some author activity: Armantrout, Maloukis, Heroux, Cannon, Bolster + Nećakov,

Rae Armantrout has a new poem up at the London Review of Books; Rose Maloukis offers a list of what she's been reading lately over at The New Quarterly; Jason Heroux has work up in the Spotlight series; Frances Cannon is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; Stephanie Bolster is included in the "Canadian Poets Series" via Peripety and/or Tronies; and Lillian Nećakov has a new poem up in Paul Vermeersch's "In the Third Sleep" series.

new from above/ground press: TWO, by Rose Maloukis

TWO
Rose Maloukis
$6

In each body a thick line        
rides across the middle        
separates their upper 
and lower, a division or 
a strength of opposites
and I wonder why
two arrived

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
January 2026
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Poetry by Rose Maloukis has been shortlisted for the Montreal International Poetry Prize, has won prizes from both Geist and ARC, and been published in The Fiddlehead, The New Quarterly, Vallum, and others. Her poetry also appears in various collaborative and solo chapbooks. Rose grew up in the U.S., has dual citizenship, and makes her permanent home in Montreal.

This is Rose Maloukis’ second title with above/ground press, after Cloud Game with Plums (2020).

To order, send cheques (add $2 for postage; in US, add $3; outside North America, add $7) 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: Davis, Norris, Ladouceur, Doller, Maloukis, Trivedi + Boyle,

Jordan Davis has some new poems up at A Poet in Mexico; part five of Ken Norris' Confessions is now online; Ben Ladouceur has a poem up at NewPoetry; Sandra Doller writes on Fanny Howe's "The Witness" for Poetry Daily; Rose Maloukis has a poem in print and online at The New Quarterly; Amish Trivedi has a piece on C.D. Wright as part of a curated "cluster" on her work at Post45; and Frances Boyle has new work up at Public Reverie.

some author activity: Browne, Maloukis, Saklikar, Manery, Robinson, Boughn + Kemp,

a video conversation of Kate Colby and Al Filreas discussing a poem by Laynie Browne at Kelly Writers House is now online; Rose Maloukis had a poem longlisted for The 2025 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse contest, via The New Quarterly; Renée Sarojini Saklikar etc read in Vancouver on June 28th as part of Rob Manery's Some Reading; Ben Robinson has some new poems and book recommendations over at Etcetera, as does Michael Boughn; and Penn Kemp has four new poems up at The Typescript.

Jay Miller reviews Rose Maloukis' Cloud Game with Plums (2020)

Montreal poet, translator and reviewer Jay Miller was good enough to provide the first review of Rose Maloukis' Cloud Game with Plums (2020) over at Bibelotages. Thanks so much! You can read Miller's original post here. As Miller writes:

Rose Maloukis is indecipherable, but has rhythm—her poetry must be crackable.

Rose Maloukis’ chapbook opens with a Samuel Beckett quote: Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.

This chapbook is a 2020 pub with above/ground press.

Without jumping to the last page of the chapbook as I usually do, but judging this book based on the perusal of the first several pages, I can say with confidence that these poems delight in the experimentation of form.

The first poem begins with three lowercase O's aligned right and getting one space less right-aligned with each line break before the poem, two tercets, really begins:

    I saw this on the
    sidewalk
    painted white

    I took it as
    a sign of
    song

The next poem begins with three vertical lines, standing above three horizontal ones of half-equal length.

In the background of this review, I am listening to the 2024 remaster of Queen performing live in Montreal and thinking... this is very much a Samuel Beckett je ne sais quoi sort of situation.

“Twitch” and “A Form of Desire” are likely the most significant poems in this collection and I am judging by my lack of instinct on this.

There are also poems that are written out with margin-respective spacing, which is impossible for me to reproduce in this written blog without special research on CSS rules or old-school HTML tags. But pretend it fits the margin of the chapbook page when I reprint it here, as though there are 3-4 spaces in between each word:

    Moved by a small spirit they hover
    parts of completeness incomplete in turning
    the mobile pivots round upon itself
    we see it come & go & turn back again
    make odd patterns against the wall
    is one turn more believable than another
    & see there is a different shadow cast
    when my hand propels the motion

Owing again to the difficulty of printing superfluous spacing in web code, the poem wherein the title of the collection is printed would not appear formatted correctly unless photographed:



It’s not superfluous to me.

Some books I understand the premise of. Some require more attention. Unfortunately, I cannot admit to understanding the premise of this chapbook. But it does, in my headcanon of poetics, fall into the category of machine. This is a different type of mechanism, however, that Rose Maloukis has developed to render this book.

Several pages later she produces this, unexpectedly:



For the unnumbered pages in the chapbook we are provided two hints in the end of the work:

    Page 17, Lines five and six are partially taken from the folk song, “Billy Boy”.

    Page 23, the mandala referenced is Tibetan and is from the Palace of Buddha Bhaisajyaguru. It is called “Healing Buddha with medicinal plants.”

I cannot say I understand everything happening here, but I can, for reference sake, say I am a completionist when it comes to crosswords and sudoku and chess puzzles, but cryptic crosswords don’t speak to me. So suffice it to say, there is something cryptic happening here, but maybe that speaks to you.

All this being said, I cannot determine whether or not Rose Maloukis speaks to me:

    blurbed shadows diffuse car shapes in some damp
    idea of panic that I have seized by touch tight on the steering for
    you or me to pull to the side close by a bird disoriel hung
    in mesh, no nest, crumpled lost depth of field wind wail
    thunder, count, crooked bolt snap, ended edge bland and I
    could see where bird-I stopped and all the rest kept moving

Undeniably, Rose Maloukis writes verse that is statically in motion, like a freeze frame on a VCR fuzz.

I would hate to use the John Ashbery cop-out and say “I like it even though I don’t understand it” but I will say I reserve judgment because I haven’t cracked the code yet. That, itself, is part of the thrill of poetry, sometimes. And Rose Maloukis has it in spades, hence undeniable. Rose Maloukis is indecipherable, but has rhythm—her poetry must be crackable.

Last minute mention: she thanks Sarah Burgoyne in the acknowledgements section.

Spoiler alert to end the review: we have one other Maloukis title on the desk to review, from Turret House Press, by which point... who knows? Maybe we will figure out her method by then. I’m locked in.

some author activity: mclennan, Robertson, Rogal, Maloukis + Niespodziany,

rob mclennan takes the Galaxy Brain Questionnaire over at Michael Murray's Galaxy Brain; Lisa Robertson writes on the colour rose for Cabinet magazine; Stan Rogal has a new poem up at Train : a poetry journal; Rose Maloukis has a poem in the "Tuesday poem" series via the dusie blog; and Benjamin Niespodziany has a one-sentence story over at MonkeyBicycle.

some author activity: Bell, Maloukis, Reid + Mohammadi,

Wade Bell is interviewed via Chaudiere Books; Rose Maloukis has new work in long con magazine; Monty Reid has new work up at talking about strawberries all of the time; and Khashayar "Kess" Mohammadi is interviewed over at nothing/in particular.

some author activity: Konchan, Reid, Maloukis, Mody + Hogg,

Virginia Konchan has some new work up at Bennington Review; Monty Reid is interviewed over at poetry mini interviews; Rose Maloukis is the July winner of the "Arc Award of Awesomeness" from Arc Poetry Magazine; Monica Mody has some new work up at The Fabulist; and Robert Hogg has some new work (that I seem to have missed last year, when it appeared) up at BlazeVOX.

some author activity: Earl, Cochrane, Maloukis + Carpenter,

Amanda Earl is the October winner of the "Arc Award of Awesomeness" from Arc Poetry Magazine; Mark Cochrane has a new poem up at Canadian Literature; Rose Maloukis has a new essay in the "Talking Poetics" series over at the ottawa poetry newsletter; and J.R. Carpenter posts part of an audio collaboration with Darren Hagen.

new from above/ground press: Cloud Game with Plums, by Rose Maloukis

Cloud Game with Plums
Rose Maloukis
$5

Oh! Those shrubs!

That one! lays

itself on top of itself

variegated swell over

dark serried quick

mound upon mound

                                          

fan fingered leaves

reach to the earth

its body so godly—

if it could stand

and walk away

I would follow

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

Rose Maloukis is a poet and visual artist, with a BFA from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. She was born and grew up in the United States but has dual citizenship and resides in Montreal. Her poetry appears in a limited-edition bilingual artist’s book, From the Middle ~ Sonoritiés du Coeur, which is held in the collection of both the national and provincial libraries. She was short-listed for the 2015 Montreal International Poetry Prize and two poems were published in Matrix Magazine, Issue #105. A winning Second Place poem has been published in Geist’s 2018 Spring Issue #108.

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 above/ground press author activity: Maloukis, Barwin, Mohammadi + Clayton,

forthcoming author Rose Maloukis has a new poem up at Train : a poetry journal, as well as an interview; both Gary Barwin (with Michael Orr) and Khashayar Mohammadi (with Mehraz Karami) have new collaborations up at Long Con Magazine; and Conyer Clayton is interviewed by book blogger Ivana over at her blog.

some author activity: Robinson, Maloukis, Campos + Hogg,

Ben Robinson has some new work up at The /tƐmz/ Review; forthcoming author Rose Maloukis has an essay in the my (small press) writing day series; Isabel Sobral Campos is interviewed in the "12 or 20 questions" interview series; and Robert Hogg has three new poems (text and audio) up on the Pamenar Press website.