some author activity: Tardi, Sawyer, Melancon, Gordon, Kemp + Naughton,

Mark Tardi writes on the late Larry Sawyer for the Poetry Foundation website; Jérôme Melancon appears in the Canadian Poets Series via Peripety and/or Tronies; a trio of videos of Nada Gordon reading in Manhattan, along with a short note, sit at the end of this substack post by Vladislav Davidzon; Penn Kemp has a series of poems for the late Barry Dempster now up at Public Reverie; and Katie Naughton has a poem up at Poetry Daily.

some author activity: Notley, Berlatsky, Betts, Ross + Chang-Richardson,

Joyelle McSweeney writes on the late Alice Notley, as does Nick Sturm; Noah Berlatsky writes his engagements with the New York School of Poets over at Splice Today; Gregory Betts is interviewed "on literary community and collaboration, and AI's influences on writing" over at Creative Writing; Eva H.D. reads a poem by Stuart Ross; and Ellen Chang-Richardson is in podcast conversation with Rachel Thompson at Lit Mag Love.

Alice Notley (November 8, 1945 - May 19, 2025)

Sad to hear that American poet and above/ground press author Alice Notley [photo lifted from her 2018 '12 or 20 questions' interview] died Monday night in Paris. The tributes will be far-reaching, I suspect, from every corner of contemporary writing across these next few days and weeks. For now, we offer condolences to her family and friends. She came through Ottawa to read at VERSeFest in 2018, which prompted her above/ground press title, and her reading was one of the finest I've witnessed.

David Dowker (May 20, 1955 – March 24, 2025)

Sad to hear that Toronto poet David Dowker has died, after an extended illness. He was always quietly generous with other writers, slipping into small press fairs to say hello, making his way from table to table. I first heard his name in the 1990s, through his online journal Alterran Poetry Assemblage, probably first through the SUNY-Buffalo list-serve, offering publication to a whole range of experimental poets and poetry, showcasing work that pushed at the boundaries of what might be possible. He was a champion for experimental writing, although never one to push his own work too hard, although that was there, also. Some of his publications over the years include Machine Language (Toronto ON: BookThug, 2010), Virtualis: Topologies of the Unreal (with Christine Stewart; BookThug, 2013) [see my review of such here], Mantis (Tuczon AZ: Chax Press, 2018) and Dissonance Engine (Book*hug, 2022) [see my review of such here]. I was fortunate enough to produce a chapbook of his, Chronotope (2021), through above/ground press, he guest-edited issue #23 of GUEST [a journal of guest editors] in 2022, and I interviewed him in 2019 for Touch the Donkey [a small poetry journal]. He had been an above/ground press subscriber and supporter for more years than I can count, and always attempted to come through small press fairs to say hello if I was ever in Toronto. I shall miss his quiet dedication and attentiveness. He was a kind man.

Larry Sawyer (1970 - February 28, 2025) : (plus fundraiser,

Sad to hear, through Mark Goldstein and Lea Graham simultaneously, that Toronto-based poet, editor and organizer Larry Sawyer died the other night in Toronto. An active and community-minded poet, publisher and reading series organizer, he authored a small mound of book and chapbook titles, founded and edited milk magazine and spent fifteen years running the Myopic Books Poetry Reading Series in Chicago before relocating to Toronto with his partner, the poet Lina Ramona Vitkauskas, during the first Tr*mp Presidency. If such might be possible, there's currently a fundraiser going on, to help raise funds to hold proper memorials for him in Chicago, Fairborn and Toronto.

above/ground press produced his small chapbook A Chaise Lounge in Hell (2003), and I originally connected to him and his work through his online poetry journal milk magazine (begun as a print journal back in 1998). It wasn't until they'd moved north that I had a chance to meet him, once he'd started the milk magazine reading series over at Type Books on Queen Street, and I read there at least twice, including in 2022 [see my note on such here]. According to his Facebook page, he signed a contract with Guernica Editions back in May, 2024 for The Blue Butterfly (2026). It would have been nice for him to have seen that publication through. Tony Trigilio posted a note on him here, with another tribute offered by Mark Lamoureaux here. Larry was a good fella, and huge supporter of poetry. He will be missed.

Barry McKinnon (1944 – 2023)

Barry McKinnon and Brian Fawcett in Toronto, 2004

Sad to hear from Paul Nelson that Prince George, BC poet and above/ground press author Barry McKinnon died yesterday morning. above/ground press was fortunate enough to publish two chapbooks by McKinnon--Into the Blind World (2012) and G o n e S o u t h (2021)--as well as include work by him in an issue of Touch the Donkey [a small poetry journal] in 2022, with follow-up interview. A larger obituary/write-up forthcoming at robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: Notley, Martin, Waldrop, Collis, Trivedi, Olsen + Iijima,

Alice Notley has a new poem up at Harper's magazine; Camille Martin has been posting further to her blog lately; obituary for Keith Waldrop in The New York Times; Stephen Collis is featured up at Etcetera; Amish Trivedi has some new poems up at Tupelo Quarterly; and Geoffrey Olsen and Brenda Iijima have new work in the debut issue of The Call Center Collective.

Keith Waldrop (1932-2023)

Sad to see that American poet (and above/ground press author) Keith Waldrop died earlier this week, a giant of American (and beyond) letters, not only for his own work, but for the forty years he and his wife Rosmarie (equally a giant as well, through her own work) were editors, publishers and printers of the legendary Burning Deck (1961-2017). above/ground press published his chapbook from THE LOSS OF WORDS in 2020 as part of the prose/naut series. Charles Bernstein posted an obituary on Waldrop, written by Peter Gale Nelson, over at Jacket2. You can find my review of the essential and hefty collection of Rosmarie and Keith Waldrop's Keeping / the window open: Interviews, statements, alarms, excursions (Wave Books, 2019) over here. Our condolences to everyone that knew and loved him, especially Rosmarie.

Robert Hogg (March 26, 1942 – November 13, 2022)

Stephen Brockwell and Robert Hogg at a Chaudiere Books launch, 2015

Mountain, Ontario poet, editor and mentor Robert Hogg (see my obituary for him here) has died. He was the author of, among other titles, three above/ground press chapbooks: from Lamentations (2012), from Lamentations (second (expanded) edition, 2016) and From Each Forthcoming (2021). The volume Report from the Hogg Society, Vol. 1 No. 1 (2022) landed in just enough time for him to see and respond to a digital copy. A retired Carleton University Professor and organic farmer, he was friend and mentor to generations of poets, both within and beyond the boundaries of his classroom. He will be dearly missed.

Clare Latremouille (July 4, 1964 – November 16, 2022)

above/ground press and Chaudiere Books author Clare Latremouille (see my obituary for her here) has died, after an extended illness. A founding member of The Peter F Yacht Club writers group, she had work in the July 1993 FREE VERSE ANTHOLOGY (one of above/ground press' first publications), as well as the first issue of STANZAS magazine (1993), Missing Jacket #4 (1996) and The Peter F. Yacht Club #1 (2003) and #8 (2007) as well as more than half a dozen above/ground press broadsides across the 1990s. Her chapbook, I will write a poem for you. Now: appeared in 1995, which was reprinted in the anthology Groundswell: best of above/ground press, 1993-2003, edited by rob mclennan (Fredericton NB: cauldron books/Broken Jaw Press, 2003). Her novel, The Desmond Road Book of the Dead appeared with Chaudiere Books in 2006. She will be missed in this town by many.

some author activity: Mohammadi, Barbour, MacEachern, Coulton + Robinson,

Khashayar Mohammadi has some new translations of poetry, by Shahin Sadeghzadeh, now up at Asymptote Journal; Edmonton Journal publishes an article on the late Douglas Barbour; Jessi MacEachern is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; and Valerie Coulton has begun to curate a new series of free pdf poetry chapbooks, palabrosa, which recently posted a new title by Elizabeth Robinson.

Douglas Barbour (1940-2021)

Edmonton poet, editor, publisher, critic and occasional above/ground press author Douglas Barbour has died, after an extended illness [see my full obituary for him, posted yesterday, here]. Barbour appeared in more than a couple of above/ground press publications over the years, including as the chapbook Love’s Fragmented Narrative (2005), and Wednesdays’ (2008), produced as part of the online (since disappeared from the internet) “ALBERTA SERIES,” as well as an issue of STANZAS magazine (issue #30, 2002), which featured the first three sections of his collaborative “Continuations,” with Sheila E. Murphy. He was talented, beloved and kind. He shall be missed.

some author activity: Johnson, Paty, Radmore, O'Reilly, Norris + Gold,

Chris Johnson has a new poem up at Train : a poetry journal; Allyson Paty is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; Claudia Coutu Radmore has a new essay in the "Talking Poetics" series over at the ottawa poetry newsletter, as well as an obituary for Ottawa poet Lesley Strutt; Nathanael O'Reilly is interviewed over at poetry mini interviews; and Ken Norris and the late Artie Gold etcetera have work in the newly-revamped mouse eggs.

Michael Dennis (September 1, 1956-December 31, 2020)

Ottawa poet Michael Dennis has died [see my obituary for him, here]. above/ground press was fortunate enough to publish three chapbooks by Michael over the years, including the on-going dilemma of small change (1995) and what we pass over in silence (1996), as well as the more recent The President of the United States (2019). He also had work appearing in above/ground's second publication, the FREE VERSE anthology (July 9, 1993), as well as in: TEN (August 28, 2003), a chapbook anthology produced for a reading celebrating the press' tenth anniversary; in STANZAS #4 (October 1994); and a WHIPlash 2 Reader (June 1997) for the second annual WHIPlash poetry festival. He was a great friend to writing and to poetry, as well as to the press, and we will miss him a great deal.

RM Vaughan (1965-2020)

There have been a number of reminiscences to already appear for RM Vaughan, from my own obituary to pieces by Nathaniel G. Moore in the Toronto Star, Alana Wilcox via the Coach House site and Stuart Ross at his blog. above/ground press was fortunate to publish Richard in a handful of places, from an issue of STANZAS, in Missing Jacket, a "poem" broadside and a chapbook, starting in 1996. Condolences to his family, and his extensive network of friends, publishers and admirers. He was the loveliest and most generous of people. We shall miss him.

Joe Blades (1961-2020)

Sad to hear that Fredericton editor, poet, publisher and purveyor of a legion of community actions, activities and creations, Joe Blades, died last week. The official obituary exists here, and rob mclennan's obituary lives here. Blades was the author of five chapbooks through above/ground press, including In the Valley of the Shadow of Poets' Corner (1994), Tribeca (1997), wriding (2000), “t sea ache,” produced as STANZAS #19 (February 1999) and Tribeca: Twentieth Anniversary Edition (2017), as well as numerous other publications in issues of The Peter F. Yacht Club, Missing Jacket and as numerous above/ground press "poem" handouts, new work and a statement in the Spotlight series, poems online for National Poetry Month on the Chaudiere Books blog here and here, and a chapbook through the dusie kollektiv. He will be missed.

Ian McCulloch (April 18, 1957 – September 23, 2019)

Sad news just now from Gil McElroy, that poet Ian McCulloch has died, very suddenly. He was not only a poet I admired, but we had been talking for over a year about producing chapbooks, and even recently finalized the manuscripts for what would be two titles through above/ground press, the first mere days away from heading to the printer (his last email to me was on Friday, when he sent an updated author biography, and saying he'd be out of reach for the week, given they were going camping).

Gil sent along this short obituary:

We are heartbroken to announce that IAN PHILIP MCCULLOCH, husband, father, brother, son and dear friend to many, has Passed into Mystery, suddenly, at age sixty-two, while camping in Algonquin Park. Ian was a quiet but vital presence in the North Bay cultural community, being a founding member of the “Conspiracy of 3,” now in its thirty-first  year. He was the author of three books of poetry—The Moon of Hunger (1982), The Efficiency of Killers (1988) and Parables and Rain (1993)—and one novel, Childforever (1996). He was also the proud parents of Matthew (Skyler), Elena and Bobbie-Ann. Ian loved nature, canoeing, camping, hiking, reading, writing, music and the sport of Ringette. As well as his children, he leaves behind his “True Companion,” Laurie Kruk-McCulloch, writer and professor. A Celebration of Ian’s Life is planned for Sunday September 29th, 1-4 at Club 183 (183 First Avenue West, North Bay). Memories, stories and poems are encouraged. Donations to the Heart and Stroke Fund, or World Wildlife Fund, Canada, are welcomed by the family. “Keep Me in Your Heart for a While”—Warren Zevon 

Nelson Ball (1942-2019)

above/ground press author Nelson Ball died this past Friday. Condolences to all that knew him, read him and loved him. above/ground press was fortunate enough to publish his chapbook Scrub Cedar (2003), as well as some new poems in issue #17 of Touch the Donkey [a small poetry journal] (and, as anyone who knew him might suspect, he politely declined the offer of an interview). See my full obituary for him here. See Cameron Anstee's piece on him here.

David W. McFadden : October 11, 1940 – June 6, 2018

Condolences to his family, and his extensive network of friends, publishers and admirers. We shall miss him.

Marthe Reed : d. April 10, 2018

American poet, editor, publisher and above/ground press author Marthe Reed died earlier today, after suffering a stroke yesterday. I'm rather stunned by it, as so many are (and thank you to Laura Mullen, who gave me a head's up). Condolences to Michael, and their two children. Here's a photo of Marthe with intern Rose, during our family visit to their house in Syracuse, just over a year ago. I'll write up a proper obit soon, on my own blog. But for now, there is this.