new from above/ground press: After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees— (second printing), by Renée Sarojini Saklikar

After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees—
Second printing
Renée Sarojini Saklikar
$5

In the Dry, (A)bigail happy to rest with Patsy

Afternoons, side by side, counting Carder
Anthidium on white clover, borage, bellflowers
outside Rentalsman, tennis courts blackened—
to be spectator: luxury. A book, opened,
laptop and free access:

Sun of disquiet. Position calculated. Bombini’s dance.
Where it once stood, gate opened, Bombus mixtus
Blackberry, buttercup, fireweed,
hairycat’s ear, thistle

Of demonstrations, nothing. The populace, un-
willing, no more, the people, dis-
satisfied, uneasy, intent on survival, a dis-
parity, only in the coveted sectors behind
barricades. A ground offensive.

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

Renée Sarojini Saklikar recently completed her term as the first Poet Laureate for the City of Surrey, British Columbia. Her latest book is a B.C. bestseller: Listening to the Bees (Nightwood Editions, 2018). Renée’s first book, children of air india (Nightwood Editions, 2013) won the 2014 Canadian Authors Association Award for poetry. Renée co-edited The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them (Anvil Press/SFU Public Square, 2015,) a City of Vancouver book award finalist. Renée’s chapbook, After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees, (above/ground press, 2016), was a finalist for the 2017 bpNichol award. Her poetry has been made into musical and visual installations, including the opera, air india [redacted].  Renée was called to the BC Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor, served as a director for youth employment programs in the BC public service, and now teaches law and ethics for Simon Fraser University in addition to teaching creative writing at both SFU and Vancouver Community College. She curates the popular poetry reading series, Lunch Poems at SFU and serves on the boards of Event magazine and The Capilano Review and is a director for the board of the Surrey International Writers Conference. Renée belongs to the League of Canadian Poets and The Writer’s Union of Canada (TWUC) and is active on the TWUC Equity Committee. She is currently working on an epic-length sci-fi poem, THOT-J-BAP, that appears in journals, anthologies and chapbooks.

Originally produced, in part, as a handout at Buffalo Small Press Book Fair, April 9-10, 2016, from 11am-5pm at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Porter Hall, 453 Porter Avenue, Buffalo, NY. The second printing produced, in part, for the sake of the author’s appearance at Ottawa’s VERSeFest Poetry Festival, March 2019.

Shortlisted for the 2017 bpNichol Chapbook Award. See reviews of the chapbook here, here and here. Read her above/ground press 25th anniversary essay here.

A new chapbook appears later this month.

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