn Kemp’s Lives of Dead Poets (2025) at The Typescript

Windsor, Ontario writer, editor and publisher Karl Jirgens was good enough to provide the first review of Penn Kemp’s Lives of Dead Poets (2025) over at The Typescript. Thanks so much! You can read Jirgen's original post here. As he writes:

Penn Kemp’s latest poetry collection, Lives of Dead Poets, is published by Above/Ground Press, 2025. The cover features images by Penn Kemp’s father. This publication features rob mclennan’s utilitarian design with colour cover and black and white guts. This book offers a series of homages to influential writers who have died. As great literary figures depart, there are resonances. In this brief chapbook, echoes go back 50 years to the 1970s, including the City of Toronto, Coach House Press, Victor Coleman, A Space, the Canada Council, Bronwen Wallace, Fred Wah, George Bowering, audio recordings, Kemp’s archives at McGill University, and P.K. Page’s visit to the Kemp’s residence on Toronto Island. Resonances include Toronto’s Harbourfront,  Daphne Marlatt, Phyllis Webb, Robert Creeley, John Ashberry, Allen Ginsberg, Diane di Prima, Gwendolyn McEwen, the City of Cairo, Sound Operas, the City of Vancouver, Robert Hogg, bp Nichol, GrOnk, Underwhich Editions, the Music Gallery, the Glenn Gould Studio, Sound Poetry, and London’s WordFest. All these people, places, and events resonate along with Penn Kemp’s sense that she was lucky to come of age within such a grand poetic milieu.  

This collection features homages to diverse dead poets while offering an elegiac tribute to past authors who left meaningful impressions on our literary worlds. Penn Kemp’s open stylistics inform these tributes while posing many questions. Are we waving while we are drowning? Why is meaning blurred? Why are possibilities opened? Why is meaning un-fixed? Kemp plays with the building blocks of language. Meanings shift, and become multi-valent, malleable, polysonic, polymorphous, polysemous. Words build and lead to other words, meanings mutate, gears shift, while the line with the lion lying with the lamb goes on the lam. Kemp develops her own signs, her own language. Lexical uncertainties become her style. Doorways open into strange new worlds, open ended, multifarious, rife with free morphemes, rich with latent meaning, and lush with occasional licentious lexicons. Kemp’s style provides an abundance of multiple meanings, language runs freely dialogical. We are granted simultaneous senses of complexities, depths, and layers. With reference to Jack Spicer, Kemp speaks of Rimbaud and says;

read Rimbaud instead and lie

            with the lion on the lam to lie on it,

                        no lie!— loose

occupational hazard—

            pelt, spelt

                        and all played out.

*

Is Kemp echoing Roland Barthes’ (1967) essay, “The Death of the Author,” where he says that the meaning of a poem is not fixed, because it is interpreted by each reader? Or, does Penn Kemp find a greater influence in Derrida, not Barthes? Does each reader hear and see a plethora of wonders? Are these mythologies or writings degree zero (which consider the arbitrariness of linguistic communication)? Does Penn Kemp introduce us to multi-dimensional linguistic spaces? Are we met with subtle or overlooked characteristics which can lead to new insights? Without a doubt. In any case, Kemp hands us a lion in lieu of a line. Are we met with convolutions of the personal and the universal? Are we confronted by undying texts versus human impermanence? I say, yes. See here. Hear for yourself. This is a brief excerpt from Kemp’s poem “Die Verse”;

As if. What matters. As if. What’s left.
As if. We have only our elegies. As if.
Even the need for elegy. As if remembering
and inventing—invenio —as if.
As I come upon. As I discover.
As if in passing through this vale.
As if memory’s world is
as if trudging up sludge,
As if the word that springs to
mind is devotion, as if, despite
the mess, life’s unholy
business forever left
unfinished.

Penn Kemp weaves us spells of language. Makes magic. Bewitches. Casts spells. Which wood have we entered? Witchwood? She leaves linguistic traces. A trail of bread crumbs. Alert readers will find pathways leading to pleasurable open spaces, or strong silences. This writing features multiple layers, meanings and perspectives. In “Alphabet for Ashbery” Kemp says;

Words in proximity to one another
take on another meaning…What you
hear at a given moment is a refraction
of what’s gone before or after.

 Glorious clumps of crimson berries, brilliant in long
September light. Sorbus domestica, a glow
from that prolific rose family. Mountain ash.

“Rowan is the tree of power, causing
life and magic to flower. Not to be
forgotten, set aside, or ignored”—

Pssst! except by the emerald ash borer
that does not attack our rowan,
itself the too-bright green pest—

*

This collection acknowledges various significant periodicals and small presses, including, The Typescript, The Malahat Review, Boneshaker Anthology, Texteditions, Brick, Insomniac Press, Moonstone Press, Above/Ground, plus Penn Kemp’s essay “An Ecology of Intimacy” (https://poets.ca/npm22-blog-penn-kemp/ ). The acknowledgements recognize significant poets including Robert Creeley, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Jack Spicer, Phyllis Webb, Robert Hogg, John Ashbery, James Reaney, Wayson Choy, Les Murray, Colleen Thibaudeau, P.K. Page, bp Nichol, Teva Harrison, Joe Blades, Joe Rosenblatt, Robert Kroetsch, and Ellen S. Jaffe, among others. All of these authors were engaged in the fine art of being. These acknowledgements cover a period from the 1970’s to the present and address years of creative energy. So many heroes are gone now. Friends. One by one, they depart. Leaving voices, memories, wisdoms, and chasms. Penn Kemp’s collection provides a tribute to these and other creators.

You should know about Penn Kemp’s poetry and activism. She has been celebrated as a trailblazer since her first publication (Coach House, 1972). Penn Kemp has long participated in Canada’s cultural life. She’s had roughly three dozen books of poetry and prose published, as well as seven plays and multimedia works, plus collaborations (for example see; www.riverrevery.ca). Penn Kemp served as London Ontario’s inaugural Poet Laureate, and The League of Canadian Poets’ “Spoken Word Artist” (2015).  In addition she is acclaimed as “a foremother of Canadian poetry”. In case you haven’t noticed, Penn Kemp is one of Canada’s national literary treasures. Her recent poetry collaborations include “Intent on Flowering,” https://rosegardenpress.ca/intent-on-flowering/ and her anthology for Ukraine titled Poems in Response to Peril, co-edited with Richard-Yves Sitoski, https://www.rsitoski.com/poems-in-response-to-peril. Penn Kemp’s latest collection of sound poetry, Incrementally, text and album, can be found at https://www.hempressbooks.com/authors/penn-kemp, and www.pennkemp.weebly.com, plus, www.pennkemp.wordpress.com. Kemp has spoken these words for you and for me. Read these readings and writings. Read these pleasures of the text!

some author activity: Rogal, mclennan, Burdick, Jirgens, Browne, Berlatsky + Boyle,

Stan Rogal is interviewed for National Poetry Month at All Lit Up, and a poem by rob mclennan is posted as part of such; rob mclennan has a new poem up at Oatleaf; Alice Burdick is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; Karl Jirgens is included in a feature dedicated to the life and work of Lyn Hejinian at Jacket2, as co-edited by forthcoming author Laynie Browne; Noah Berlatsky has a poem up at Oatleaf; and Frances Boyle has a new poem up at Glass: A Journal of Poetry.

some author activity: Houbolt, MacEachern, Inniss, mclennan, Jirgens + Beaulieu,

Kyla Houbolt has a new poem up at The Pi Review, as does Jessi MacEachern; Scott Inniss is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; rob mclennan is interviewed by Jamie Tennant over at his podcast; and Karl Jirgens offers an homage to Aritha van Herk, Fred Wah and Derek Beaulieu as part of acknowledging thirty years of filling Station magazine via The Typescript.

some author activity: mclennan, Robertson, Caporaso, Jirgens, van Vliet, Armantrout + Robinson,

rob mclennan has a new poem up at Amsterdam Review, and is interviewed by Stan Rogal for periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics; Lisa Robertson is Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Ralph Gustafson Distinguished Poet for 2024-25 and is giving the Ralph Gustafson Distinguished Poet lecture on October 24 from 7 to 8:30 pm on the Nanaimo campus; Angela Caporaso is interviewed over at talking about strawberries all of the time, where Karl Jirgens also has poems, and Robert van Vliet is also interviewed; Rae Armantrout has a poem up at the Poetry Foundation; and Elizabeth Robinson has new work up at Big Other.

some author activity: mclennan, Webb, Jirgens, Carpenter, Pirie, Tracy + Massey,

a video of rob mclennan reading now exists online as part of the Gap Riot Press summer 2024 launch; there's a conversation between Lindsey Webb and Kelly Hoffer online at BOMB magazine, and Webb also has new poems and book recommendations up at Etcetera; Karl Jirgens has a poem in the "Tuesday poem" series; J.R. Carpenter has new work in Blackbox Manifold; and Pearl Pirie, Karen Massey and Dale Tracy have poems in the August issue of Bywords.ca

some author activity: Kemp-Gee, Jirgens, Kroetsch, Webb + mclennan,

Meghan Kemp-Gee has three poems in issue six of Couplet Poetry; Karl Jirgens' work is part of Jim Andrews' new Sea of Po site, and Jirgens also has new poems for Al Purdy, Robert Kroetsch, Raymond Souster and Louis Dudek over at The Typescript; Lindsey Webb is interviewed by Madeline Howard for Coveteur; and rob mclennan has a new poem up at John Stiles' How Yah Doon?

some author activity: Armantrout, Hyland, mclennan, Jirgens, Hogg, Logan + Anstee,

Rae Armantrout and MC Hyland have new work in Copenhagen Lit; the audio for the interview RC Weslowski and Kevin Spenst did with rob mclennan for Wax Poetic is now online; Karl Jirgens reflects on Robert Hogg in The Typescript; Nate Logan has three poems up at cul-de-sac-of-blood; and Cameron Anstee has a piece on book culling at The Richler Literary Project.

some author activity: Deutch, Arnott, Betts, mclennan, Christakos, Robinson, Jirgens + Smith,

Amanda Deutch has a poem in the "Tuesday poem" series; Joanne Arnott has been named a "Life Member" of The League of Canadian Poets; Gregory Betts has new work and a short write-up on NFTs online at Rattle; rob mclennan has new work in horseshoe journal here and here, as well as a brand-new substack post from "Lecture for an Empty Room"; and Margaret Christakos and Ben Robinson both have new work in Hamilton Arts & Letters, which also includes a conversation between Karl Jirgens and Steven Ross Smith on their ongoing fictions.

HAL magazine, guest edited by Karl Jirgens : Bowering, Spinosa, Earl, Tucker, Davey, Hogg, Clarke, McCaffery, Betts, beaulieu, Rogal, Hall, Lynes, Nećakov, mclennan, Barwin, Arnott, Ross + Norris,

In case you haven't seen, above/ground press author Karl Jirgens guest-edited the fourteenth anniversary issue of Hamilton Arts and Letters, and included work by a whole ton of folk, including numerous (current and former) above/ground press authors! Why not check out the issue as a whole? Or check out the specific submissions by George Bowering, Dani Spinosa, Amanda Earl, Aaron Tucker, Frank Davey, Robert Hogg, George Elliott Clarke, Steve McCaffery, Gregory Betts, derek beaulieu, Stan Rogal, Phil Hall, Jeanette Lynes, Lillian Nećakov, rob mclennan, Gary Barwin, Joanne Arnott, Stuart Ross and Ken Norris! And there are bunches of others as well! So you really have to check out the issue as a whole, really.

new from above/ground press: ECO BLUES: A tale in 3 parts, by Karl Jirgens

ECO BLUES:
A tale in 3 parts
Karl Jirgens
$5

So, you’re working at the coffee shop at the corner of University and somewhere, and you’re thinking you should’ve stayed in school. There’s an unkempt hairy person trying to make small talk from across the counter, and you know they’re trying weasel you into a date. You’re desperate for an intrusion, and as luck would have it, the androgynous advertisement flyer person bursts in. Black lipstick. Strategically zippered, ripped black clothing, augmented discretely with fine-link silver chains, strategically disheveled black hair half-covering various piercings. They plunk the weekly flyers on the counter. You notice the flyers have a prominent “Green” notice saying, “Printed on 70 lb. uncoated, 100% recycled paper.” To avoid the teetotaler, you grab a flyer and begin reading;

You can change your life! Count Alessandro di Cagliostro has discovered a profound secret. Yes! For three easy-to-manage payments of only 19.99, learn how you can re-write the script of your own life! Transform your humdrum existence into a dizzying buzz of delight! How? Simply apply the rhetorical techniques of great fiction to your daily activities! Count Cagliostro will show you how. Just by reading this, your transformative journey has begun!

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
as the fifteenth title in above/ground’s prose/naut imprint
February 2022
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Karl Jirgens, is the former English Department Head, and former Chair of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Windsor. He is the author of two short story collections (Coach House, and Mercury Presses), and two scholarly books (ECW Press). He edited two books (one on painter Jack Bush (Coach House), and another on poet Christopher Dewdney (Wilfrid Laurier UP), plus, an issue of Open Letter magazine (with Beatriz Hausner). His scholarly and creative works are published globally. Jirgens edited and published Rampike, an international journal of art, writing, and theory (1979-2016). Rampike is now digitally archived (free) through the portal at U Windsor’s Leddy Library. WEB: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/rampike/about.html (Non-profit). All copyrights remain with the contributors.

Karl Jirgens’ next short-fiction collection, The Razor’s Edge is due spring of 2022 (Porcupine’s Quill)

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: Ross, Reid, Tate, Archer, Gunnars, Jirgens, Norris + Young,

Stuart Ross is a finalist for the 4th James Tate International Poetry Prize, for his full-length manuscript, "Cringe System"; Monty Reid is interviewed over at Train : a poetry journal; Bronwen Tate now has a newsletter you can sign up for; Sacha Archer has posted "an improvisation by Sacha Archer played on a broken stand-up piano that was found in a large dumpster in the downtown of Peterborough, Ontario c. 2007" via YouTube; and above/ground press authors Ken Norris, Karl Jirgens, Geoffrey Young and Kristjana Gunnars, among others, have new work in the latest issue of mouse eggs.

some author activity: Grayhurst, Cochrane, Reed, Barwin, Poe, Graham, Adams + Earl,

Allison Grayhurst has two poems in the new issue of Ann Arbor Review; Mark Cochrane has a new poem posted as part of the "Tuesday poem" series on the dusie blog; Marthe Reed has "Five Poems from Binx's Blues, with a Note on the Process (On Lines from Walker Percy)" over at Jacket2, alongside a short piece Gary Barwin wrote on the visual poetry of Karl Jirgens; Deborah Poe is all over Atticus Review lately, with new poems, an essay and an interview conducted by Lea Graham; Carrie Olivia Adams is one of five poets reading on November 8 at a Rescue Press anthology launch in Iowa City, Iowa, a reading to be live-streamed online; and Amanda Earl also has a new poem up in the "Tuesday poem" series up at the dusie blog.