some author activity: Barwin, Beaulieu, Earl, Nilson + Moure,

Gary Barwin has a new poem up at the Knife Fork Book website; Braydon Beaulieu is interviewed by Ian Whistle at the ottawa poetry newsletter; Amanda Earl is interviewed over at poetry mini interviews; and Geoffrey Nilson appears in the monthly "spotlight" series (and: thanks to Karis Shearer for the Jeopardy! photo...

some author activity: Braune, Smith, Beaulieu + Barwin,

Sean Braune has a new essay posted as part of the "On Writing" series at the ottawa poetry newsletter; Jessica Smith is part of a new group publication, RADIO 11.8.16, recently posted by Essay Press; Braydon Beaulieu and Natalie Zina Walschots have started hosting Full Hearts, a podcast "about love and gaming"; and Gary Barwin answers five questions for IFOA.

some author activity: Beaulieu, Irwin, Dennis, Anstee, Earl, Barwin, Dueck + Trivedi,

Deathmatch author Braydon Beaulieu TELLS ALL over at Broken Pencil; Marilyn Irwin, Michael Dennis, Cameron Anstee, Amanda Earl, Gary Barwin and Nathan Dueck etc have poems posted as part of Stuart Ross' 2017 Inaugural Poem project; and Amish Trivedi has a short essay, "Confessions of a Contest Junkie," over at Plume.

some author activity: beaulieu, Barwin, Ladouceur, Beaulieu, mclennan + Brockwell,

derek beaulieu has some new work up at NewPoetry, and he is interviewed over at the Chaudiere Books blog for The Calgary Renaissance (Chaudiere Books, 2016); Gary Barwin gets a nice write-up in Maclean's; Ben Ladouceur has a new poem up at Crap Orgasm; Braydon Beaulieu is also interviewed over at the Chaudiere Books blog for The Calgary Renaissance; and rob mclennan and Stephen Brockwell read November 8 at Edmonton's Olive Reading Series.

above/ground press in Ottawa: a report,

[Braydon Beaulieu, reading] As you most likely know, this past Saturday was the above/ground press twenty-third anniversary event at Black Squirrel Books in Ottawa, held not long after a similar event in Toronto [see my report on such here], with readings and launches by Braydon Beaulieu, Sean Braune, Pearl Pirie and Stephanie Bolster. Thanks so much to all who participated!

[Sean Braune, reading] Now that I've heard two different readings by Beaulieu and Braune in a short period, I'm getting a better sense of what either of them are doing (Braune's reading really stood out, of the four authors), and might be capable of (and am further intrigued). Beaulieu also has work forthcoming in The Calgary Renaissance (Chaudiere Books), an anthology edited by myself and Derek Beaulieu.

[Pearl Pirie, reading] The crowd was small, but worthy, and included a variety of above/ground press authors past and present, including Cameron Anstee, Amanda Earl, Stephen Brockwell, Michelle Desbarats and Colin Morton, as well as Ottawa poet Chris Johnson, who generously donated his time and energy for the sake of the door/book table (did you know he has a chapbook forthcoming with Frog Hollow Press?). What became curious, in hindsight, was realizing that the four readers read in reverse order of how long I've known them, having first interacted with Stephanie Bolster back in the mid-1990s, and publishing her first item back in 1996 (newly reissued, and discussed here).

[Stephanie Bolster, reading] For Pearl's reading, she made a point of wearing Vulcan ears, to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Star Trek (she wore them unrelated to the reading in any way). Another highlight included the fact that Stephanie came by the house a few hours early for the sake of a visit, and to meet our latest edition, nearly five-month-old Aoife. And after the reading, a small mound of us went out for drinks and an extended period of stellar conversation.

While I may be a bit behind on a couple of publications (and mailouts) (our newborn and toddler are rather distracting), the next few weeks should see new chapbooks by George Bowering, Geoffrey Young, Carrie Hunter and John Barton, as well as the 11th issue of Touch the Donkey, among other possibilities.

As well, I'm most likely announcing 2017 subscriptions around the end of the month, by the by. And what might 2017 bring? I'm not entirely sure yet, but, as per usual, I've a number of irons in the fire. Just keep watching.

above/ground press in Toronto : a report,

[Braydon Beaulieu, reading] above/ground press recently celebrated twenty-three years via an event in Toronto [don't forget the Ottawa event for same next week!] with readings and launches by above/ground press authors Braydon Beaulieu, Ashley-Elizabeth Best, Sean Braune, Stephen Brockwell, Sharon Harris, Hugh Thomas and Aaron Tucker at The Steady Bar and Cafe. Thanks so much to all who participated!

[the crowd] The crowd was good, with a variety of Toronto writers (and non-writers, most of whom I didn't know) attending, including Ken Sparling, Dale Smith, Natalie Zina Walschots, Kateri Lanthier, Richard Greene, Stan Rogal, Hazel Millar, Shannon Bramer, Jay MillAr, Teresa Yang, m erskine, as well as poet Doyali Islam, who generously donated her time and energy to work both door and book table. The venue, of course, worked perfectly, with thanks to them, as well as to Aaron Tucker, who secured it for me.

[Stephen Brockwell] Stephen, of course, was good enough to speak briefly to the volume and enthusiasm of the press over the years, especially given how close the press is to eight hundred publications (a dozen or so, I'd say, and still counting). Sometimes I'm even baffled by the amount of material I've produced through the press, although to me, the first decade is somehow the most impressive (that's when the struggle was far more than it has been since).

[Sean Braune] I was thinking back across the years, and this might have actually been the third above/ground press event I've organized in Toronto, and not the second. My records show an event from November, 1997 with myself,  Natalee Caple and Stephen Cain (both of whom were reading from recently-released above/ground press titles) along with Ottawa poet Jim Larwill, and my recollections suggest another event around the same period, with Una McDonnell and Stan Rogal (both of whom were reading from recently-released above/ground press titles; see his listed here) and Ottawa poet b stephen harding. Both of those events were held at the Imperial Library Pub on Dundas Street.

[Hugh Thomas] It almost makes me think I should be attempting anniversary events and/or general above/ground press readings in Toronto a bit more often. Although at least two in the crowd didn't understand, at first, that above/ground is an Ottawa-based publisher, and wondered why I'd pointed out the rarity of the Toronto above/ground press reading. Heck, at this point, I probably have enough authors around that I could easily do more than a couple of cities, whether Montreal, Vancouver or even an American city or two. The one time I did an above/ground press feature in New York, as part of the Boog City series in January 2004 (for the sake of the tenth anniversary anthology), we had to fly everyone in (Brockwell, myself and Clare Latremouille).

[Hazel, Shannon and Ashley-Elizabeth at the end of the evening] The high points were plenty and the performances great; the highlights would also include the fact that I hadn't actually heard Braune or Beaulieu (now that he's relocated from Calgary to Toronto) read before (both of whom are also reading at the Ottawa event), the stellar reading that Hugh Thomas gave, or even the fact that Shannon Bramer appeared (I've barely seen her in years; remember that chapbook I produced of hers, moons back?).

[myself with Dale Smith and Stephen Brockwell, pre-reading] A lovely bonus to the day was the fact that I was able to meet up for a pre-reading drink with Dale Smith at the Duke of York, a wee pub just close to our hotel. Stephen Brockwell met up with us later, once he'd arrived via rail.

the above/ground press 23rd anniversary (Ottawa) reading! September 10, 2016

above/ground press presents readings and other such by an array of poets:

Stephanie Bolster (Montreal)
Braydon Beaulieu (Toronto)
Sean Braune (Toronto)
+ Pearl Pirie (Ottawa)

lovingly hosted by above/ground press editor/publisher rob mclennan
[and don't forget the Toronto event, August 25th!]
7:30pm, Saturday, September 10, 2016
Black Squirrel Books & Café
1073 Bank St, Ottawa

$5 at the door; includes a copy of a recent above/ground press title

Stephanie Bolster is the author of four books of poetry, the first of which, White Stone: The Alice Poems (Signal/Véhicule, 1998), won the Governor General’s and the Gerald Lampert Awards. Her latest book, A Page from the Wonders of Life on Earth (Brick Books, 2011) was a finalist for the Pat Lowther Award and more recent work was a finalist for the Canada Writes/CBC Poetry Prize in 2012. Editor of The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008 and The Ishtar Gate: Last and Selected Poems by the late Ottawa poet Diana Brebner, and co-editor of Penned: Zoo Poems, she was born in Vancouver and teaches creative writing at Concordia University in Montréal, where she also coordinates the writing program.

She is the author of three above/ground press chapbook: Three Bloody Words (1996), Biodome (2006) and Three Bloody Words : Twentieth Anniversary Edition (2016).

Braydon Beaulieu is a doctoral candidate at the University of Calgary where he studies creative writing, poetics, science fiction, and games. He lives in Toronto.

He is the author of the above/ground press chapbook ERASURE: A Short Story (2016).

Sean Braune’s theoretical work has been published in Postmodern Culture, Journal of Modern Literature, Canadian Literature, symplokē, and elsewhere. His poetry has appeared in ditch, The Puritan, Rampike, and Poetry is Dead, and elsewhere.

His first chapbook, produced by above/ground press, is the vitamins of an alphabet (2016).

Pearl Pirie does bookish and lookish things. She has made a bunch of chapbooks & you probably should too.  (Bio is Italian for speaker’s corner, right?) For those who answer no, Pirie has been published in 3 books, a few anthologies, many chapbooks and has a renewed love of canoes. www.pearlpirie.com has resources for templates.

She is the author of six above/ground press publications, including the chapbooks oath in the boathouse (2008), vertigoheel for the dilly (2014), today’s woods (2014) and the brand-new sex in sevens (2016).

the above/ground press 23rd anniversary (Toronto) reading! August 25, 2016

above/ground press presents readings and other such by an array of poets:

Braydon Beaulieu (Toronto)
Ashley-Elizabeth Best (Kingston)
Sean Braune (Toronto)
Stephen Brockwell (Ottawa)
Sharon Harris (Toronto)
+ Aaron Tucker (Toronto)
with the possibility of an unnamed (for now) special guest reader,

lovingly hosted by above/ground press editor/publisher rob mclennan
7:30pm, Thursday, August 25, 2016
The Steady Cafe & Bar
1051 Bloor St W.
www.TheSteadyCafe.com

$5 at the door; includes a copy of a recent above/ground press title

Braydon Beaulieu is a doctoral candidate at the University of Calgary where he studies creative writing, poetics, science fiction, and games. He lives in Toronto.

He is the author of the above/ground press chapbook ERASURE: A Short Story (2016).

Ashley-Elizabeth Best is from Cobourg and now lives and writes in Kingston. Her work has appeared in CV2, Berfrois, Grist, dusie, Ambit Magazine and The Literary Review of Canada. Her debut poetry collection Slow States of Collapse was shortlisted for the 2015 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry and was published with ECW Press in April of 2016.

She is the author of the above/ground press chapbook Now You Have Many Legs To Stand On (2015).

Sean Braune’s theoretical work has been published in Postmodern Culture, Journal of Modern Literature, Canadian Literature, symplokē, and elsewhere. His poetry has appeared in ditch, The Puritan, Rampike, and Poetry is Dead, and elsewhere.

His first chapbook, produced by above/ground press, is the vitamins of an alphabet (2016).

Stephen Brockwell is an Ottawa poet and small business schlub. His poems are forthoming in Arc and Inwords. He is preparing workshops on poetry and philosophy for the Ottawa Public Library. His chapbook Where Did You See It Last? appeared in June with Ottawa's Textualis Press, and he has a new poetry title out this fall—All of Us Reticent, Here, Together—with Mansfield Press.

He is the author of four chapbooks from above/ground press: Images from Declassified Nuclear Test Films (2014), Excerpts from Impossible Books: The Crawdad Cantos (2012), Impossible Books (the Carleton Installment) (2010) and Marin County Poems (2001). He had work reprinted in the anniversary anthology Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013).

Sharon Harris is a Toronto artist/writer whose poems have been anthologized in The Broadview Introduction to Literature, The Last Vispo, and Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry. She is the author of chapbooks from bookthug, In Case of Emergency Press, and above/ground, and her first full-length collection, Avatar, was published by The Mercury Press. She has written articles for Geist, The Globe & Mail, and Open Book Toronto;  is a past contributor to Torontoist and Word Magazine; and her work has been published in The National Post, dANDelion, The Capilano Review, Drunken Boat, The Volta, broken pencil, and Vallum. I Love You Toronto, her exhibition of photographs, appeared in newspapers, magazines, and on radio and television across Canada.

She is the author of the above/ground press chapbook LIKE (2014) and “More Fun With ‘Pataphysics” STANZAS #43 (2006). She had work reprinted in the anniversary anthology Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013).

Aaron Tucker’s first full collection of poetry, punchlines, was published by Mansfield Press in Spring 2015. Additionally, he is one of the co-creators of the ChessBard (chesspoetry.com), an app that that translates chess games into poems. His collection of essays Interfacing with the Internet in Popular Cinema was published by Palgrave-Macmillan in July of 2014. By day, 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; by night, he is working on learning chess in between watching his beloved Raptors lose games. You can reach him atucker[at]ryerson[dot]ca.

He is the author of the above/ground press chapbooks punchlines (2013) and apartments, section three (2010). He had work reprinted in the anniversary anthology Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013).

new from above/ground press: ERASURE: A Short Story, by Braydon Beaulieu

ERASURE: A Short Story
Braydon Beaulieu
$4

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
June 2016
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Braydon Beaulieu is a doctoral candidate at the University of Calgary, where he studies creative writing, poetics, science fiction, and digital games. His most recent chapbook, Thin and Pure, was published by Chromium Dioxide Press for inclusion in the special edition of Christian Bök's The Xenotext, Book 1. He recently relocated from Calgary to Toronto.

ERASURE: A Short Story erases content from pages of Batwoman: Elegy (DC Comics, 2010) to create a new narrative from the remains.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com