some author activity: Lewin, McElroy, Cooley, Press, Nećakov + Earl,

Vivian Lewin has a new poem up at the Chaudiere Books blog for National Poetry Month, as does Gil McElroy, and Dennis Cooley, and K.I. Press; Lillian Nećakov has a piece in the "one good memory" series, via Silver Birch Press; and Amanda Earl has a new poem in the "poetry pause" series for National Poetry Month via The League of Canadian Poets.

some author activity: Cortese, mclennan, Vaughan, Cooley, Saklikar + Turnbull

Franco Cortese answers the "12 or 20 questions"; rob mclennan recently posted a poem for the late RM Vaughan; Dennis Cooley has a poem in the "poetry pause" series via The League of Canadian Poets; Renée Sarojini Saklikar has helped launch "Poetry Phone" through the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, providing "Vancouver's first free poetry hotline," and featuring readings by Vancouver poets; and Chris Turnbull has some new work up at The Pi Review.

some author activity: Campos, Earl, mclennan, Cooley + Stuart,

Isabel Sobral Campos has some work in Folder magazine; Amanda Earl has contributed an experimental review to Carousel on Bahar Orang's debut; rob mclennan and Dennis Cooley read in the online 2Poets2 Tuesday Reading Series via Turnstone Press' YouTube channel; and Cecilia Stuart has a new poem posted as part of the "Tuesday poem" at the dusie blog.

Bryce Warnes reviews Dennis Cooley's i see i said (2020) at The Pamphleteer

Bryce Warnes was good enough to provide a first review for Dennis Cooley's i see i said (2020) over at his brand-new site, The Pamphleteer. Thanks so much! You can see his original review here. As he writes:

Dennis Cooley | above/ground press | Ottawa, 2020

Staple bound, 20 pages | Purchase

Keep your eye on the ball—changeups abound: Between you and I, sight and sound, left field experiments and lyrical crowd pleasers. Centrepiece “take me out to the ball game” prosily puns upon a dugout lexicon—”I’m a bit wild on the mound, it’s true,” admits the speaker—to deliver an ars knuckleball. Elsewhere, the titular poem belongs to a suite of stuttering dialogues, woven throughout, that unstitch subjectivity. And the playful “chimera” picks apart our urge “to say what we would / say if we knew / what we thought / or what we thought / we could say / to one another.” Who’s on first?

new from above/ground press: i see i said, by Dennis Cooley

i see i said
Dennis Cooley
$5

courting 

 

où he said

là she said

oh you mean là
oui she said la la

oohhh he said

ah non she said là 

yes that’s what
i was saying he said

ooh la la he said
voilá that’s all
c’est tout
tout de suite she said but
she said she didn’t

he only said she said
how sweet it is

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

Dennis Cooley was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, and has lived most of his life in Winnipeg, where he has been active in many parts of its literary life. Latest books include departures, the muse sings, the bestiary, and coldpress moon.

This is Cooley’s third above/ground press chapbook, after “two poems” (STANZAS #45, April 2006) and have you learned / nothing kroetsch (2011).

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: Cooley, Tierney, o'brien, Carpenter + Dennis,

Dennis Cooley has a poem in the "poetry pause" series via The League of Canadian Poets; Orchid Tierney has some new poems in the latest issue of Marsh Hawk Press; forthcoming author katie o'brien has a poem in the "poetry pause" series as well; J.R. Carpenter displays her Edmonton surroundings as part of the virtual VERSeFest 2020; and Michael Dennis receives the Meet the Presses' Special Recognition Award for Commitment and Devotion to Small Press.

some author activity: dueck, Christakos, Beaulieu + Cooley,

; nathan dueck has a new poem up at The Pi Review; Margaret Christakos is interviewed by Uchechukwu Umezurike over at PRISM International; Derek Beaulieu did an online reading (posted at YouTube) via Kelly Writers House, with a post-reading Q+A conducted by Al Filreis; and Dennis Cooley is interviewed at Amanda Earl's podcast, The Small Machine Talks.

some author activity: Eleftherion, Cooley, Pirie, Bowering + Earl,

Melissa Eleftherion has new work up at Vallejo Poetry Society; Dennis Cooley is interviewed over at poetry mini interviews; Pearl Pirie is interviewed at the Chaudiere Books blog; George Bowering is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; and Amanda Earl has a visual poem in the poetry pause series via The League of Canadian Poets.

Robert Kroetsch 2020 tributes: Lea Graham, Dennis Cooley, Robert Hogg, Frank Davey, Nicole Markotić, rob mclennan + Amanda Earl

A gathering of tributes to the late poet, critic, editor and novelist (and above/ground press author) Robert Kroetsch (1927-2011) have begun to appear online at The Typescript under the heading "Robert Kroetsch 2020," and includes poems by a variety of other above/ground press authors such as Robert Hogg (see his poems here), Dennis Cooley (see his poems here), Frank Davey (see his poems here), rob mclennan (see his poem here), Nicole Markotić (see her poems here) and Lea Graham (see her poems here). The feature even includes an updated version of Amanda Earl's above/ground press chapbook The Sad Phoenician's Other Woman (originally published in 2008 and copies are still available), as well as a new essay by Earl on composing the original sequence.

some author activity: Aigen, Burdick, Clayton, Barwin + Cooley,

Razielle Aigen is interviewed over at Train : a poetry journal; Alice Burdick has a new poem up at The Miramichi Reader; Conyer Clayton has a poem reprinted up at Concrete&River, and has new work up at Long Con magazine; Gary Barwin has an essay on the CBC website on living through the pandemic; and there are new poems online by Dennis Cooley!

Robert Kroetsch Conference this weekend : Anstee, Baker, Cooley, Markotić, Hall etc

In case you weren't aware, the 2017 Canadian Literature Symposium at the University of Ottawa is this weekend: Robert Kroetsch: Essayist, Novelist, Poet. Running from April 27-30, 2017, presenters include a variety of above/ground press authors (and non-authors), including panelists, presenters and chairs Nicole Markotić, Jennifer Baker, Rudy Wiebe, David Eso, Cameron Anstee, Claire Farley, Dennis Cooley, Aritha van Herk, Robert Stacey, Phil Hall and others. I even have a couple copies left of Robert Kroetsch's above/ground press chapbook, as well as the memorial chapbook we put together for him, if such appeals. Apparently the public is more than welcome to attend, and you can see the full schedule for the conference here.

And: I took this photo of Robert Kroetsch during our shared University of Alberta Press on-campus book launch, April 2010.

some author activity: Cooley, Best, Pirie, Roberston + Stewart,

Dennis Cooley is interviewed by Turnstone Press, and has a new poem (audio and text) online at Winnipeg Free Press; Ashley-Elizabeth Best has a new essay in the "On Writing" series at the ottawa poetry newsletter; Pearl Pirie has a new poem posted at h&; and Lisa Robertson reads with Christine Stewart on May 24th in Vancouver!

some author activity: Kronovet, Poe, Baus, Landman + Cooley,

Jennifer Kronovet's second full-length poetry manuscript has been picked up by Ecco, as part of the National Poetry Series; Deborah Poe reviews and interviews Elizabeth Savage over at Jacket2; Eric Baus and Seth Landman have pieces in the "Insect Poetics" issue, guest-edited by Mathias Svalina, of Evening Will Come; and Monique Sherrett writes on Dennis Cooley for Brick Books' year-long Celebration of Canadian Poetry.

some author activity: beaulieu, Anstee, Lea, Tokar, Cooley + Press,

derek beaulieu (pictured) is named the first artist in residence in the 124-year history of Calgary's Lougheed House, from May 1 to June 30, 2015; Cameron Anstee is profiled over at Apt 613; N.W. Lea is interviewed over at the Chaudiere Books blog; Janice Tokar has a new poem posted on the Chaudiere Books blog as part of Poetry Month; and Dennis Cooley and K.I. Press write on Turnstone Press for the CV2 blog.

new from above/ground press: The Peter F Yacht Club #22; VERSeFest special!

The Peter F Yacht Club #22
VERSeFest 2015 special
edited by rob mclennan
[see the link here for information on the previous issue]
[see the links here for information on the 2014 VERSeFest special issue, the 2013 VERSeFest special issue, the 2012 VERSeFest special issue and 2011 VERSeFest special issue]
[see the link here for a history of the publication]
$6

With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars, irregulars and VERSeFest 2014 participants, including Cameron Anstee, Dennis Cooley, dalton derkson, Anita Dolman, Stan Dragland, Amanda Earl, Laurie Fuhr, Daphne Marlatt, rob mclennan, Pearl Pirie, Roland Prevost, Monty Reid, Armand Garnet Ruffo, Janice Tokar, Tom Walmsley and Gillian Wigmore.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2015
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
[a small stack of copies will be distributed free as part of the fifth annual VERSeFest, March 24-30, 2015]

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

above/ground press at VERSeFest: Earl, Cooley, Young, Pirie, Prevost + Brockwell

Check out the fifth annual VERSeFest, Ottawa's very own poetry festival, with a wide array of performers, including above/ground press authors Amanda Earl, Dennis Cooley, Deanna Young, Pearl Pirie, Roland Prevost and Stephen Brockwell, among so many others. See the entire schedule (including information on tickets and passes) here.

some author activity: Abel, Hancock, Markotić, Cooley, Graham, hastain, Barbour, Murphy, eckhoff + Pirie,

Jordan Abel is interviewed in the "Six Questions" series for the sake of his inclusion on the 2014 Gerald Lampert Award shortlist; Brecken Hancock has four poems up on Lemonhound; both Nicole Markotić and Dennis Cooley have new poems up at Atticus Review, as well as a short introductory essay on their work by Lea Graham; j/j hastain, as well as Douglas Barbour and Sheila E. Murphy, have new work in the second issue of Posit; there's a new interview with kevin mcpherson eckhoff up at Poets Touching Trees; and Pearl Pirie participates in the "My Writing Process: Blog Tour" meme.

some author activity: Reid, Cooley, Pirie, beaulieu, mclennan, McNair + McCann,

Monty Reid has a new piece up in the "Tuesday poem" series over at the dusie blog; Dennis Cooley has six new poems up at Canadian Poetries; Pearl Pirie has some new work up at Halvard Johnson's TRUCK, as does derek beaulieu; rob mclennan responds to Jennifer K. Dick's series of essays on the fragment; and Ryan Pratt posted a report on Hamilton's LitLive Reading Series from March 2, 2014, including readings by Christine McNair, Marcus McCann and a couple of others.

some author activity: Abel, Armantrout, Massey, mclennan + Cooley,

Jordan Abel participated in the "12 or 20 questions" interview series; Dee Morris contributes the third in a series of five of "first readings" on Rae Armantrout's poem "Spin" over at Jacket2 (see the series page here); the first two are by Jennifer Ashton and Katie Price; Karen Massey has a poem in the new issue of Bywords; rob mclennan has two new poems from the suite "Glossary of Musical Terms" now up in the first issue of Posit; and Dennis Cooley has a new poem up as part of the "Tuesday poem" series on the dusie blog.

some author activity: Cochrane, Armantrout, mclennan, Higdon, Wilkinson, Butler, Betts, Cooley + Barbour,

[photo of Mark Cochrane reading Cat. on the poetry bus at Vancouver's WORD festival on September 29, 2013; photo credit: Kevin Spenst] Rae Armantrout and rob mclennan both have new work in the second issue of N/A; Hailey Higdon has a new poem posted as part of the "Tuesday poem" series over at the dusie blog; there's a new interview with Joshua Marie Wilkinson over at Under A Warm Green Linden, Christopher Nelson's poetry blog; Jenna Butler guest-edits a Canadian poetry section in the October 2013 issue of Connotation Press online, including new writing by rob mclennan, Gregory Betts, Dennis Cooley, Douglas Barbour and plenty of others.