some author activity: Crosby, Witek, Chang-Richardson, Smith, Tucker, Holmes + Young,

Gregory Crosby is interviewed over at talking about strawberries all of the time, as is Terri Witek; Ellen Chang-Richardson is interviewed by Leila Marshy at All Lit Up; Pete Smith is in the Canadian Poets Series over at Peripety and/or Tronies; Aaron Tucker and Michael Holmes and Derek Beaulieu all have new work up at NewPoetry; and Geoffrey Young has new work in the Spotlight series.

new from above/ground press: The Last Horse: Prologue, by Aaron Tucker

The Last Horse
Prologue
Aaron Tucker
$5

    Plague.
    By the time scientists pulled all the global data together, publishing a breathless set of papers in Nature that then crept into the mainstream media, nearly eighty percent of the world’s horse population was infected.
    Footage: a camera man walks through a barn, hay bales and farming equipment, and people in all-white decontamination suits look into the different stalls; each horse that comes into frame is listless, their manes flaccid and paling, their nostrils filled and noisy with heavy breath, the lustre of their coats lost to the ribs showing through. A suited person runs their hand down the long neck of one, the horse’s head turning towards the affection despite its obvious weakness, patting it while explaining to the audience that the animal has only a day more to live, that whatever had infected it had also sterilized it. That any horse found to be infected had roughly one week, a death sentence that no one could identify the cause of, let alone a cure.
    Cattlemen gathered and drew the obvious parallels to hoof-and-mouth disease and recalled stories, their own or the generations before’s, of having to quarantine then slaughter cows, healthy or not, who had come into contact with those infected. A coffee steams in a man’s hand, a diner with three others around the table, and he describes his father, rifle in hand, walking towards the field at the far end of their pastureland, the swish of bright green grass through his cowboy boots, grass that was perfect for grazing but now to left grow ankle-, knee-length, wild and weeds. The man’s father and his neighbours had cornered the cattle along one stretch of fence, where they clustered and bawled and tried to move forward, met each time they advanced with a rifle shot into the air to frighten them back. Seated on a tractor fixed with a giant earth-moving scoop at the front, the man watched the men march with their guns dutifully on their shoulders, to the herd, and, after a brief countdown, killed every single animal. The man helped his father and the others dig the grave, a deep long ditch that the cattle were rolled into, one after another, one on top of another, a heaping mass, steaming with fresh blood, hides, eyes, teeth, hooves, cattlebrands, then the dirt over top, afterwards packed tightly by the tromp of boots. The sun came over the mountains the next day, lighting the valley floor. “We never entered that field again. We left it and eventually God took it back and you couldn’t see the fenceposts, and it was like nothing had happened, that no life had ever been there. I dream about it, you know, often, when I come to remember my dreams in the morning.”

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
November 2023
as the twenty-second title in above/ground’s prose/naut imprint
as part of above/ground press’ thirtieth anniversary
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Aaron Tucker is the author of two novels, three books of poetry and two film studies monographs. His latest novel, Soldiers, Hunters, Not Cowboys (Coach House Books) was named one of the best books of 2023 so far by The Toronto Star. His doctoral dissertation “The Flexible Face: Uniting the Protocols of Facial Recognition Technologies” (March 2023), and was nominated for the York University Dissertation Prize; his graduate work at York’s Cinema and Media Arts department won the Governor General's Gold Medal. In addition, he is currently a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto where he is recreating the history of AI in Canada as a technonational project. He grew up on the Sylix Territory in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, and currently lives and works in Tkaronto on the lands covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Covenant.

This is Aaron Tucker’s fourth chapbook with above/ground press, following apartments (2010), punchlines (2013) and Catalogue d’Oiseaux: Toronto — Mainz-Kastel (2018).

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

some author activity: Brown, Mody, Tucker, Melançon + Dennis,

Simon Brown has some new poems and a short statement in the Spotlight series; Monica Mody is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; Aaron Tucker is on the longlist for the CBC Non-Fiction Prize; Jérôme Melançon was interviewed for the Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec Views and Voices podcast series, to talk about poetry, translation, and living in French outside Québec, including a bonus reading of "Solidarité", from En d'sous d'la langue, as well as a bonus reading of "Irregularities" from Tomorrow's Going to Be Bright; the late Michael Dennis' "Shelf Portrait" (writ in 2019) is newly posted at The Richler Literary Project.

report: Fisher Small and Fine Press Fair 2022

So: this past Saturday above/ground press was in Toronto as part of the Fisher Small and Fine Press Fair, an event that has returned after a three-year (covid) hiatus! Plenty of (masked, mostly) fun was had by all, and I was even able to introduce the chapbook rack that Christine found a while back on one of her buy-nothing groups (honestly, it worked far more effectively than I might have considered, so expect to see it returning for future fairs). It was good to get the whole top row-plus of the festschrifts I've been putting together over the past year, able to actually sell copies of some of them, which is nice (oh, so that's what these are).

This was actually the fourth curated fair in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto (and a limited curation, given the physical limitations of the space), as librarian John Shoesmith originally founded the event around an exhibit of small press items from their collection that above/ground press happened to have items as part of (which is how I got invited). I was there for the first event (which Ryan Pratt was good enough to recap over at his blog), and even the second! Apparently the hopes is to curate a new version of the event every two years, so hopefully they can get back on that particular schedule for future events.

Ken Norris

Bruce Whiteman and Ken Norris

Christopher Patton (right) with his new above/ground press chapbook

Kirby, who radiates joy

And I was able to see so many folk I hadn't seen in moons! Why does Ken Norris (who lives in Toronto these days) look no different now than he did twenty years ago, when I last saw him? I mean, I've done numerous chapbooks of his lately (his tenth above/ground press title landed this past July), so it isn't like we haven't been in touch, but odd to think how long it's been since anything in-person. It was also good to see folk such as Aaron Tucker (with a new knife fork book title), Ralph Kolewe (who has a forthcoming Talonbook, the manuscript of which expands upon his above/ground press title), Christopher Patton (who I met for the first time, coming by to collect his copies of his new above/ground press title), Drew McEwen (should we do another chapbook? we should probably do another chapbook), Lindsay Zier-Vogel (honestly, I simply presumed we'd met years earlier at something, so it was good to finally correct that), Cary Fagan (who mentioned I'd published his stepson in an issue of Touch the Donkey, a connection I wasn't aware of), Bruce Whiteman, etcetera. So many people!

Should I mention I spent the afternoon pretending not to eat an egg and bacon English muffin? Probably not, given it was in a library, after all. Fortunately, I am very effective in my pretending. Other exhibitors included Aliquando Press, Alan Stein/Church Street Press, Art Metropole, Book*hug, Coach House Books, George A. Walker, Greyweather’s Press, JackPine Press, k|f|b, Liz Menard, Massey College Press, Natalie Draz, Nietzsche’s Brolly, Porcupine's Quill/DA, Shanty Bay Press and Wesley Bates.

Given the hour it took to drive in from Andy Weaver's house out in Burlington on Saturday morning, I secured the "final table" in the space, set between JackPine (doing some neat things I hadn't seen physical copies of for some time) and Massey College Press (college printer Kit MacNeil is clearly doing some interesting things worth paying attention to), who were doing some very cool things, including allowing the public to letterpress print upon wee postcards! I collected a small handful of publications, although not terribly much (Kirby exclaimed, when I went to check out the k|f|b table: Why are you looking? You have everything!), and even managed issue five of JUST LIKE CREAM BUT WORST that Daniel F. Bradley handed over when he wandered by (we traded publications, naturally), which includes a new interview he conducted with Alice Burdick (email him at fdriveshesaid (at) gmail.com if you might be interested in attempting a copy).

Tim Inkster explaining something to Jay MillAr, as the Right Honourable Marshall Hryciuk
prepares his own table in silence

And: sales were good enough, audience was good enough, most folk were masked, so that was all good.

Stephen Cain and Andy Weaver

And after: I even got to hang out with Andy Weaver and Stephen Cain. And the drive home? Hitting the Big Apple, of course, to collect nonsense as wee gifts for the children. I think I got them pens with different coloured inks, and some Pez. Who doesn't love the Big Apple? Scream until your mother stops the car, I say. Oh, and there's another small press fair I'm returning to Toronto for on the 24th, curated by Kate Siklosi as part of TIFA; and of course, the ottawa small press book fair in November. Might we see you at either of those?

The Café Review "Canadian issue" launch: Anstee, Clayton, Hall, Weaver, Hogg + Turnbull

above/ground press authors Cameron Anstee, Conyer Clayton, Phil Hall, Andy Weaver and Chris Turnbull read alongside poets Sandra Ridley and Bruce Whiteman in Ottawa as part of the launch of the "Canadian issue" of Maine's The Café Review.

Guest-edited by poet and above/ground press author Robert Hogg, the issue features new poetry by multiple above/ground press authors (highlighted) and non-authors alike, including Cameron Anstee, Nelson Ball, bill bissett, Conyer Clayton, Stephen Collis, Neil Flowers, Phil Hall, Daphne Marlatt, Don McKay, Barry McKinnon, Sandra Ridley, Armand Garnet Ruffo, Carolyn Smart, Sharon Thesen, Aaron Tucker, Chris Turnbull, Andy Weaver and Bruce Whiteman. This issue also features work by artists Jim Andrews and Judith Copithorne with a review by Dana Wilde.

Saturday, May 11, 2019
2-4:30pm
Bar Robo: 692 Somerset St W, Ottawa

some author activity: Mavreas, Tucker, Townsend + Dennis,

Billy Mavreas is discussed briefly by Al Filreis over at Jacket2; Aaron Tucker is interviewed over at Train : a poetry journal; Jamie Townsend has a new poem up in the Tuesday poem series; and Michael Dennis and Kirsty Jackson are interviewed on their art collection.

REPORT: THE ABOVE/GROUND PRESS SILVER ANNIVERSARY READING/LAUNCH/PARTY!

lovable editor/publisher/host rob mclennan ; photo by Julia Polyck-O'Neill

Already a week-plus behind me, and I’m still reeling from the recent silver anniversary above/ground press event at Vimy Brewing Company: an incredible array of readings, writing and support, celebrating twenty-five years of above/ground press [I forgot to report on last year's, but do you remember the year prior? That was fun. And the Toronto event? Or the 19th anniversary?]. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to hear, came out to read, and/or came out to otherwise assist with the event, including valuable tech-asssists by Stephen Brockwell and Monty Reid, book tabling by Anita Dolman and door-coverage by Allie Duff and Marilyn Irwin. The staff at Vimy Brewing Company were incredibly generous, and the space was perfect for the event. My only disappointment was the realization that gifts of silver weren’t forthcoming, despite my hints, given the twenty-fifth anniversary, that such would be certainly welcome.

Anita Dolman sporting the new above/ground press anniversary shirt ; photo by Pearl Pirie

This event also saw the introduction of above/ground press t-shirts! Lovingly designed by Christine McNair, utilizing the classic above/ground press logo, and produced by Ottawa’s own Troublemaker Print! Tote bags were also ordered, but the bags themselves were backordered by the supplier, so they have yet to arrive (I’m also putting another order in soon for t-shirts, so if you have any specific size requests, please let me know: I’m selling them for $25 (shipping, at least to anywhere in North America, included)). Send me an email to see what I have on-hand, and what sizes I might be ordering, and when (rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com).

photo by Pearl Pirie

Really, it was just grand to be able to see so many people I like in one place, and the audience included multiple friends and above/ground press authors alike, including Karen Massey, Kees Kapteyn, Amanda Earl, Pearl Pirie, Chris Turnbull, Gwendolyn Guth, Allison Calvern, Cameron Anstee, Rob Fairchild, Avonlea Fotheringham, Michael Dennis, Grant Wilkins, Conyer Clayton, Robert Hogg, Grant Savage, David Scrimshaw, jwcurry and many, many others. Unfortunately, given we were technically out of town for the weekend, watching my father’s house/pets as well as my sister’s, Christine wasn’t able to make the event at all (I attempted an audio recording of the evening, but god knows if it actually worked), solo at the McLennan homestead an hour away, with the girls: watching two dogs, two cats, a guinea pig and a fish. It did, at least, mean that I could stay out a bit later, and even host Billy Mavreas over at our wee house. The following morning, I might add, was not an early one (and involved me driving an hour, once I finally woke and delivered Billy, post-breakfast, to the bus station).

Aaron Tucker ; photo by Stephen Brockwell

Old pal Aaron Tucker opened the event, as well as the first set, reading from his third above/ground press title, Catalogue d’Oiseaux (2018), an excerpt of a much longer work-in-progress, dedicated to his partner, Julia Polyck-O’Neill. I’m fascinated by the long stretch of lines, and the accumulation, existing as a single, extended poem.

natalie hanna ; photo by Stephen Brockwell

photo by Pearl Pirie

I’ve been fortunate enough to be aware of natalie hanna’s work for some time now, since she emerged somewhere in the mid-1990s, before retreating into law school. Fortunately for us, she reappeared after a few years, and has been impressing us ever since. Reading from her new chapbook, some of which responds directly as a call-and-response with recent work by Stephen Brockwell, she ended her set with a startling poem for multiple voices, adding Liam Burke, Conyer Clayton, Cameron Anstee, Nathanael Larochette and Frances Boyle for a piece that description can’t do justice.

Natalee Caple ; photo by Julia Polyck-O'Neill

It was great to be able to hear Natalee Caple read from her Love / Wildness (2018), especially knowing that she’ll be doing more of such next spring, when the book-length version appears with Wolsak and Wynn. She drove the whole family from St. Catharines, Ontario to Ottawa for the event, but their twins became immediately infatuated with Jason Christie’s small children (who could blame them?) and decided to remain there, instead of coming out to the reading. I can’t even remember the last time I heard Natalee read, but it would have been at The TREE Reading Series back when the readings were held at SAW Gallery; at least five years ago? Seven?

Billy Mavreas ; photo by Stephen Brockwell

Opening the second set of readers, Montreal’s Billy Mavreas launched his visual collection A MERCY OF SIGNS (2018) by discussing the difficulty with reading from a collection of visuals, and managed to give a performance on marginalia that felt like a silent sound poem. Why doesn’t this guy have a full-length collection of his concrete and visual poetry yet? He has micropress publications going back years, from an array of publishers, including self-published, and his work deserves far more attention.

Stephen Brockwell ; photo by rob mclennan

Stephen Brockwell really is one of my favourite humans. It is always such a pleasure and a delight to interact with him at all, and I do think his ongoing thoughtfulness and generosity of spirit is often taken for granted. As part of reading his latest title, Immune to the Sacred (2018), he read some of the poems he had composed in conversation with natalie hanna. I’m curious to see where this conversation might go, and what form the eventual larger conversation might take. Will this ever appear as a single-unit collaboration/conversation, or will the threads remain more disperate?

Phil Hall ; photo by Stephen Brockwell

Stuart Kinmond ; photo by Pearl Pirie

Phil Hall’s collaboration with artist Stuart Kinmond, Alternative Girders (2018), provided an opportunity for both to present on the two sides of their conversation, from Hall’s words to Kinmond’s visuals, backdropped beautifully by Kinmond’s own work. Hall’s thoughtfulness is expansive, and incredibly precise, and he manages to both capture an attention to the smallest moment as well as somehow see the big picture, simultaneously. I’m curious to see if their collaboration continues beyond the work gathered in his small chapbook.

Jason Christie ; photo by rob mclennan

Jason Christie opened the third set, launching his sixth chapbook with the press, by reading excerpts from every one of his above/ground press titles, from his Calgary-work 8th Ave 15th St NW. (2004) to works produced since their move to Ottawa: Government (2013), Cursed Objects (2014), The Charm (2015), random_lines = random.choice (2017) and glass language (excerpt) (2018). One of my favourite people these days, I am very much looking forward to his next full-length title, out next spring with Coach House Books.

Julia Polyck-O'Neill ; photo by Stephen Brockwell

I’ve been quite taken with the work of Julia Polyck-O’Neill, seemingly appearing out of nowhere to appear fully-formed and confident in her work, allowing above/ground press to produce two chapbooks of her writing so far. And did you see this recent interview up at Train: a poetry journal? There is some absolutely amazing work happening here, and worthy of far more attention. I’m just hoping the next time we cross paths, I’m actually able to spend some time talking to her (the evening made for very little in the way of larger conversation with just about anyone).

Stuart Ross ; photo by Stephen Brockwell

A personal favourite, Stuart Ross closed the event with a reading from his above/ground press debut, ESPESANTES (2018). Given his generous example as a poet, editor, reviewer, chapbook publisher and supporter over some four decades, I was incredibly grateful to have Ross included in such an event. His own Proper Tales Press will be forty years old next year, if you can imagine it. I just hope that 2019 sees some kind of proper acknowledgement for his ongoing contribution and support of small and micro press.

Julia Polyck-O'Neill, rob mclennan and Aaron Tucker ; photo by Julia Polyck-O'Neill

Twenty-five years! God sakes. And of course, after weeks of lead-up, I managed to crash entirely after the event, falling into a combination of exhaustion/sinus cold that lingers. And, as well, the inevitable look forward to what publications will emerge next. Work is already underway on more than a couple of titles, with still-forthcoming chapbooks by Erín Moure (which has appeared already, in the time it took me to write this up), Ian Dreiblatt, Melissa Eleftherion, Kyle Flemmer, Lisa Rawn, Sean Braune, Michael Martin Shea, Cole Swensen, Jennifer Stella, Jamie Townsend, Sara Renee Marshall, Dennis Cooley, Mark Laliberte, Sacha Archer, Sandra Ridley and multiple others. Watch for 2019 subscriptions to announce on October 1^st! (or just send me an email if you really can’t wait)

photo by Pearl Pirie

And: if you’ve been keeping track, above/ground press has done anniversary anthologies every ten years, so this year won’t be seeing such, but watch for the launch of a special twenty-fifth anniversary project at the Ottawa international writers festival on October 30^th, featuring readings by Sarah Mangold (Seattle), Gil McElroy (Colborne) and Sandra Ridley (Ottawa)!

photo by Pearl Pirie

But don’t you worry: a thirtieth anniversary collection is in the works. Picton, Ontario publisher Invisible Publishing recently accepted the project, which will appear in print in 2023! I mean, that might sound like a long time away, but it really isn’t…

THE ABOVE/GROUND PRESS SILVER ANNIVERSARY READING/LAUNCH/PARTY!

celebrating twenty-five years of continuous activity (and nearly nine hundred publications), Ottawa publisher above/ground press presents: 

nine readings and chapbook launches by:

Natalee Caple (St. Catharines ON)
Jason Christie (Ottawa)

Julia Polyck-O’Neill (Toronto)
Stuart Ross (Cobourg ON)
Aaron Tucker (Toronto)
Phil Hall (Perth ON)
Stephen Brockwell (Ottawa)
natalie hanna (Ottawa)
+
Billy Mavreas (Montreal) 

lovingly hosted by above/ground press editor/publisher rob mclennan 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 2018
Vimy Brewing Company
145 Loretta Ave N #1, Ottawa, ON K1Y 2J7
http://www.vimybrewing.ca/
7pm door/7:30pm reading

$6 at the door; includes a copy of a recent above/ground press title

THIS EVENT WILL ALSO SEE THE INTRODUCTION OF LIMITED-EDITION SWAG (T-SHIRTS AND TOTE BAGS), PRODUCED BY OTTAWA’S OWN TROUBLEMAKER PRINT https://www.facebook.com/TroublemakerPrint/

See the Globe & Mail’s recent piece on the press here.

See rob’s write-up earlier this year onthe press here.

As well as a series of essays by avariety of above/ground press authors and friends of the press here.

author/performer biographies: 

Natalee Caple is the author of nine books of poetry and fiction. Her latest book of poetry, Love in the Chthulucene/Cthulhucene (from which these poems come) will be out with Wolsak and Wynn in Spring 2019. Natalee is an associate professor at Brock University.

She will be launching her third chapbook with above/ground press—Love / Wildness (2018)—after The Appetites of Tiny Hands (1997) and The Appetites of Tiny Hands: Twentieth Anniversary Edition (2017). 

Jason Christie is the author of Canada Post (Snare), i-ROBOT (Edge/Tesseract), Unknown Actor (Insomniac), and a co-editor of Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry (Mercury). His next book will be published by Coach House in the Spring of 2019.

He will be launching his sixth chapbook with above/ground press—glass language (excerpt) (2018)—after 8th Ave 15th St NW. (2004), Government (2013), Cursed Objects (2014), The Charm (2015) and random_lines = random.choice (2017). 

Julia Polyck-O’Neill is an artist, curator, critic, and writer. She is a doctoral candidate in Brock University’s Interdisciplinary Humanities program, where she is completing a SSHRC-funded interdisciplinary and comparative critical study of contemporary conceptualist literature and art in Vancouver. She has taught in art history and contemporary visual culture, and was, until very recently, a visiting lecturer and scholar in Transnational American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Her writing has been published in B.C. Studies, Feminist Spaces, Tripwire, Fermenting Feminisms (a project of the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology, curated by Lauren Fournier), The Avant Canada Anthology (WLU Press, forthcoming 2018), and is co-editing a special issue of the journal Canadian Literature with Gregory Betts. Her debut chapbook, femme, was published in 2016 by above/ground press.

She will be launching her second chapbook, Everything will be taken away. (2018). 

Stuart Ross is the author of 20 books of poetry, fiction, and essays, and countless chapbooks and ephemera. His most recent books include the novel-in-prose-poems Pockets (ECW Press, 2017) and the poetry collection A Sparrow Came Down Resplendent (Wolsak and Wynn, 2016), which won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Poetry in 2017. Other titles include the poetry collection A Hamburger in a Gallery (DC Books, 2015), the novel Snowball, Dragonfly, Jew (ECW Press, 2011), and the story collection Buying Cigarettes for the Dog (Freehand Books, 2009). Stuart began his literary career by selling his self-published chapbooks on the streets of Toronto during the 1980s, wearing signs like “Writing Going To Hell: Buy My Books.” He was the 2010 Writer in Residence at Queen’s University, and has taught writing workshops across Canada. His poetry has recently been translated into French; other translations, into Nynorsk and Spanish, are in progress. His micropress, Proper Tales, is lurching toward its 40th year of publishing. Stuart lives in Cobourg, Ontario.

He will be launching his above/ground press debut, ESPESANTES (2018). 

Aaron Tucker is the author of the forthcoming novel Y: Oppenheimer, Horseman of Los Alamos (Coach House Books) as well as two books of poetry, Irresponsible Mediums: The Chess Games of Marcel Duchamp (Bookthug Press) and punchlines (Mansfield Press), and two scholarly cinema studies monographs, Virtual Weaponry: The Militarized Internet in Hollywood War Films and Interfacing with the Internet in Popular Cinema (both published by Palgrave Macmillan).

His current collaborative project, Loss Sets, translates poems into sculptures which are then 3D printed (http://aarontucker.ca/3-d-poems/); he is also the co-creator of The ChessBard, an app that transforms chess games into poems (http://chesspoetry.com).

An earlier version of punchlines was released by above/ground in the summer of 2013. His poetic works and reviews have been published across Canada. His previous chapbook, apartments, was shortlisted for the 2010 bpNichol Chapbook award.

Currently, he is an uninvited guest on the Dish with One Spoon Territory, where he is a lecturer in the English department at Ryerson University (Toronto), teaching creative and academic writing. You can reach him atucker[at]ryerson[dot]ca

Tucker is the author of three above/ground press chapbooks, including apartments (2010), punchlines (2013) and this year’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux (2018). 

Phil Hall’s most recent books are Guthrie Clothing: The Poetry of Phil Hall – A Selected Collage (Sir Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2015), Conjugation (BookThug, 2016), & Le pluvier kildir (translated by Rose Després / Prise de parole, 2015). He lives near Perth Ontario.

He will be launching his third above/ground press chapbook—a collaboration with Stuart Kinmond, Alternative Girders (2018)—after Verulam (2009) and the collaborative Shikibu Shuffle (with Andrew Burke; 2012). 

Stephen Brockwell cut his writing teeth in the ’80s in Montreal, appearing on French and English CBC Radio and in the anthologies Cross/cut: Contemporary English Quebec Poetry and The Insecurity of Art (both Véhicule Press, 1982). All of Us Reticent, Here, Together won the Archibald Lampman award for best book of poetry in Ottawa in 2017. Brockwell currently operates a small IT consulting company from an office in Ottawa’s By Ward Market.

He will be launching his fifth above/ground press chapbook—Immune to the Sacred (2018)—after Marin County Poems (2001), Impossible Books (the Carleton Installment) (2010), Excerpts from Impossible Books: The Crawdad Cantos (2012) and Images from Declassified Nuclear Test Films (2014). 

natalie hanna is a queer, feminist, ottawa lawyer, of middle-eastern descent working with low income populations. her writing focuses on feminist, political, and personal themes. She runs battleaxe press (small poetry press) / is the Administrative Director of the Sawdust Reading Series / serves as newsletter editor and board member at Arc Poetry Magazine.  Her work, interviews, have appeared online and in print in various publications, including with Literary Landscapes, In/Words Magazine, phafours press, Hussy Press, Bywords, the Dusie Blog, the Chaudiere Books Blog, Canthius, shreeking violet press, and Peter F. Yacht Club,  among others. This is her 10th chapbook. Find her at: https://nhannawriting.wordpress.com to learn more

She will be launching the chapbook CONCEALED WEAPONS / ANIMAL SURVIVORS (2018), her third with above/ground press, after “this evidence against you,” produced as STANZAS #21 (October 1999), and dark ecologies (2017).  

Billy Mavreas is a Montréal based writer and artist who makes comics, collage, visual poetry and more. His studio and art shop, Monastiraki, is celebrating twenty years of idiosyncrasy in the Mile-End neighbourhood (1998-2108).

He will be launching his above/ground press debut, A MERCY OF SIGNS (2018).