Contributors: Cameron Anstee, Gary Barwin, Derek Beaulieu, Gregory Betts, Stephanie Bolster, Franklin Bruno, Alice Burdick, Sarah Burgoyne, Ellen Chang-Richardson, Jason Christie, Stephen Collis, Leesa Dean, Buck Downs, Julia Drescher, Amanda Earl, Katie Ebbitt, Kyle Flemmer, Phil Hall, Shelly Harder, Jason Heroux, Brook Houglum, John Levy, Nate Logan, Jérôme Melançon, Gil McElroy, rob mclennan, Lori Anderson Moseman, Benjamin Niespodziany, Ken Norris, Pearl Pirie, Julia Polyck-O’Neill, Monty Reid, Ben Robinson, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Travis Sharp, Michael Sikkema, Kate Siklosi, Misha Solomon, Dani Spinosa, Orchid Tierney, Amish Trivedi, Aaron Tucker, Lydia Unsworth and Andy Weaver.
produced by rob mclennan
sound production/editing by Susan Johnston. recorded by Susan Johnston (except where indicated).
curated/solicited by above/ground press founder/editor/publisher rob mclennan
official mascot: Lionel the donkey
mascot understudies: various
copyright © 2026, the authors
author biographies:
Cameron Anstee is the author of Sheets: Typewriter Works (Invisible Publishing, 2022) and Book of Annotations (Invisible Publishing, 2018), and the editor of The Collected Poems of William Hawkins (Chaudiere Books, 2015). His first book of essays, Footnotes: Case Studies in Canadian Small Press Book Making (Palimpsest Press, 2026), was just published, and a collection of poetry is forthcoming from Knife | Fork | Book in 2027. He runs Apt. 9 Press.
Gary Barwin is a writer and multimedia artist, the author of many books as well as many chapbooks from above/ground press. He lives in Hamilton ON and at https://garybarwin.bandcamp.com/
Derek Beaulieu’s latest book is DO IT WRONG: HOW TO BE A POET IN THE 21ST CENTURY. He can be found online at derekbeaulieu.ca
Gregory Betts is a poet, professor, and editor in St. Catharines, Ontario. He is the author of Avant-Garde Canadian Literature (UTP 2013) and Finding Nothing (UTP 2021) and 11 books of poetry.
Stephanie Bolster’s latest book, Long Exposure (Palimpsest, 2025) was a finalist for the Pat Lowther Award. Her first book, White Stone: The Alice Poems, won the Governor General’s Award and the Gerald Lampert Award. She grew up in Burnaby, BC and teaches creative writing at Concordia University in Montreal. [recorded by the author]
Franklin Bruno is the author of the poetry collection The Accordion Repertoire (Edge), several chapbooks including two from above/ground, and a critical monograph on Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces (33 1/3/Bloomsbury). As a songwriter and musician, he leads The Human Hearts, and performs with Laura Cantrell, Tsunami, and Beth Kaplan. Raised in Southern California, he now lives and writes in Jackson Heights, Queens. [recorded by the author]
Alice Burdick is the author of six books of poetry and she lives in Lunenburg/E'se'katik. Her most recent title Ox Lost, Snow Deep, was shortlisted for the 2025 Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award and longlisted for the 2025 Raymond Souster Award.
Sarah Burgoyne lives and writes in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal.
Ellen Chang-Richardson is a poet, hybrid genre writer, and editor. The author of five solo chapbooks and (soon to be) two trade collections, they write to shine a light. [recorded by the author]
Jason Christie lives and writes in Ottawa. He is the author of Canada Post (Invisible), i-ROBOT (Edge/Tesseract), Unknown Actor (Insomniac), and Cursed Objects (Coach House), and his chapbook Glass Language Untitled Exaltation (excerpt) (above/ground) won the bpNichol Chapbook Award. His most recent chapbooks are PSA (above/ground) and Heavy Metal Litany (Model Press). [recorded by the author]
Stephen Collis is a poet based in Vancouver. His most recent book is Knock Down House (Pamenar 2025).
Leesa Dean is the author of three books and two poetry chapbooks. She teaches Creative Writing at Selkirk College where she helps run The Black Bear Review, a journal dedicated to elevating the work of local and emerging writers. She lives in Krestova, BC where she recently finished writing a novel about late 90s indie rock, female friendship, ghosts, and complex families. [recorded by the author]
Buck Downs: Download “This is Not to Say” at https://buckdowns.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-not-to-say-2. Books for sale at www.buckdowns.com. [recorded by the author]
Julia Drescher has two full length collections, Open Epic and The Cuts. She lives in North Carolina.
Amanda Earl's latest work is a collaborative poetry chapbook with Matthew Walsh, published by Knife | Fork | Book. Earl writes prose, poetry and songs on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Peoples. [recorded by the author]
Katie Ebbitt is the author of Fecund (Keith LLC, 2024) and chapbooks ANOTHER LIFE (Counterpath, 2016), Para Ana (Inpatient, 2019), Air Sign (Creative Writing Department, 2024), and HYSTERICAL PREGNANCY (above/ground press, 2024), and AIR SIGN (If a Leaf Falls Press, 2026). She resides in London and New Orleans. [recorded by the author]
Kyle Flemmer is a writer, publisher, and digital media artist from Calgary in Treaty 7 territory. In 2014, he founded The Blasted Tree Publishing Company, a small press focused on experimental poetics and visual art. Flemmer’s books include Barcode Poetry, Supergiants, TzAR: Pixel Art Anthology, and The Wiki of Babel.
Phil Hall writes poetry and lives on Otty Lake near Perth ON. He has published awards, won books, been good, been bad, loves the little words, sings rough but sings. Some titles over the years: Why I Haven’t Written, A Writer’s Guide to Restaurants, Folk Art, Trouble Sleeping, Conjugation...
Shelly Harder is the author of remnants, intimology, zero dawn, and pinion. They hold a doctorate from the University of Oxford and live and write in London, UK.
Jason Heroux lives in Kingston, Ontario. His recent publications include Look Out, Yellow Umbrella (above/ground press) and Unfinished Wilderness (Anvil Press).
Brook Houglum has published the chapbooks Anthronoise and Inventory with above/ground press; her poem “Rewilding” appears in Best Canadian Poetry 2027.
John Levy lives in Tucson.
Nate Logan is the author of Wrong Horse (Moria Books, 2024) and Inside the Golden Days of Missing You (Magic Helicopter Press. 2019). He lives in Indiana.
Jérôme Melançon has published four chapbooks with above/ground press, two books in French with Prise de parole (most recently Prairial), and two with Éditions des Plaines. He is a regular contributor to periodicities, translates poetry, and in his parallel life teaches and writes philosophy.
Gil McElroy is a writer living in North Bay, Ontario. His most recent book of poetry is Long Division (University of Calgary Press).
rob mclennan lives in Ottawa. The author of some fifty books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he recently won the Archibald Lampman Award for the book of sentences (University of Calgary Press, 2025).
Lori Anderson Moseman’s chapbooks include Ignite, Whittle Gristle, Okay? and Too Many Words. Her recent poetry collections are Darn, Y, Flash Mob and All Steel.
Benjamin Niespodziany is a Chicago-based writer, host of the Neon Night Mic reading series, and founder of Piżama Press. You can find more at neonpajamas.com.
Ken Norris was born in New York City in 1951. He came to Canada in the early 1970s and became a Canadian citizen in 1985. He has published more than fifty books of poetry, translation and literary criticism. Norris currently resides in Toronto.
Pearl Pirie reads in rural Quebec. www.pearlpirie.com has new phafours press releases.
Julia Polyck-O’Neill (they/she) is a poet, writer, artist, curator, and critic. Their poetry has been published in The Capilano Review, Canada and Beyond: A Journal of Canadian Literary and Cultural Studies, Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology, Groundwork: the best of the third decade of above/ground press, 2013–2023, and other places. They have published five chapbooks including Process (above/ground press, 2024) and Material (model press, 2021) and their first poetry collection, Bad Material, is forthcoming from Talonbooks in Spring 2027.
Monty Reid is an Ottawa poet with a new book (Intelligence 1.1) coming from University of Calgary Press. His most recent above/ground publication is the 20th anniversary re-issue of his cuba A book.
Ben Robinson is a poet, musician, and librarian. His books include The Book of Benjamin (Palimpsest Press, 2023) and As Is (ARP Books, 2024). He has only ever lived in Hamilton, Ontario on the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Mississaugas. You can find him online at benrobinson.work. [recorded by the author]
Renée Sarojini Saklikar is the author of six books, including the award-winning Children of Air India and Listening to the Bees. She was Poet Laureate for the City of Surrey (2015-2018), co-founded Lunch Poems at SFU, and teaches Creative Writing at Douglas College. Bramah’s Discovery is the third volume of her epic fantasy in verse trilogy, THOT J BAP, The Heart of This Journey Bears All Patterns. She lives in East Vancouver, grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples.
Travis Sharp is author of the poetry books Monoculture and Yes, I Am a Corpse Flower, and, most recently, the chapbook Now When, a Poem, out with above/ground press.
Michael Sikkema lives, works, writes, makes art, and believes in love in West Michigan. He’s the author of a handful and a half of full length collections and a few handfuls of chapbooks. He cannot play guitar, really, but owns two which he enjoys playing around with.
Kate Siklosi writes and publishes experimental poetry in Toronto and has a magpie’s eye for scraps, salvage, and the afterlives of objects.
Misha Solomon is a homosexual poet in and of Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. He is the author of two above/ground chapbooks: FLORALS (2020) and Misha Solomon’s BIODÔME: A Bestiary after Stephanie Bolster (2026). His debut full-length collection, My Great-Grandfather Danced Ballet (Brick Books, 2026), is a finalist for the 2026 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQS+ Emerging Writers and the 2026 A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry, as well as a Jury Selection for the 2026 Grand Prix du livre de Montréal.
Dani Spinosa is a poet, scholar, educator, writer, and a computer programmer. She is the author of two books of poetry: Whispering Gallery (Assembly Press, 2026) and OO: Typewriter Poems (Invisible Publishing, 2020) and one scholarly book: Anarchists in the Academy (U of Alberta Press, 2018), several chapbooks of poetry, and several peer-reviewed journal articles on poetry and technology. She lives in beautiful Wasaga Beach, Ontario with one beautiful man, two lovely cats, and one very silly dog.
Orchid Tierney is the author of this abattoir is a college (Calamari Archive, 2025). She teaches at Kenyon College.
Amish Trivedi is (still) the author of three books of poems, with work most recently in American Poetry Review and The Georgia Review. He’s a professor at the University of Delaware. [recorded by the author]
Aaron Tucker is the author of eight books, including his latest Flexible Faces (McGill-Queen's University Press) and the novel Soldiers Hunters Not Cowboys (Coach House Books). He is currently program director of the Creative Writing Diploma and assistant professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Lydia Unsworth's work has appeared in journals and anthologies including Abridged, Ambit, Bath Magg, Berlin Lit, Honest Ulsterman, Oxford Poetry, Salzburg Review, Shearsman Magazine and SPAM. She is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Place Writing, MMU, looking at kinship with disappearing post-industrial architecture. Her latest collections are Stay Awhile, This Now Extends to My Daughter, and Houses of Prominent Men, all published in 2026.
Andy Weaver’s fourth book of poetry is The Loom (University of Calgary, 2024). He teaches poetry, poetics, and creative writing at York University.
