some author activity: Waldrop, Clayton + mclennan

Rosmarie Waldrop has some new work in La Vague Journal; Conyer Clayton is interviewed by Shazia Hafiz Ramji for the Invisible Publishing blog; and rob mclennan writes on Stuart Ross and his Proper Tales Press over at the Forty Proper Tales blog.

new from above/ground press: THE TASMANIAN DEVIL & other poems: Twentieth Anniversary Edition, by John Newlove

THE TASMANIAN DEVIL & other poems
Twentieth Anniversary Edition
John Newlove
with an introduction by J.A. Weingarten
$5

IT’S WINTER IN OTTAWA

The streets are full of overweight corporals,
of sad grey computer captains, the impedimentia
of a capital city, struggling through the snow.

There is a cold gel on my belly, an instrument
is stroking it incisively, the machine
in the half-lit room is scribbling my future.

It is not illegal to be unhappy.
A shadowy technician says alternately,
Breathe, and, You may stop now.
It is not illegal to be unhappy.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
September 2019
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

originally published in an edition of 300 copies by above/ground press, September 1999 as John Newlove's final publication of new work, after The Night the Dog Smiled (ECW Press, 1986).

The publisher wishes to thank Susan Newlove, and the estate of John Newlove for permission to reissue this title.

John Newlove (1938-2003) was born and raised in Saskatchewan. He began publishing while working various jobs in Vancouver in the 1960s. His many honours included the 1972 Governor General’s Award for his book Lies, and the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild Founders’ Award. His works have been internationally published and translated. His posthumous collection, A Long Continual Argument: The Selected Poetry of John Newlove, edited by Robert McTavish with an Afterword by Jeff Derksen, appeared through Chaudiere Books in 2007, and is now available through Invisible Publishing.

J.A. Weingarten is a Professor of Language and Liberal Studies at Fanshawe College. His first book, Sharing the Past, was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2019. He is currently completing work on The Selected Letters of John Newlove.

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 at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

new from above/ground press: An Ecology of the Void, by Ben Meyerson

An Ecology of the Void
Ben Meyerson
$5

Sonic Metamorphosis
Let bloodlet meatflank rinse
its wet into bankless river –
haunchsweat to gather strain
in refrain amid bereaved lather:
set leaves/petals atop brick
and rub till plastered;
regret twigwise and clockward;
repent guise repent words; capsize
in esophabile in forced acid
of grammar habile in panicked
skidhammer till worse and
worse; to grouse for food
to grouse for love to
river-douse it to grouse
for digging to reach
an above and so to begin
and so to set out with
heaped speech like glottal hatchlings
to cheep nestbound for snitched insects
to snatch ourselves away –
to beseech to beseech to beseech.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
September 2019
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Ben Meyerson holds an MFA from the University of Minnesota, and currently splits his time between Toronto, Canada and Granada, Spain. He is the author of two previous chapbooks: In a Past Life, which was published by The Alfred Gustav Press, and Holcocene, which was published by Kelsay Books. His poems, translations and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in several journals, including Great River Review, Epignosis Quarterly (via Black Herald Press), The Inflectionist Review, Decoys #1: Spectral Revelries, Rust+Moth and Pidgeonholes.

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 at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: Koss, Earl + Barwin,

Did I mention that Zane Koss (left) was in town recently? It was nice to be able to hand him his new above/ground press title in person. We enjoyed drinks and a spot of food at my most favourite tavern. Also: Amanda Earl's "The Power of Poetry" essay is now up at The Poetry Question; and Gary Barwin is interviewed in the Wombwell Rainbow Interviews series (but you already knew all of that, right?)

some author activity: mclennan, Schmaltz, Burdick, Ross, Ball + Smith,

rob mclennan has a new essay in the "(Not) My Writing Desk" series over at Queen Mob's Teahouse, and a new poem up at his blog, for Vancouver poet Rita Wong; Eric Schmaltz is interviewed over at Train : a poetry journal; Alice Burdick is interviewed over at Poetry in Voice (and now available for writing workshops in schools across Nova Scotia); Stuart Ross writes a moving post on Nelson Ball's last day, and days; and Jessica Smith has won the 2019 Betty Jane Abrahams Memorial Prize.

new from above/ground press: Short Cloud, by Natalie Lyalin

Short Cloud
Natalie Lyalin
$5

Yarrow

In the cellar

beets turn the fingers pink

I fly past Godthab

I was approaching it,

and practically could

skim some cloud off the top

A lake makes a sound

when freezing

The road was not lit

I read terrible books

to calm myself

and drank strong tea

I stayed up late

to hear about the curses,

red poppies

In a photo, Pierce Brosnan

wearing a gray jacket

And there I am

kayaking with dolphins,

A quilt in a Pandora’s Box pattern

will cover us, protects us

from the elements

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
August 2019
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

cover image and design by Ariel Cohen

Natalie Lyalin is the author of Blood Makes Me Faint, but I Go for It (Ugly Duckling Presse 2014), Pink & Hot Pink Habitat (Coconut Books 2009), and a chapbook, Try A Little Time Travel (Ugly Duckling Presse 2010). She lives in Philadelphia.

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 at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: Campanello, Rosenthal, Spinosa, Clayton + Earl,

Kimberly Campanello is being interviewed over at poetry mini interviews; Sarah Rosenthal has some new work up at Word for/Word; Dani Spinosa is interviewed over at The Maynard; Conyer Clayton is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; and Amanda Earl has a piece in the "(Not) My Writing Desk" series at Queen Mob's Teahouse.