The WAR Series: Writers as Readers: Aaron Tucker at Open Book

Toronto writer Aaron Tucker participates in "The WAR Series: Writers as Readers," including a discussion of his new above/ground press chap, punchlines, over at Open Book: Ontario.

above/ground press at the ottawa small press book fair, june 15, 2013

above/ground press is gearing up for our involvement in the semi-annual ottawa small press book fair, featuring mounds upon mounds of publications, including the incredible amount the press has generated over the past year. Can you afford to miss it?

We might even have some new surprises. Shhhhhhhhh.

The Jack Purcell Community Centre (second floor)
from noon to 5pm
at Jack Purcell Lane, just by Elgin and Gilmour Streets, Ottawa
see the link here for all information

some author activity: Maguire, Earl, Graham, Abel, mclennan + McFadden,

Shannon Maguire answers some questions over at Open Book: Toronto; Amanda Earl discusses the narrative in poetry; Lea Graham discusses place in poetry over at the Atticus Review, introducing readers to the work of poets Michael Anania and Joseph Harrington; Jordan Abel has started blogging for The Capilano Review; rob mclennan has a new poem up at The Wonder Book, as selected by guest-editor Andrew Burke; and Griffin-nominee David W. McFadden graces the dusie Tuesday poem series with "three dubious sonnets."

Sarah Mangold’s above/ground press chapbook, Cupcake Royale, is reviewed in Broken Pencil #59

I don’t expect to agree with every review, but Danielle Patrick’s review of Sarah Mangold’s Cupcake Royale (above/ground press, 2012) in Broken Pencil #59 felt as though the reviewer had conflicts more with style over any manner of execution. Is it wrong to suspect that she just didn’t “get” it? Still, her attention is appreciated. We much prefer the earlier review of Cupcake Royale, here. And of course, there are still copies available.

A good poem often requires the reader to invest time to unlock its meaning, like worrying apart a finger puzzle. Sometimes a poem seems deliberately tricky, without aiming to articulate anything.
        I wanted to like these poems. I was initially drawn in by the bold imagery shivering behind the words, and was charmed by some of the imaginative phrasing. But this collection never quite gels. At times it seems like fridge magnet poetry or a collection of words randomly strung-together. As a nod to the title, some cake imagery is mixed in, but it seems like a strained attempt to have some unifying thread. Overall, the poems feel more inchoate than innovative.
         With Cupcake Royale my patient reading was rewarded by a creeping feeling that I was superfluous in my role as a reader – the writer is throwing a word party, but I didn’t get the invitation.

some author activity: Turnbull, Pirie, Armantrout, Robertson, Mangold + hastain,

a. rawlings did a small write-up on above/ground press author Chris Turnbull's "rout/e" project; Pearl Pirie discusses Rae Armantrout in her essay, "What is Being Said," recently posted on her blog; Michael Redhill discusses Lisa Robertson over at Lemonhound; Armantrout reads Fanny Howe's poem "9/11" over at the Library of Congress website; Tsering Wangmo Dhompa writes on Sarah Mangold over at Harriet; and j/j hastain has a new poem posted on the Dusie blog as part of the Tuesday poem.

new from above/ground press: punchlines, by Aaron Tucker

punchlines

by Aaron Tucker

$4

why was the camel unhappy?

it’s still a good idea to contemplate

while the city sprawls out in waves

beneath our apartment balcony:

my father is dead hit by a car

I land + rush to the hospital

in time for the whistle of one lung working 

but my father is dead, mist

later I mow my mother’s lawn careful to avoid

sporting goods skeletons + that highway

that barn sprawling towards the cow field

I let the grass clippings blow onto the yard

careful to avoid thinking about that blade

whirling slicing through the flesh of my hand

slicing through my arm torso like an ocean drowning

|| a bumper impact || a twenty nine story fall

the way a yard might rush upwards me downward

as if I woke up on a river shoreline in Montana at sunset

repeating the same motion that the night takes

rushing downwards over the mountains

the moon whirls out + my mother goes to bed

dreams of my father pushing the lawnmower

back into the barn closing locking the door

that blade hyperlinks to

the grass pouring out

of my veins onto our apartment balcony

published in Ottawa by above/ground press

May 2013

a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Aaron Tucker’s poetic works and reviews have been published across Canada. His chapbook, apartments (The Emergency Response Unit), was shortlisted for the 2010 bpNichol Chapbook award. His current project, tentatively titled punchlines, is moving ever slowly forward. More of his work can be found at aarontucker.ca.

In addition, he is a professor in the English department at Ryerson University where he is currently teaching essay writing and digital literacy to first year students.

He is working on learning chess in between watching his beloved Raptors lose games.

This is Tucker’s second above/ground press chapbook, after apartments, section three (2010).

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

new from above/ground press: MNEMOTECHNICS, by Jessica Smith

MNEMOTECHNICS
by Jessica Smith
$4

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
May 2013
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Jessica Smith, Founding Editor of Foursquare and name magazines, serves as the Librarian for Indian Springs School, where she runs its Visiting Writers Series. She is the author of numerous chapbooks including What the Fortune-Teller Said (dusie/a+bend 2009), butterflies (Big Game Books 2006), The Plasticity of Poetry and Telling Time (No Press 2006), and Shifting Landscapes (above/ground press 2006) and one full-length collection, Organic Furniture Cellar (Outside Voices 2006).

Copies of her previous above/ground press chapbook, Shifting Landscapes, are still available!

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

ryan pratt reviews recent mclennan and wilkinson titles at the ottawa poetry newsletter,

Ryan Pratt was good enough to review rob mclennan's Trace, (above/ground press, 2013) and Joshua Marie Wilkinson's A Little Slash at the Meadow (above/ground press, 2013) over at the ottawa poetry newsletter. Thanks, Ryan!

some author activity: Martin, Roberton, McCann, Smith, beaulieu + Wilkinson,

Camille Martin has some new work up at otoliths; Lisa Robertson writes on Dionne Brand over on Lemonhound; Marcus McCann discusses one of his recent poems over at the Town Crier; Jessica Smith has some new work up at Word for Word: Gary Barwin discusses derek beaulieu's piece, "Prose of the Trans-Canada," over at Jacket2; and Joshua Marie Wilkinson discusses The Volta over at the Poetry Society of America.

new from above/ground press: GOVERNMENT, by Jason Christie

GOVERNMENT
by Jason Christie
$4

Talos Awake

Every cycle causes
day and night
calming, tilling or
disturbing waves
with inexhaustible
transit. What end
could befuddle so
many that we
would retreat
into myth again?
The fire-breathing bull,
an A overhead, passing
all purpose, trees
sway and grow
from warm soil.
In the end, wood
exsanguinated,
unnailed and
empty. At the
end of days
we're left with
molten lead.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
May 2013
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Jason Christie grew up in Milton, Ontario. Jason’s poetry has appeared in journals and magazines, including: filling Station, dANDelion, Poetry is Dead, Action, Yes!, The Capilano Review, West Coast Line and Interiason is the author of i-ROBOT Poetry (http://www.edgewebsite.com/books/irobotpoetry/ir-catalog.html), Canada Post (http://snarebooks.wordpress.com/books/jason-christie/) and Unknown Actor which will be published by Insomniac Press in the Spring of 2013. He is also an editor alongside angela rawlings and derek beaulieu of the anthology Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry (http://www.themercurypress.ca/?q=books/shift_switch).

This is Christie’s second above/ground press chapbook, after 8th Ave 15th St NW. (2004).

Jason Christie reads in Ottawa on Monday, May 13, 2013 as part of the spring Insomniac Press launch at Raw Sugar Cafe.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com