THE WEATHER & THE WORDS: THE SELECTED LETTERS OF JOHN NEWLOVE, 1963-2003, Edited by J.A. Weingarten

I don't usually post when above/ground press authors have books out with other presses, but I think the late Canadian poet John Newlove (1938-2003) is easily the first above/ground press author (so far) to have a published collection of letters: THE WEATHER & THE WORDS: THE SELECTED LETTERS OF JOHN NEWLOVE, 1963-2003, edited by J.A. Weingarten (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2025). You can see a write-up the editor did on the project over here at periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics, as well as a review Ken Norris did for the same journal. above/ground press, as you already know, produced Newlove's final two publications before he died, the chapbook THE TASMANIAN DEVIL and other poems (1999) and the single-poem broadside, "THE DEATH OF THE HIRED MAN" in 2001 (which were both reprinted in the anthology GROUNDSWELL, best of above/ground press, 1993-2003 (Broken Jaw Press, 2003), a book I do have a few copies of, by the way) as well as a twentieth anniversary edition of THE TASMANIAN DEVIL and other poems in 2019, produced with an introduction by Weingarten (which is still very much in print). Of course, Chaudiere Books (the trade publishing arm of above/ground press) also produced A Long Continual Argument: The Selected Poems of John Newlove, edited by Robert McTavish with an Afterword by Jeff Derksen, back in 2007. Copies of this are available through Invisible Publishing. Check out Derksen's Afterword over at Jacket magazine, by the way, along with a few poems by Newlove from the collection. You should pick up a copy of the letters, I think. There is something very nice about hearing John's voice again.

groundwork: the best of the third decade of above/ground press 2013-2023 has landed!

the anthology groundwork: the best of the third decade of above/ground press 2013-2023 has officially landed! (pictured here with copies of the first two volumes); you can pick up a copy via Invisible Publishing (who also has copies of the second volume, ground rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013, originally published by myself and Christine McNair, who designed it also, through Chaudiere Books), or this weekend, as part of the ottawa small press book fair pre-fair reading on Friday and/or Saturday fair [note different location: Tom Brown Arena]! Thanks brilliantly much to Invisible publisher Norm Nehmetallah and designer Megan Fildes for their incredible work to bring this project to life!

pre-order now available! groundwork: The best of the third decade of above/ground press: 2013–2023

Celebrating thirty years of continuous activity with well over twelve hundred publications to date, groundwork celebrates the third decade of rob mclennan’s Ottawa-based above/ground press, publisher of lyric, innovative, and experimental writing across a wealth of chapbooks, broadsides and multiple simultaneous journals, including Touch the Donkey, The Peter F. Yacht Club and G U E S T [a journal of guest editors]. Following on the heels of the anthologies GROUNDSWELL, best of above/ground press, 1993-2003 (Broken Jaw Press, 2003) and Ground Rules: the Best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013), groundwork pushes against the short-lived and the ephemeral of small and micro press publishing. Firmly situated in his home base of Ottawa, above/ground press revels in the possibility of expansive conversations between writers, writing and readership, and groundwork works to acknowledge mclennan’s deep and ongoing dedication to the work of hundreds of contemporary writers across North America and beyond. See link here to pre-order!

Contributors:

Jordan Abel
Jennifer Baker
Gregory Betts
Alice Burdick
Allison Cardon
Kimberly Campanello
Norma Cole
Julia Drescher
Kristjana Gunnars
Natalie Hanna
Brenda Iijima
Emily Izsak
N.W. Lea
damian lopes
Natalie Lyalin
Rob Manery
rob mclennan
Christine McNair
Allyson Paty
Julia Polyck-O’Neill
Shazia Hafiz Ramji
Stuart Ross
Kate Siklosi
George Stanley
Hugh Thomas
Chris Turnbull

some author activity: Collis, Nilson + Izsak,

Stephen Collis has a new piece, "Future Imperfect," on Joseph Harrington's blog, as well as at WATCH YOUR HEAD: A Climate Crisis Anthology; Geoffrey Nilson was interviewed by Shazia Hafiz Ramji over at the Invisible Publishing blog, and more recently wrote on Lynn Crosbie for many gendered mothers; and Emily Izsak was interviewed over at Touch the Donkey.

some author activity: Waldrop, Clayton + mclennan

Rosmarie Waldrop has some new work in La Vague Journal; Conyer Clayton is interviewed by Shazia Hafiz Ramji for the Invisible Publishing blog; and rob mclennan writes on Stuart Ross and his Proper Tales Press over at the Forty Proper Tales blog.

rob mclennan on old-school chapbook-making

Stephen Brockwell's latest chapbook in-progress

I wrote this short piece recently for the Invisible Publishing blog on how I produce chapbooks using scissors and tape (a production method I've been told, universally, is horribly antiquated). Thanks to the team at Invisible Publishing for the post, and to Leigh Nash for soliciting it!

some author activity: Brockwell, Anstee, Earl + mclennan,

Stephen Brockwell has a new poem up at Politics/Letters live; Cameron Anstee is interviewed for the Invisible Publishing blog; Amanda Earl has a new poem up at Unlikely Stories; and rob mclennan is being interviewed over at poetry mini interviews.