some author activity: Barwin, Tierney, Strang, Mc Donnell, Sparrow, Swensen, Johnson + Earl,

Doreen Nicoll interviews Gary Barwin for the Small Change Podcast; Orchid Tierney has new work in petrichor; Catriona Strang has a poem up at the Chaudiere Books blog as part of National Poetry Month, as does Conor Mc Donnell, Noah Sparrow, Cole Swensen and Chris Johnson; and Amanda Earl is part of an assemblage of translations of John Keats over at Asymptote, as curated by Johanna Drucker.

new from above/ground press: METAL OF THE FUTURE, by ryan fitzpatrick

METAL OF THE FUTURE
ryan fitzpatrick
$6

SO HYPE 
to join the last vestiges of humanity 
in existential struggle
but am I really, sincerely 
ARMAGETTING what that means?

*insert rockin’ solo*

*tap watch impatiently*

All of your loving?
All of your time?
MINE NOW! MINE!

Gonna melt the Arctic Circle of your heart
and also the planet
to extract what’s there

A REAL MARKET CONCEPT
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY  
AN AUTOMATED PROGRAM TRADING 
FED SLUICED LIQUIDITY 
FINANCIAL CIRCUIT BREAKER TYPE 
MARKET CONCEPT

Fig. 1: Market Cap by Rare Mineral Density

Irrationalized exuberance
BORING AMERICA

THERE IS SOME POINT TO IT
AND I DONT KNOW WHAT THAT POINT IS

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
May 2026
produced in part for activity at Banff Centre, May 11-18, 
2026, as part of the 50th anniversary of the University of 
Alberta Writer-in-Residence program
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

ryan fitzpatrick currently lives in Calgary, where the Bow meets the Elbow, spiritual centre of cowboy resentment.

This is fitzpatrick’s sixth above/ground press title, after STANZAS #25 (“further revisions,” July 2001), Adolesce (2005), dealingwithit.gif (2015), Dang Me (2020) and Spectral Arcs (2024). Report from the fitzpatrick Society, Vol 1. No. 1, appeared in 2023.

To order, send cheques (add $2 for postage; in US, add $3; outside North America, add $7) 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

new from above/ground press: My Little Sister, by Elena Zhang

My Little Sister
Elena Zhang
$6

Lemons

I lost my little sister near 
a lemon tree. The morning clouds 
shuddered 
and made a life. 
I patted my pockets for hours 
before giving up. 
The lemons 
were as big as throats. 
It’s easier to say sister than god. 
It’s easier to desire than pray.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
April 2026
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Cover image: Aoife McLennan

Elena Zhang is a Chinese American writer and mother living in Chicago. She is the author of the micro-chapbook The Moon, My Heart (tiny wren lit, 2025), and her work can be found in HAD, Wigleaf, and X-R-A-Y, among other publications. She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, and was selected for Best Microfiction 2024, 2025, and 2026.

To order, send cheques (add $2 for postage; in US, add $3; outside North America, add $7) 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: Tynes, Farina, Cone, Brockwell, Unsworth, Weaver, Christie, Shafer, Houbolt + Armantrout,

Jen Tynes, Laura Farina, Jon Cone, Stephen Brockwell (for Jason Christie), Lydia Unsworth and forthcoming author Emily Shafer all have poems on the Chaudiere Books blog for National Poetry Month; Brockwell also has new work up at The Pi Review, as does Andy Weaver; Kyla Houbolt has work in eunoia review; and Rae Armantrout has a poem up at The New Yorker.

new from above/ground press: TAKE COVER, EVERYONE, by Clara Yeager and Sarah Burgoyne

TAKE COVER, EVERYONE
Clara Yeager and Sarah Burgoyne
$6

Fish that I am, and what I am.
I hold impressive secrets. They fill my ears.
Fridge in the back of my fish cave. Yes, 
I am brave. I am. Am I?

Windows peer into my eel-like soul that jolts electrically
when I listen. I only hear screams
Oh-so-da-Gama-ray…

Why was it that when I dyed my hair you stared
at me with dismay, like the auburn-coloured rocks
that you gave me on my 734th birthday, like the yarn
with which I spin this incredible sub-aquatic tale. 

Unseaward is my name and my father’s. And his father’s
and not his father but his mother’s. 

Seabored, yes I am that. Dear reader, 
try to discover with me this light in my skull
that guides my future descendants back home. 

Plastic may be the main terrestrial ingredient of Garbage Island
but I wish to leave. 

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
April 2026
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Clara Yeager and Sarah Burgoyne have collaborated on three poetry collections, Take Cover Everyone, Yes, Your Majesty and We’ve Lost Our Celebrity. Each of their titles is based on a line Clara has uttered on stage and each book is written in the span of three hours. Sarah Burgoyne is the author of Because the Sun (Coach House: 2021), Saint Twin (Mansfield: 2016) and Mechanophilia (Anvil: 2023), an infinite collaboration with American poet Vi Khi Nao. Clara Yeager is a grade nine student in Montreal and an actrice who has starred in productions such as Mean Girls the Musical as Karen, as well as Anything Goes, Frozen and Legally Blonde. They have been friends for over a decade. 

This is Sarah Burgoyne’s fifth above/ground press title, after A Precarious Life on the Sea (2016), TENTACULUM SONNETS (2020), the collaborative WHERE FORTH ART THOUGH (with Susan Burgoyne; 2020) and AN ACCURATE CIGARETTE: Poetry & Prompts (2026).

To order, send cheques (add $2 for postage; in US, add $3; outside North America, add $7) 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: Mellis, Munson, Christie, Brockwell, Niespodziany + Levy,

Miranda Mellis is interviewed over at Tricycle; Jed Munson has new work up at the Chaudiere Books blog for National Poetry Month, as does Jason Christie (a poem for Stephen Brockwell), Benjamin Niespodziany has new work up at The Bulb Region; and John Levy has new work up at The Pi Review.

some author activity: Sandhu, Sawyer, Vitkauskas, Weaver, Marlatt, Pirie, Logan + Shirley,

Mandy Sandhu has some poems up at talking about strawberries all of the time, as do Larry Sawyer and Lina Ramona Vitkauskas; Andy Weaver has a new poem up as part of National Poetry Month on the Chaudiere Books blog, as does forthcoming author Daphne Marlatt, and even Pearl Pirie; Nate Logan has new work up at Some Words; and Vik Shirley has new work up at And Other Poems.