some author activity: Aigen, Eleftherion, Kasimor + Earl,

Razielle Aigen has some new work up in Moonchild magazine; Melissa Eleftherion has some new work up on Headline Poetry and Press; Mary Kasimor has an essay in the Talking Poetics series over at the ottawa poetry newsletter; and Amanda Earl responds to the "Six Questions" interview via Chaudiere Books.

new from above/ground press: Love Is not An Algorithm, by George Stanley

Love Is Not an Algorithm
George Stanley
$5

West Broadway

Foreshortened the street
in my damaged eye
the crowd seems pressing
closer & faster.

In the eyes, mouths,
faces coming nearer
my good eye recognizes
what we all know.

Yet every eye in its personal dark
looks off in a different direction
out of space into time
realms of light or deeper darkness.

With eyes lowered, we pass each other.
A guy on a bike comes up from behind,
passes me, soundless.
Oh, I am one of you.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2020
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

A native of San Francisco, George Stanley has lived in BC since 1971, and has published ten books of poetry, including Vancouver: A Poem, After Desire, North of California St., and West Broadway (with George Bowering’s Some End) all from Vancouver's New Star Books.

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: Izsak, Christie, Burgoyne, Sweeney, Spinosa, Beaulieu + Ball,

Emily Izsak, Jason Christie, Sarah Burgoyne and Heather Sweeney have new work in the sixteenth issue of where is the river; Dani Spinosa has a new visual poem up at Train : a poetry journal; Derek Beaulieu is interviewed over at Train : a poetry journal; and Ryan Pratt has a new piece on working through the late Nelson Ball's literary archive.

Jessica Thomas-Drake reviews Isabel Sobral Campos' Autobiographical Ecology (2019)

Jessica Drake-Thomas was good enough to provide the first review of Isabel Sobral Campos' Autobiographical Ecology (2019). Thanks so much! You can see the original review here. As Drake-Thomas writes:

“Notebook/is language peel, summary of misunderstanding in the wastebasket where/crumpled pages sleep,” the speaker says in Isabel Sobral Campos’s chapbook of poems, Autobiographical Ecology.

The book has the feel of reading a diary. It’s equal parts confessional and listing of observations, which evoke the chaos of life in the modern world.

“I have mused over my poverty as a writer. I have mused while taking my/ clothes off & slipping into a bathtub. I have thought of Sylva Plath in her/nightgown with a flashlight pointing at a word on a wall,// ‘Beware.'” References to Plath, Ashbery and Brainard are sprinkled throughout, situating the poet within the realms of confessional poetry, Postmodernism, and collage, which is exhibited throughout Autobiographical Ecology.

Each poem feels like a new entry, building upon the narrative of the confessional poet, writing in the notebook.

“Lemons, lemon peel, sweet potatoes (as if touching pearls) and avoiding mirrors especially in the/postpartum belly//”Oh there once was//:/a woman ‘//an animal ‘//a person ‘//inside an Ashbery poem'”

The entries reveal struggles with postpartum depression, how cataloging lists and observations and poetry brings a sense of order to the speaker. It’s how she begins to make sense of what’s happening to her and around her.

Sobral Campos’s poetry is teeming with raw emotion and particularly stunning images that are redolent with sensory details. I highly recommend Autobiographical Ecology, which is available through above/ground press.

periodicities : a journal of poetry and poetics

announcing: periodicities : a journal of poetry and poetics 
edited and lovingly maintained by rob mclennan

periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics was founded in March 2020 by rob mclennan as a curious extension of above/ground press, as well as an extension of some of the work of the twelve issues of the online seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics, edited by rob mclennan (2008-2018), and the six issues of Poetics.ca, edited by rob mclennan and Stephen Brockwell (2003-2007). Both journals have dropped off the internet due to issues with the web host, which prompted the creation of a new online journal.

periodicities is open to submissions of previously unpublished poetry-related reviews, interviews and essays. Please send submissions as .doc with author biography to periodicityjournal@gmail.com

For the time being, submissions of previously unpublished poetry will be by solicitation-only, with the exception of translated works (which you should very much send along).

The first posts are already scheduled for April 1, 2020! Please consider submitting a poetry-related book or chapbook review or essay, or a poetry-related interview. Or follow us on Twitter to keep track! There is a lot of exciting action afoot!

“poem” broadside #349 : “Four poems for my fiftieth birthday” by rob mclennan

1.

In the details, bedeviled. Am I half-way finished, or begun? Too soon,

by half. A ladybird, floats. My bare hand. Homestead,

sunsets. If I did complain. Characters in snow and shadow,

ghosts of every childhood

that blossomed: my father’s, my sister’s, mine. Familiar sounds

so simple, they amplify. Echo.

2.

Since the beginning, when I found

my mouth, a mumble, let alone

a voice.

3.

From almost any angle. Busted a toe, and then a second.

These inaugural fractures, after nearly five unbroken decades

of carefree indifference. Almost every day,

I stood. I stood up. Imagination, bristles. I

remember, like it was. Margins, where

I lay this ancient peak.

4.

Memories

of a distant, faded thing.

For poems for my fiftieth birthday

by rob mclennan

produced for the sake of the author’s birthday party,

on the eve of his fiftieth, March 14, 2020

above/ground press broadside #349

Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan currently lives in Ottawa, where he is home full-time with the two wee girls he shares with Christine McNair. The author of more than thirty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, his most recent poetry titles include A halt, which is empty (Mansfield Press, 2019) and Life sentence, (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019). An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Touch the Donkey (touchthedonkey.blogspot.com) and the newly-launched periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics (periodicityjournal.blogspot.com). He is “Interviews Editor” at Queen Mob’s Teahouse, editor of my (small press) writing day, and an editor/managing editor of many gendered mothers. He regularly posts reviews, essays, interviews and other notices at robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: Siklosi, Spinosa, Boyle, Clayton, Saklikar + Pirie,

Kate Siklosi and Dani Spinosa of Gap Riot Press are interviewed over at Entropy; Frances Boyle and Conyer Clayton both have new work in the new issue of Parenthesis Journal; Renée Sarojini Saklikar has a poem in the Poetry Pause series via The League of Canadian Poets; and Pearl Pirie's essay, "Writing After A Concussion," is now up at the Quebec Writers Federation blog.

new from above/ground press: The Peter F Yacht Club #28; VERSeFest (postponement) special!

The Peter F Yacht Club #28
VERSeFest 2020 (10th anniversary!) special
[ c a n c e l l a t i o n / p o s t p o n e m e n t  i s s u e ]
edited by rob mclennan
$6

With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars, irregulars and scheduled VERSeFest 2020 participants (for our newly-postponed festival), including Susan Atkinson, Oana Avasilichioaei, Manahil Bandukwala, Frances Boyle, Simon Brown, J.R. Carpenter, Conyer Clayton, Amanda Earl, Johannes Göransson, natalie hanna, Kaie Kellough, D.A. Lockhart, Canisia Lubrin, rob mclennan, Justin Million, Maude Pilon, Pearl Pirie, Monty Reid and K.B. Thors.

See link to last year's issue here

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2020
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

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: design school drop out, by Rachel Kearney

design school drop out
Rachel Kearney
$5 

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2020
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Rachel Kearney is a writer from Toronto who is interested in the intersection of poetry and design. She is pursuing her Bachelor of Design with a minor in Creative Writing at York University.

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

Jessica Thomas-Drake reviews Mary Kasimor's disrobing iris (2019)

Jessica Drake-Thomas was good enough to provide a third review of Mary Kasimor's disrobing iris (2019), after John C. Goodman reviewed it over at Otoliths, and Amanda Earl reviewed such over at her blog.Thanks so much! You can see the original review here. As Drake-Thomas writes:

“you continued dancing for the pleasure of night’s/invisible black silk/with only your hips you showed the mountains/how to dance/in their moon of rock and dust/here in the night/you grow old like a moonstone,” the speaker says in Mary Kasimor’s book of poems, disrobing iris.

The poems in this book have a cool feminist goth-witch vibe that I really appreciated. There were several pieces that I really enjoyed, particularly “dropped stitches.”

In the piece, the speaker says “she knew all the stitches/to close her mouth/stitches to end her life.” This hints at secret feminine knowledge–the woman in the poem knows how to keep quiet. She knows how to play by the rules of a patriarchal society, to do what is expected of her. This, coupled with the fact that sewing was historically considered to be “women’s work” fits together seamlessly (pun intended).

“the stitches blurred/the lines inside herself/she finally spoke,” the speaker says. The action here is important. After this, the poem goes from a very stiff construction, where both the woman and the speaker are holding back. What comes after is a deluge of words.

“she spoke before herself/speaking for her garden/of dying matter/written in her journal/all that dies matters,” the speaker says. The idea that the woman in the poem has this garden that seems to be decaying is an interesting image. I’m trying to picture it, and I’m coming up with a garden of lichen and mold. However, it could also be flowers–they are in a perpetual state of growing then dying. It’s a multi-layered image that could be defined in a few different ways.

“shared memories the orchestra/of stitched culture/the connection of/boundaries the components/of noise/of repression,” the speaker says. This is the heart of this piece–despite all of society’s advances, there is still a patriarchal bent to our society. Women are still repressed. We are encouraged to be quiet and to obey.

Which is why the final line is absolute perfection: “a new language of dropped/ stitches the dress/unraveling the last/body.”

Here, the woman sets herself free through changing the “stitched culture.” She drops stitches, making a dress that is warped, imperfect. She goes against code. This is a lovely piece, with a powerful message. I love it. The line breaks in this piece are absolute perfection, particularly “of dropped/stitches.” Additionally, the lack of capitalization and punctuation is working perfectly.

I really enjoyed this book. The subtle artistry is stunning here. Kasimor’s work is absolute genius. I highly recommend disrobing iris, which is available through above/ground press.

some author activity: mclennan, Tate, Kaminski, Hunter, Reed, Mavreas + Desbarats,

above/ground authors rob mclennan, Bronwen Tate, Megan Kaminski and Carrie Hunter etc participate in the dusie kollektiv 9, as a tribute to the late Marthe Reed, with new chapbooks in tribute to Reed now online as free pdfs via DUSIE 22; Billy Mavreas has new visual work up at Train : a poetry journal; and Michelle Desbarats has new work in the Glebe Report.

new from above/ground press: A General History of the Air, by J.R. Carpenter

A General History of the Air
J. R. Carpenter
$5

what we understand by the air

              that thin, fluid, diaphanous body

       in which we breathe

       wherein we move

the constant and permanent ingredients of the air

       that numberless multitude of vapours

                                                           of exceedingly minute parts

       innumerable particles         of what we call light

       elastic particles like springs of watches

                                              slender wires

                                              curled hairs of wool

                                              thin shavings of wood

the destruction, generation, and absorption of the air

       necessary to the well-being

                                 the very being

                                                 being a body

       not withstanding the difficulties

      

       I desire to be understood in a familiar sense

of the moisture and dryness of the air

       a body is dry

       a quality near of kin

       a privation

       may occasion

       a change of texture

 

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
for the author’s appearance in Ottawa
at the 10th annual VERSeFest, March 24-29, 2020
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
 
J. R. Carpenter is a Canadian-born UK-based artist, writer, and practice-led researcher working across performance, print, and digital media. She is a fellow of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway and the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library. Her pioneering works of digital literature have been presented in museums, galleries, and festivals around the world. Her digital poem The Gathering Cloud won the New Media Writing Prize 2016. Her poetry collection An Ocean of Static (Penned in the Margins) was highly commended by the Forward Prizes 2018. Her next collection, This is a Picture of Wind, is forthcoming from Longbarrow Press in April 2020. http://luckysoap.com

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