Call for submissions to the 2014 bpNichol Chapbook Award!

Meet the Presses has announced their call for submissions for the annual bpNichol Chapbook Award. As they write in today's release:

Interested authors or publishers should submit three copies of a chapbook of poetry in English published in Canada.

Chapbooks should be not less than 10 pages and not more than 48 pages. The chapbooks must have been published between January 1st and December 31st of the previous year (2013), and the poet must be Canadian.

Submissions must be sent by Canada Post or courier (and not hand-delivered to a Meet The Presses collective member) and include a brief C.V. of the author, including address, telephone number, and email address. Publisher contact information (contact person, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone contact) must also be included. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

The closing date for the 2014 bpNichol Chapbook Award is March 31, 2014. Submissions must be received by this date. If submission confirmation has not been received by e-mail by April 30, 2014, please send a query to Beth Follett at: feralgrl@interlog.com.

Send submissions to:

Meet the Presses / bpNichol Chapbook Award
113 Bond Street, St John's NL A1C 1T6

Please visit the Meet The Presses website for more information: www.meetthepresses.wordpress.com

some author activity: Reed, mclennan, Earl, Anstee, Young + Stewart,

Marthe Reed has a new poem up as part of "The Trash Issue" of The Volta, and rob mclennan's small press book fair interview, along with interviews with Amanda Earl, Cameron Anstee and Kimberly Dawkins, was posted as part of a selection of interviews in The Volta's sister publication, The Conversant (the original list of twenty-nine interviews from the fall 2013 ottawa small press book fair is posted here); Amanda Earl's AngelHousePress introduces a new imprint for transgressive work, DevilHousePress; Deanna Young reads at Ottawa's Pressed Cafe's Railroad Reading Series (750 Gladstone Avenue) at 7pm, January 16, alongside Dean Steadman, Susan McMaster, Lesley Strutt and Bruce Taylor; and Fenn Stewart reads with Mat Laporte at Toronto's HIJ Reading Series (260 Ryding Avenue), January 19, 4-7pm.

The Factory Reading Series: Lea, Thomas + Erskine, February 6, 2014

The Factory Reading presents:

a night of readings and chapbook launches

with readings by:

N.W. Lea (Ottawa ON)

Hugh Thomas (Fredericton NB)

+ m erskine (Toronto ON)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan

Thursday, February 6, 2014;

doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm

The Carleton Tavern, Ottawa

223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

author bios:

N.W. Lea lives and writes in Ottawa. He is the author of two previous chapbooks, light years (above/ground press, 2006) and Actual Girl (The Emergency Response Unit, 2011) as well as the full-length collection, Everything is Movies (Chaudiere Books, 2007).

He will be launching his second above/ground press chapbook Present! (2014).

Hugh Thomas [pictured] is a poet and translator living in Fredericton, where he teaches mathematics at the University of New Brunswick. His most recent chapbook, Opening the Dictionary, published by above/ground press, was shortlisted for the 2012 bpNichol chapbook award. Franzlations, a collection of illustrated Kafka remixes, created with Gary Barwin and Craig Conley, was published by New Star Books in 2011.  

He will be launching his second above/ground press chapbook Albanian Suite (2014).

m erskine is a long-time corrupter of words. The poetry condition is responding well to treatment, thanks for asking.

She also had an above/ground press “poem” broadside reprinted in the anthology Groundswell: the best of above/ground press, 1993-2003 (Broken Jaw Press, 2003).

Ground Rules launch! a report,

In case you missed it, I posted a report (with pictures!) on the December 7, 2013 launch we did for Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003 - 2013 (Chaudiere Books) over at the Chaudiere Books blog. Obviously this was the first of what we hope will be many launches, readings and events for the re-launched Chaudiere Books, considered the trade extension of all the work done here through above/ground press. Thanks to all who came, enjoyed, read and otherwise participated! And watch for more to come...

Marilyn Irwin features at In/Words Magazine Shivers: A Showcase

above/ground press author Marilyn Irwin features at the second official In/Words Showcase, hosted by In/Words Magazine [see the facebook invitation here]. Irwin features as part of a group of "new and established artists to demonstrate the wide range of talent in the Canadian literary scene" including Ali Alikhani, Kaleb Hikele, Jane Silcott and Kaleigh Watts.

Irwin is the author of three poetry chapbooks, two of which have been produced by above/ground press: for when you pick daisies (2010) and flicker (2012). Her work also features in the new anthology Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press, 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013).

The show, which will kick off at 7 pm on January 10, 2014 at Pressed Café on Gladstone, will showcase art ranging from indie-folk jams to heartfelt memoirs. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10. Students with a valid student ID card can get discounted entry for $7. Proceeds will benefit the artists performing.

some author activity: Barwin, mclennan, Waldrop, Hall + Earl,

Gary Barwin has a short film he did with Jenna Mariash, "The Hand," now up at Lemonhound; Ryan Pratt includes two above/ground press titles in his 'top five books I read this year' over at his blog, titles by rob mclennan and Rosmarie Waldrop, linking back to the reviews he originally posted at the ottawa poetry newsletter blog; Phil Hall has the final "Tuesday poem" of 2013; rob mclennan lists his "'best of' list of 2013 Canadian poetry books" over at the dusie blog; and Amanda Earl starts a new 2014 feature over at her blog.

the launch of ottawater #10 : Ottawa's annual poetry pdf journal

ottawater is now a decade old!
Ottawa’s annual pdf poetry journal
edited by rob mclennan
www.ottawater.com

The tenth issue of ottawater is soon online (somewhere in January, before the launch), featuring new writing by Sylvia Adams, Cameron Anstee, John Barton, Stephanie Bolster, Frances Boyle, Heather Brunet, Sara Cassidy, George Elliott Clarke, Stewart Cole, Anita Dolman, JM Francheteau, Richard Froude, Elisabeth Harvor, Jenna Jarvis, Nicholas Lea, Michael Lithgow, N.L. Lea, Anne Le Dressay, Sneha Madhavan-Reese, Karen Massey, Justin Million, Colin Morton, Andrew Oliveira, Roland Prevost, Adrienne Ho Rose, Armand Garnet Ruffo, Tim Mook Sang, jesslyn delia smith, D.S. Stymeist, Priscila Uppal, Will Vallières, Gabriel Wainio-Théberge, Matthew Walsh and Deanna Young.

Come out to the launch (featuring readings by a number of this issue’s contributors) on Friday, January 24, upstairs at The Carleton Tavern, Parkdale at Armstrong; doors 7pm, reading 7:30pm.
See the Facebook invitation here.

Founded to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the City of Ottawa, Canada's glorious capital city, "ottawater," and its chemical formula/logo "O2(H2O)," is a poetry annual produced exclusively on-line, in both readable and printable pdf formats, and found at http://www.ottawater.com/. An anthology focusing on Ottawa poets and poetics, its first issue appeared in January 2005, 150 years after old Bytown became the City of Ottawa.

All previous issues remain archived on the site as well. Thanks to designer Tanya Sprowl, the ottawa international writers festival, and Randy Woods at non-linear creations for their continuing support.