new from above/ground press: Planting Seeds : Fletcher Garden Poems, ed. David O’Meara

Planting Seeds : Fletcher Garden Poems
edited by David O’Meara
$6

featuring new poems by:

Laurie Koensgen
Ellen Chang-Richardson 
Anita Lahey
Conyer Clayton 
Sneha Madhavan-Reese
David Stymeist
David O’Meara
Blaine Marchand

Introduction
David O’Meara,
Poet Laureate (anglophone) of the City of Ottawa (2024-2027)

Living in an urban area, it is often easy to forget the rich natural habitat that surrounds us. Thankfully, in the Ottawa region, there are numerous opportunities for “appreciation, preservation, and conservation of Canada’s natural heritage,” a listed objective of the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club. In late April, eight local poets took a ramble with Sandy Garland, a volunteer and educator at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden / Bill Holland Trail, and a passionate advocate for conservation, to appreciate and respond to the flora and fauna of this unique and valuable site within the city. The poets returned, walked, sat, imagined, researched, and wrote. The result is this chapbook, which shapes an informal guide to a leisurely walk on the provided paths. I encourage you to take it to the Bill Holland Trail, or any local trail, and read, look, and listen. Wear a hat and long pants. Bring a water bottle. And visit the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club website, a valuable resource, for more information on how to create wildlife-friendly habitat and gardens on urban and rural properties: https://ofnc.ca/programs/fletcher-wildlife-garden

Thank you first of all to Sandy Garland, volunteer-extraordinaire, who generously donated her time, energy, enthusiasm, and endless knowledge to the poets and audience during our tour of the trails and garden. Thanks to the support of rob mclennan for work on this chapbook, Allison Armstrong for media and publicity, Frances Boyle and Nik Ives-Allison. Thanks to Edward Farnworth and Stuart Tomlinson at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Thanks to Leigh Thorpe and Jane’s Walk. Many thanks to the City of Ottawa for support through the Ottawa Poet Laureate program, and to all the participating poets for their thoughtfulness and creativity.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
June 2026
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
produced for the event PLANTING SEEDS: NATURE POETRY ON THE TRAIL, June 27, 2026, Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa

author biographies:

Ellen Chang-Richardson is an award-winning poet, hybrid genre writer, judicial assistant, editor, community organizer, and author of Blood Belies (Wolsak & Wynn, 2024). 

Conyer Clayton is a queer writer, editor, and bookseller from Louisville, Kentucky living in Ottawa. Their third full-length collection of poetry, the lake-shaped excuse, is forthcoming in October 2026 with Buckrider Books, Wolsak and Wynn. 

Laurie Koensgen’s poetry has appeared internationally in more than 100 journals, anthologies and online magazines. Her fourth chapbook, this clingstone love, is with Pinhole Poetry Press. 

Anita Lahey loves wandering Ottawa’s pockets of urban wild. Her latest poetry collection is While Supplies Last. Her memoir, The Last Goldfish: A True Tale of Friendship, was an Ottawa Book Award finalist.

Sneha Madhavan-Reese is the author of two poetry collections, Observing the Moon and Elementary Particles. Originally from Michigan, she has lived in Ottawa since 2009.

Blaine Marchand has been active in the literary scene in Ottawa for over 50 years. A chapbook, Anthems for Dead Youth, will be published this November by Big Pond Rumours. He has published seven books and two chapbooks of poetry.

David O'Meara is the author of five collections of poetry and a novel, Chandelier. He is currently the English-language Poet Laureate for the City of Ottawa.

DS Stymeist’s most recent collection, Cluster Flux (Frontenac Press) was short-listed for the Archibald Lampman Poetry Award. Alongside living with chronic disease (Crohn’s), he currently teaches creative writing at Carleton University.

This is David O'Meara’s third edited title through above/ground press, all part of his tenure as Ottawa’s English-language Poet Laureate, following Verse on the Banks / Poèmes sur le rivage (2025) and Words and Image / Entre mots et images (2026), both of which were co-edited by Ottawa's French-language Poet Laureate, Véronique Sylvain, with translations by Myriam Legault-Beauregard.

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

new from above/ground press: bodies and breath, a summer poetry workshop chapbook

bodies and breath
a summer poetry workshop chapbook
edited by rob mclennan
$4

featuring new writing by:

Marie-Andree Auclair
allison calvern
Allie Duff
Laurence Gillieson
Janna Klostermann
Leah MacLean-Evans
Sneha Madhavan-Reese
and Billie Moss

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
December 2018
celebrating twenty-five years of above/ground press
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

[this chapbook launches in Ottawa as part of a special Factory Reading Series event this Friday at the Carleton Tavern]

This is the third “rob mclennan poetry workshop” chapbook, after cycle 7 (April 25, 2003), with poems by Lindsey Barr, Robynn Collins, Brendan Hodgson, James Irwin, Soraya Peerbaye, LM Rochefort, Suzanna Showler and Mary Trafford; and assignment: zero (December 2015) with poems by Frances Boyle, Amanda Earl, Claire Farley, Rosemarie Krausz, Barbara Myers and Dawn Steiner.

For information on further workshops, check out the link at: http://robmclennanauthor.blogspot.com/

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

Marie-Andree Auclair’s poems have appeared in a variety of print and online publications in Canada, the United States, Ireland and in the United Kingdom. Her chapbook, Contrails, was released by In/Words Magazine and Press/Ottawa. She lives in Ottawa, Canada.

allison calvern lives in Vanier on a street sandwiched between two cemeteries—dead centre of town. She writes a few poems while collaborating on a graphic novel with local artist, Benjamin Comeau.

Allie Duff is originally from St. John’s, NL and now lives in Ottawa, ON. Allie writes poems, performs stand-up comedy, and occasionally plays electric guitar. She is a proud co-founder of Spoken Word St. John’s, an organization that hosts monthly poetry open mics.

Laurence Gillieson began writing in high school as a way to deal with the growing realization that math is stupid. She honed her skills at the University of Ottawa (with a BA in English Literature), followed by Algonquin College (Print Journalism, followed shortly after by Dramatic Scriptwriting). Her poetry has been published in Bywords and in a university anthology. She has had a couple of short plays produced at the NAC’s Fourth Stage and on CKCU radio. She currently works part-time at the gift shop of the Ottawa Hospital General Campus. She shares her writing with multiple other interests and hobbies, including reading, cooking, and creating sometimes useful things with yarn.

Janna Klostermann (@jannaKlos) is a feminist writer, recreational performer and PhD student in Carleton’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Her academic and artistic work wrestles with how to respond to suffering, how to be with others in vulnerable moments, and how to tell our own stories in solidarity with others. The chips help.

Leah MacLean-Evans writes poems and stories in Ottawa. Her work has appeared in Canthius, untethered, Qwerty, On Spec Magazine, and elsewhere. She was the 2017 fiction winner of the Blodwyn Memorial Prize and the 2018 winner of the League of Canadian Poets’ National Broadsheet contest. She has an MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan and is the proofreader of Grain. Find her online at macleanevans.ca or @penanddragon.

Sneha Madhavan-Reese is the author of the poetry collection Observing the Moon. Her writing has appeared in publications around the world, including The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2016. She is the 2015 winner of Arc Poetry Magazine’s Diana Brebner Prize and was a finalist for a 2018 National Magazine Award. She lives with her family in Ottawa. “Frost Flowers” was originally published in The New Quarterly.

Billie Moss is an educator who lives in Ottawa with her partner, toddler, and cat.

The Factory Reading Series presents: a workshop chapbook launch,

span-o (the small press action network - ottawa) presents:

The Factory Reading Series
launching a chapbook anthology (produced through above/ground press)
featuring participants from rob mclennan's most recent poetry workshop:

featuring readings by:

Marie-Andree Auclair
allison calvern
Allie Duff
Laurence Gillieson
Janna Klostermann
Leah MacLean-Evans
Sneha Madhavan-Reese
+ Billie Moss

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Friday, December 7, 2018;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

This is the third “rob mclennan poetry workshop” chapbook, after cycle 7 (April 25, 2003), with poems by Lindsey Barr, Robynn Collins, Brendan Hodgson, James Irwin, Soraya Peerbaye, LM Rochefort, Suzanna Showler and Mary Trafford; and assignment: zero (December 2015) with poems by Frances Boyle, Amanda Earl, Claire Farley, Rosemarie Krausz, Barbara Myers and Dawn Steiner.

For information on further workshops, check out the link at: http://robmclennanauthor.blogspot.com/

author biographies:

Marie-Andree Auclair’s poems have appeared in a variety of print and online publications in Canada, the United States, Ireland and in the United Kingdom. Her chapbook, Contrails was released by In/Words Magazine and Press/Ottawa. She lives in Ottawa, Canada.

allison calvern lives in Vanier on a street sandwiched between two cemeteries—dead centre of town. She writes a few poems while collaborating on a graphic novel with local artist, Benjamin Comeau.

Allie Duff is originally from St. John’s, NL and now lives in Ottawa, ON. Allie writes poems, performs stand-up comedy, and occasionally plays electric guitar. She is a proud co-founder of Spoken Word St. John’s, an organization that hosts monthly poetry open mics.

Laurence Gillieson began writing in high school as a way to deal with the growing realization that math is stupid. She honed her skills at the University of Ottawa (with a BA in English Literature), followed by Algonquin College (Print Journalism, followed shortly after by Dramatic Scriptwriting). Her poetry has been published in Bywords and in a university anthology. She has had a couple of short plays produced at the NAC’s Fourth Stage and on CKCU radio. She currently works part-time at the gift shop of the Ottawa Hospital General Campus. She shares her writing with multiple other interests and hobbies, including reading, cooking, and creating sometimes useful things with yarn.

Janna Klostermann (@jannaKlos) is a feminist writer, recreational performer and PhD student in Carleton’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Her academic and artistic work wrestles with how to respond to suffering, how to be with others in vulnerable moments, and how to tell our own stories in solidarity with others. The chips help.

Leah MacLean-Evans writes poems and stories in Ottawa. Her work has appeared in Canthius, untethered, Qwerty, On Spec Magazine, and elsewhere. She was the 2017 fiction winner of the Blodwyn Memorial Prize and the 2018 winner of the League of Canadian Poets’ National Broadsheet contest. She has an MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan and is the proofreader of Grain. Find her online at macleanevans.ca or @penanddragon.

Sneha Madhavan-Reese is the author of the poetry collection Observing the Moon. Her writing has appeared in publications around the world, including The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2016. She is the 2015 winner of Arc Poetry Magazine’s Diana Brebner Prize and was a finalist for a 2018 National Magazine Award. She lives with her family in Ottawa.

Billie Moss is an educator who lives in Ottawa with her partner, toddler, and cat.

Marilyn Irwin reads as part of The TREE Reading Series' 'hot ottawa voices,' June 10, 2014

above/ground press author Marilyn Irwin reads as part of the annual 'hot ottawa voices' night at The TREE Reading Series, June 10, 2014, along with Gabriel Wainio-Théberge, Frances Boyle and Sneha Madhavan-Reese. Irwin is the author of three chapbooks, the first two of which--For when you pick daisies (reprinted in full in the anthology Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press, 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013)) and flicker--appeared with above/ground press (and are most likely still available).

The Factory Reading Series (a report): Madhavan-Reese, Spenst & Pirie,

Pearl Pirie [photo of Pirie with handmade trebuchet lifted from her blog] was good enough to post a report today on the reading she did last night with Sneha Madhavan-Reese and Kevin Spenst as part of The Factory Reading Series, organized, in part, for the sake of launching Pirie's most recent above/ground press publication. Given that Spenst is touring the country, Broken Pencil magazine is posting his reports twice a week on their site, and his report of his Ottawa adventures appeared earlier this morning. Good travels, sir!

The Factory Reading Series: Pirie, Spenst + Madhavan-Reese

The Factory Reading presents:
a night of readings and chapbook launches

with readings by:

Pearl Pirie (Ottawa)
Kevin Spenst (Vancouver)
+ Sneha Madhavan-Reese (Ottawa)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Wednesday, April 23, 2014;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
Raw Sugar Cafe
692 Somerset Street West (1 block west of Bronson)

author bios:

Pearl Pirie has a few chapbooks, a micro press, several blogs, a gig as literary radio host and irregular gigs to teach poetry. She has two poetry collections, and a third forthcoming with BookThug in 2015. None of these poems are in them so you have to buy them both.

She will be launching the chapbook vertigoheel for the dilly (2013), her fourth above/ground press publication and second chapbook, after oath in the boathouse (2008).

In addition to the UK, the United States, Austria and India, Kevin Spenst’s [pictured, above] poetry has appeared in over a dozen Canadian literary publications such as Freefall, Prairie Fire, CV2, Dandelion, filling Station, qwerty, and Poetry is Dead. His work has been shortlisted for the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry and his manuscript Ignite has come in as a finalist for the Alfred G. Bailey Prize. In 2011, he won the Lush Triumphant Award for Poetry. In 2014 he is going to do a 100-venue reading tour across Canada with his chapbooks Pray Goodbye (the Alfred Gustav Press, 2013), Retractable (the serif of nottingham, 2013), Happy Hollow and the Surrey Suite (self-published, 2012), What the Frag Meant (100 tetes press, 2014) and Surrey Sonnets (JackPine press, 2014). Follow the chapbook tour at kevinspenst.com

Born in Detroit, Sneha Madhavan-Reese calls Ottawa home. Her poetry has appeared in Arc, Descant, and The Antigonish Review. Her debut poetry collection is forthcoming in 2016 from Hagios Press.