some author activity: Tynes, Farina, Cone, Brockwell, Unsworth, Weaver, Christie, Shafer, Houbolt + Armantrout,

Jen Tynes, Laura Farina, Jon Cone, Stephen Brockwell (for Jason Christie), Lydia Unsworth and forthcoming author Emily Shafer all have poems on the Chaudiere Books blog for National Poetry Month; Brockwell also has new work up at The Pi Review, as does Andy Weaver; Kyla Houbolt has work in eunoia review; and Rae Armantrout has a poem up at The New Yorker.

some author activity: Mellis, Munson, Christie, Brockwell, Niespodziany + Levy,

Miranda Mellis is interviewed over at Tricycle; Jed Munson has new work up at the Chaudiere Books blog for National Poetry Month, as does Jason Christie (a poem for Stephen Brockwell), Benjamin Niespodziany has new work up at The Bulb Region; and John Levy has new work up at The Pi Review.

new from above/ground press: Words and Image / Entre mots et images, eds./dir. David O’Meara and/et Véronique Sylvain

Words and Image / Entre mots et images
eds./dir. David O’Meara and/et Véronique Sylvain
translations by/traductions de Myriam Legault-Beauregard
$10

including new poems in English (alongside French translation) and new poems in French (alongside English translation) by:

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm 

Stephen Brockwell

Margaret Michèle Cook 

Catherine Couture

Sonia-Sophie Courdeau

Leslie Roach

Bardia Sinaee

Michel Thérien

Introduction

We love the intersection of art practices and what is generated through dialogue. One expression of thought, when translated, via another medium, can transform into a third truth. In this way, overlap develops a further aura of meaning. Ekphrastic poetry—the written response to visual art—is one version of this vital collaboration. We asked eight Ottawa poets to look again at the rich, extraordinary permanent collection on display at the Ottawa Art Gallery to create a conversation of thought and feeling that the experience of art-viewing engenders. We hope you will join and enjoy it.

Introduction

Nous adorons les croisements entre les pratiques artistiques et ce que génèrent les dialogues. Une pensée exprimée, traduite dans une nouvelle discipline, peut se transformer en une troisième vérité. Ainsi, les recoupements font naître un nouvel horizon de significations. La poésie ekphrastique – une réponse écrite à l’art visuel – est une version de cette collaboration essentielle. Nous avons demandé à huit poètes d’Ottawa de jeter un nouveau regard sur la riche et extraordinaire collection permanente de la Galerie d’art d’Ottawa afin de créer une conversation entre les idées et les émotions que fait naître l’observation d’œuvres d’art. Nous espérons que vous vous joindrez à nous pour l’apprécier.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
January 2026
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
produced for an event at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Saturday, January 24, 2026 at 5pm

Author biographies/Notices biographiques:

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, from the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Saugeen Ojibway Nation, is a poet, spoken-word artist, Indigenous arts activist, assistant professor, and the publisher, art director, senior editor, and founder of Kegedonce Press. She is the recipient of the 2025 Ivy Award.

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, de la Première Nation Chippewas of Nawash Unceded et de la Nation Saugeen Ojibway, est poète, artiste de la parole, militante en arts autochtones et professeure adjointe, en plus de cumuler les rôles d’éditrice, de directrice artistique et de réviseure principale aux éditions Kegedonce Press, dont elle est aussi la fondatrice. Elle est la lauréate de l’Ivy Award 2025.

Stephen Brockwell is the author of seven collections of poetry, including All of Us Reticent, Here, Together (winner of the Archibald Lampman Award) and most recently, Immune to the Sacred (2022).

Stephen Brockwell est l’auteur de sept recueils de poèmes, dont All of Us Reticent, Here, Together (lauréat du Archibald Lampman Award) et, plus récemment, Immune to the Sacred (2022).

Margaret Michèle Cook a publié neuf livres de poésie aux Éditions du Nordir, de l’Interligne et Malaïka. Elle a aussi occupé la fonction de Poète lauréate de la Ville d’Ottawa entre 2019 et 2021. Son recueil Chronos à sa table de travail a remporté le Prix du livre d’Ottawa en 2009.

Margaret Michèle Cook is the author of nine poetry books published by the Éditions du Nordir, L’Interligne et Malaïka. She was also appointed Ottawa Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2021. Her collection Chronos à sa table de travail won the Ottawa Book Award in 2009.

Catherine Couture, originaire de Lévis et désormais installée à Ottawa, est traductrice de profession. Elle tisse ses poèmes de sororité et de maternité, à défaut de manier le fil et l’aiguille. Avant Ève est le premier de ses poèmes à avoir été publié.

Catherine Couture, originally from Lévis and now living in Ottawa, is a professional translator. For lack of threads and needles, she weaves her poems with sorority and maternity. Before Eve is her first published poem.

Originaire du nord de l’Ontario, Sonia-Sophie Courdeau a signé trois recueils de poésie dont À tire d’ailes (Prix Trillium 2012). En 2019, après avoir terminé une maîtrise en création, elle fonde sa propre entreprise afin d’aider des femmes à se transformer par les mots. Maman depuis 2023, elle travaille actuellement sur un quatrième recueil de poésie inspiré de ses défis émotionnels sur le chemin de la maternité.

Originally from northern Ontario, Sonia-Sophie Courdeau is the author of three poetry collections, including À tire d’ailes (Prix Trillium 2012). In 2019, after completing her master’s degree in creation, she started her own company to help women transform thanks to words. Becoming a mother in 2023, she now works on a fourth collection inspired by the emotional challenges she faces in her journey through maternity.

Leslie Roach is a poet, writer and lawyer based in Ottawa; she was born and raised in Montreal. Her debut collection of poetry, Finish this Sentence, was published by Mawenzi House and listed by CBC as a “Canadian Poetry Collection to Watch” and as a “Book to Read for Emancipation Day”.

Leslie Roach est une poète et avocate établie à Ottawa; elle est née et a grandi à Montréal. Son premier recueil de poèmes, Finish this Sentence a été publié chez Mawenzi House et a été recommandé par la CBC parmi les recueils de poésie canadienne à surveiller et les livres à lire en vue du Jour de l’émancipation.

Bardia Sinaee is the author of the poetry collection Intruder (2021) and a new chapbook, Flinch. He lives in Ottawa.

Bardia Sinaee est l’auteur du recueil de poèmes Intruder (2021) et d’un nouveau recueil court (chapbook) intitulé Flinch. Il vit à Ottawa. 

Né à Ottawa, Michel Thérien consacre son temps à l’écriture et à la promotion de la poésie. Plusieurs de ses livres ont été traduits et ont reçu divers prix et reconnaissances. Il a publié onze recueils et co-dirigé un collectif de poésie. 

Born in Ottawa, Michel Thérien devotes his time to writing and promoting poetry. Several of his books have been translated and have won various awards and marks of recognition. He is the author of eleven collections and the co-director of a collective book of poems.

David O’Meara is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently A Pretty Sight and Masses On Radar (Coach House Books, 2013, 2021). His novel, Chandelier, is published by Nightwood Editions (2024). He is the current Poet Laureate (Anglophone) of the City of Ottawa.

David O’Meara est l’auteur de cinq recueils de poésie, dont les plus récents sont A Pretty Sight et On Radar (Coach House Books, 2013 et 2021). Son roman, intitulé Chandelier, a été publié chez Nightwood Editions en 2024. Il est actuellement le poète officiel anglophone de la Ville d'Ottawa.

Véronique Sylvain habite à Ottawa, où elle travaille dans le milieu de l’édition. Ses poèmes ont paru dans plusieurs revues de creation littéraire, ainsi que des collectifs. Son premier Trillium, le Prix du livre d’Ottawa, en 2020, le prix Champlain et le Prix littéraire émergence Incueil, Premier quart (Prise de parole, 2019), lui a permis de remporter le Prix de poésie AAOF 2021. Son plus récent recueil de poésie, En terrain miné, est paru en septembre 2024 chez Prise de parole. Elle occupera, jusqu’à l’automne 2026, le poste de poète officielle francophone de la Ville d’Ottawa.

Véronique Sylvain lives in Ottawa, where she works in the publishing sector. Her poems appear in several literary journals and collectives. Thanks to her first collection, Premier quart (Prise de parole, 2019), she was rewarded with the Prix de poésie Trillium and the Prix du livre d'Ottawa, in 2020, as well as the prix Champlain and the Prix littéraire émergence AAOF, in 2021. Her most recent collection, En terrain miné, also published by Prise de parole, was launched in September 2024, She will be, until fall 2026, the Francophone Poet Laureate of the City of Ottawa.

Myriam Legault-Beauregard is a teacher, a literary translator, a poet and a spoken-word artist. She is also currently completing her PhD at the University of Ottawa. Her own works and shorter translations have been published in various magazines and journals, and her first poetry collection, Comme un myosotis, was launched in September 2023. Her first book-length translation, De plâtre et de platine (French version of Shashi Bhat’s The Most Precious Substance on Earth), was a finalist to the John-Glassco prize in the fall of 2024. She lives in Gatineau, Québec, with her partner and their two children. 

Myriam Legault-Beauregard enseigne et traduit des œuvres littéraires, en plus d’écrire et de déclamer sa propre poésie. Elle termine actuellement un doctorat à l’Université d’Ottawa. Ses créations et traductions ont été publiées dans diverses revues, et son premier recueil de poésie, Comme un myosotis, est paru en septembre 2023. Sa première traduction de roman, De plâtre et de platine (version française de The Most Precious Substance on Earth de Shashi Bhat) a été finaliste au prix John-Glassco en 2024. Elle vit à Gatineau avec son conjoint et leurs deux filles.

This is O’Meara and Sylvain’s second edited collaboration through above/ground press, after Verse on the Banks / Poèmes sur le rivage (2025).

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: Earl, Abel, mclennan, Brockwell + Armantrout,

Amanda Earl has an essay on michèle provost over at many gendered mothers; Jordan Abel has a new essay up at the Yale University Press website; Stephen Brockwell interviews rob mclennan via podcast as part of Writers Festival Radio; and Rae Armantrout (among others) shares a reminiscence as part of "Remembering Lyn Hejinian" at The Paris Review.

a pop-up poetry book launch: Stephen Brockwell + rob mclennan / Aug 20, 2022

Saturday, August 20, 2022: Das Lokal, 190 Dalhousie Street
2-4pm, in the (patio) tent 

launching:

Immune To The Sacred
Stephen Brockwell
Mansfield Press 

read a review of the book by rob mclennan at periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics

the book of smaller
rob mclennan
University of Calgary Press 

read a review of the book by Kim Fahner, Margo LaPierre, and Jérôme Melançon at periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics

books will be sold directly by the authors

Stephen Brockwell is a Montreal poet living in Ottawa. His sixth book, All of Us Reticent, Here, Together (Mansfield Press, 2016) won the Archibald Lampman Award for poetry. Stephen is a director of the Tree Reading Series, one of Canada’s oldest poetry series, with Avonlea Fotheringham and Brandon Wint. After thirty years in IT, Stephen now works for Esri, the Environmental Systems Research Institute. Stephen has participated in the Engineering Change Lab process for transforming engineering practice toward sustainable infrastructure and communities.

Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan currently lives in Ottawa, where he is home full-time with the two wee girls he shares with Christine McNair. The author of more than thirty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he was inducted into the VERSe Ottawa Hall of Honour in March, 2016. A suite of pandemic essays, essays in the face of uncertainties (Mansfield Press, 2022), appears sometime this fall, featuring a delightful cover photo by Stephen Brockwell. In spring 2020, he won ‘best pandemic beard’ from Coach House Books via Twitter, of which he is extremely proud (and mentions constantly). He spent the 2007-8 academic year in Edmonton as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta, and regularly posts reviews, essays, interviews and other notices at robmclennan.blogspot.com

 

new from above/ground press: Report from the Brockwell Society. Vol. 1 No. 1

Report from the Brockwell Society
Vol 1. No. 1
edited by rob mclennan
$7

an assemblage of writing in response
to the work of Stephen Brockwell

including
poems, critical writings
and
philosophical transactions

with contributions by:
Amanda Earl
John Foy
Laurie Anne Fuhr
rob mclennan
Peter Norman
Ken Norris
Pearl Pirie
Roland Prevost
Stuart Ross

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
February 2022
full list of published reports here
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Report on the Society logo by C. McNair, editor’s devil (retired)

Stephen Brockwell has six chapbooks with above/ground press, including Marin County Poems (2001), Impossible Books (the Carleton Installment) (2010), Excerpts from Impossible Books: The Crawdad Cantos (2012), Images from Declassified Nuclear Test Films (2014) and Immune to the Sacred (2018). His next full-length collection, Immune to the Sacred, appears in 2022.

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: Ross, Melançon, Brockwell, Marshall + Pirie,

Stuart Ross offers his annual New Year's poem, over at his blog; Jérôme Melançon is interviewed via the Chaudiere Books "Six Questions" series; Stephen Brockwell is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; Sara Renee Marshall has a new poem and statement up in the Spotlight series; and Pearl Pirie wrote on E. Pauline Johnson for many gendered mothers.

some author activity: Naughton, Tierney, Brockwell, Johnson + Flowers,

Katie Naughton has some new work up at Tagvverk, as does Orchid Tierney; Stephen Brockwell has a new poem up at The Typescript; Chris Johnson has four new poems in the October issue of deathcap; and Neil Flowers is being interviewed over at poetry mini interviews.

The Peter F. Yacht Club Christmas party/reading/regatta: a report,

How many years have we been doing this now? The first holiday season event we did was most likely back in 2005, so we’ve been doing this for some time, and this past Saturday night was brilliantly fun, with a more lively crowd than usual, and readings by Yacht Club regulars and irregulars Stephen Brockwell, D.S. Stymeist, Frances Boyle, Conyer Clayton, Michelle Desbarats, Robert Hogg, Marilyn Irwin, Chris Johnson, Margo LaPierre, myself, Lee Parpart, David A. Epstein, Monty Reid and Chris Turnbull, who was accompanied by the pre-recorded voice of collaborator Bruno Neiva.  

Stephen Brockwell

As part of my introductions, I spoke of how The Peter F. Yacht Club originally began as an informal group that met to discuss writing back in 1999, morphing into a journal back in 2003 (which still produces an issue for each edition of VERSeFest). One could describe the entire history of The Peter F. Yacht Club as a way for a small group of us to engage with each other’s work, and get a sense of what each other’s current projects might be. So, what are you working on?

The room was packed! It was good to see so many people I feel I haven’t seen in some time, including Pearl Pirie, Jennifer Pederson, David O’Meara, Rachel Zavitz, Jean Van Loon, Grant Wilkins, Laurie Koensgen, Cathy McDonald-Zytveld and Mia Morgan. Unfortunately, Christine McNair and natalie hanna had to send their last-minute regrets (and were missed, obviously).

Robert Hogg (seated) speaking to Craig Carpenter

What was interesting, also, was that Craig Carpenter, a poet I haven’t seen or heard much from in some twenty years (since he left Ottawa for parts unknown) appeared out of the ether to record the audio of the event. The final editor of the late, lamented Carleton Arts Review back in the late 1990s (not long after my own tenure as same), he was in Ottawa throughout the 1990s in part as a student at Carleton University, writing poems as a member of Jim Larwill’s informal writing group, the OmniGothic NeoFuturists (you’ll have to find Jim to find out what he thought that all meant). Apparently Carpenter is currently in Kelowna, British Columbia at UBC, working with Karis Shearer, and assisting in digital transfer of literary readings from dozens of archived cassette tapes (etcetera).

D.S. Stymeist

Stephen Brockwell opened the event with three really sharp poems produced in homage, including one for Stuart Ross [one of the readers at last year’s event] and another for his mentor, Peter Van Toorn, all of which I hope to see in print soon. How does his work manage to remain so sharp? D.S. Stymeist, author of a debut collection from Frontenac House, read a couple of poems from his current work-in-progress, resting behind the bar for both support and added effect. Frances Boyle included a couple of poems from her new poetry title, This White Nest, recently out with Quattro Books (and she has a collection of short stories out this spring with The Porcupine’s Quill, Inc., also). And Conyer Clayton read from a selection of prose poems, including from her most recent above/ground press title (and did you know she has a full-length debut out this spring?).

Michelle Desbarats

Michelle Desbarats is utterly delightful, and it was grand to hear her read from new poems, especially with the admission that she is working on a new manuscript. Can it already have been more than twenty years since the appearance of her debut? I would love to be able to produce another chapbook as well (to follow this one I produced around the same time as her debut). I’ve also been very pleased to see the re-emergence of Robert Hogg over the past couple of years [see my review of his two latest chapbooks here], and his poem playing with the Robert Creeley phrase, “Dig-it,” was amazing.

Margo LaPierre

Chris Johnson read two poems that included raccoons. Is this a new theme, a new thread, emerging in his work? And Margo LaPierre read some new poems that sparkled. I’ve only heard her read a couple of times now, so clearly need to hear further, to get a better sense of what it is she’s working on. I also read a couple of poems, from my work-in-progress “Book of Magazine Verse” [some poems from the same manuscript live here], including one for Frank O’Hara’s birthday (which I have already scheduled to post on my own blog in March, for O’Hara’s actual birthday; watch for it).

Lee Parpart

Lee Parpart was in town from Toronto, and read a couple of poems, which was fun, as did her American pal, poet David A. Epstein, who not only read a couple of curious poems, but offered an invitation to us Ottawa “Peter F. Yacht Clubbers” to their Connecticut Yacht Club. Oh, the boating we could do. And Monty Reid regaled us with a sequence around sex, constructed from stories heard and collected.

a very attentive audience

The collaboration between Chris Turnbull and Portugese poet Bruno Neiva sound fascinating (apparently there’s already a chapbook produced of such I have yet to get my hands on); Chris was able to provide some audio of Neiva reading some selections from their work-in-progress, and then Chris read a couple.

Monty Reid

listening to Bruno Neiva's audio

It was a grand event! I am very pleased, and also, very exhausted. And then a group of us landed downstairs, for lengthy conversation and hijinks. How did I only manage to get home at 1:30am?