some author activity: Ross, Nećakov, Earl, Kemp-Gee, Crosby + Marlatt,

Stuart Ross has a new poem up at NewPoetry.ca; Lillian Nećakov has new work up at The Galway Review; Amanda Earl has a piece in the "poetry pause" series, via The League of Canadian Poets; Meghan Kemp-Gee has a poem in Paul Vermeersch’s “In the Third Sleep” series; Gregory Crosby is working an online workshop, "Speaking Through A Mask: Persona & Dramatic Monologue"; and did you see that forthcoming author Daphne Marlatt is receiving an honorary degree through the University of British Columbia this spring?

some author activity: Houbolt, Earl, Campos, Cannon + Niespodziany,

Kyla Houbolt gets a spotlight with some new poems via the SHINE international poetry series; Amanda Earl is interviewed by Kathryn Mockler for Send My Love To Anyone; Earl is also offering poetry mentorships (with scholarships available); Isabel Sobral Campos is running an in-person workshop on Baudelaire, weekly across May, in Somerville MA; Frances Cannon has a poem up in the "Tuesday poem" series; and Benjamin Niespodziany wrote on Chicago's Test Reading Series for Zona Motel.

new (online) workshop: Robert Duncan's H.D. Book: The Roots of Modernism, with Michael Boughn,

a new (online) workshop: Robert Duncan's H.D. Book: The Roots of Modernism, conducted by poet, editor, writer and critic (and above/ground press author) Michael Boughn. Further information and registration here.

some author activity: Graham, Barwin, Ross, Mellis, mclennan + Tierney,

Lea Graham has a poem up at The Fortnightly Review; Gary Barwin has a poem up at NewPoetry; Stuart Ross has new work up at The Glacier; Miranda Mellis writes on Robert (Bob) Glück for BOMB magazine; rob mclennan has a poem up at Poem Alone, two more up at Blood+Honey, and is interviewed by Mia Funk for The Creative Process; and Orchid Tierney is hosting a free, virtual zine workshop, “pedagogies for the planthroposcene!,” on August 8 at noon as part of Sarabande Books's ⚡ZINE LUNCH!⚡ series.

some author activity: Solomon, Kemp-Gee, Novak, Robinson, Smith + Wilkins,

Misha Solomon has a new poem up at Frozen Sea, and is also running some poetry workshops in Montreal this fall; Meghan Kemp-Gee has a new poem up at Trampset; JoAnna Novak and Elizabeth Robinson have new work up at Action, Spectacle; Mahaila Smith has new work up in the new issue of Polar Borealis; and Grant Wilkins is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey.

some author activity: Siklosi, Adams, Ross + Dennis,

Kate Siklosi has a new essay up at Jacket2; Carrie Olivia Adams is interviewed by Karlie Herndon and Kevin Thomason for The University of Arizona Poetry Center; Stuart Ross and Michael Dennis are doing a house reading in Altmonte, Ontario on July 11; and Stuart Ross will be running a poetry workshop in Vanier (Ottawa) on Sunday, July 21 (spaces are limited; email razovsky@gmail.com for availability).

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.

some author activity: Baker, Downs, Saklikar + McNair,

Jennifer Baker has become the new Reviews Editor over at Arc Poetry Magazine; audio of Buck Downs reading at the Line Reading Series, at the Drawing Center, NYC is now online; Surrey poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar is running teen poetry workshops; and Christine McNair is interviewed over at Open Book.

some author activity: beaulieu, Brockwell, Baker + Saklikar,

derek beaulieu has a new poem posted at h&; Stephen Brockwell offers poetry workshops in September as part of the Ottawa Public Library; Jennifer Baker has a new poem posted as part of the "Tuesday poem" series at the dusie blog; and Renée Sarojini Saklikar posts notes "for a writer starting out" over at her blog.

some author activity: Greenstreet, Price, beaulieu + lopes,

Kate Greenstreet has some new work up at Delirious Hem; Katie L. Price is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; derek beaulieu is interview by Finn Harvor at his "Conversations in the Book Trade" blog; and damian lopes is part of a "how to get published" workshop in Barrie, Ontario, alongside Alana Wilcox and Bruce Meyer, on May 18, 2016.

Recipe Poetry: Cooking with Words with Marilyn Irwin

Thursday, March 24, 2016 ; 5:30 pm
1811 Dunton Tower, Carleton University, Ottawa
Hosted by the Carleton University English Literature Society
see the facebook invitation here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1508064212835273/

Miguel de Cervantes once said: “All sorrows are less with bread”. Whether you’re omnivore/carnivore/herbivore/allergy-ridden/or a “normie” – the sentiMINT remains: food, to quote a wise woman, “is sustenance and nourishment of the body, mind, and soul. It is a means of connection within heritage and community. It’s aesthetically pleasing and, frankly, delicious.” If this resonates and you dAPPLE in writing poetry – this workshop is for you! Participants will learn a BRIEf history of “recipe poetry” and review a few examples before STIR Ftrying their own hand. Participants are asked to bring a few recipes that are palatable and POISSONally meaningful for inspiration during the writing exercise. EAT-ited versions of workshop output will be included in a collection to be published by shreeking violet press. Snacks hopefully will be PRODUCEd.

A graduate of Algonquin College’s Creative Writing program, winner of the 2013 Diana Brebner Prize, and a 2014 Hot Ottawa Voice, Marilyn Irwin’s work has been published by above/ground press, Arc Poetry Magazine, Bywords, In/Words, New American Writing, Matrix Magazine and others. Her sixth and most recent chapbook, transecure, was published by Puddles of Sky Press in 2016. She runs shreeking violet press in Ottawa.

Free event; all are welcome to attend!

some author activity: Pirie, Robertson, Earl + Moritz,

Pearl Pirie writes on her phafours over at Brick Books' ongoing Celebration of Canadian Poetry, where Christine Stewart also writes on Lisa Robertson; Amanda Earl is interviewed by Volodymyr Bilyk for Zouch Magazine; and Rachel Moritz is running "The Poem As Time Machine" as part of the Iowa Summer Writing Festival from July 9-10, 2016.

new from above/ground press: assignment: zero

assignment: zero
$4

a series of responses to Crosscut Universe:  Writing on Writing from France, ed. & trans. Norma Cole

with poems by:

Frances Boyle
Amanda Earl
Claire Farley
Rosemarie Krausz
Barbara Myers
Dawn Steiner

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
December 2015
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Frances Boyle is the author of Light-carved Passages (BushchekBooks, 2014) and Portal Stones (Tree Press, 2014), which won the Tree Reading Series chapbook contest. Her poetry and fiction appear, among other place, in The New Quarterly, Vallum, ottawater, Prairie Fire, CV2, Fiddlehead, Room, Moonset and anthologies on such topics as form poetry, Hitchcock, and daughters remembering their mothers. Prizes she’s received include This Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt, and Arc’s Diana Brebner Prize.

Amanda Earl is a feisty bitch who refuses to do things in half measures. See Kiki (Chaudiere Books, 2014) and Coming Together Presents Amanda Earl (Coming Together, 2014). Also A Book of Saints (above/ground press, 2015). She’s taken several of rob’s workshops and always benefits, thanks to rob’s philosophy of exposing students to unconventional contemporary writing, and also to the comments and work of each poet, always quite different from her own. Read about Amanda’s myriad shenanigans at AmandaEarl.com or find her on Twitter @KikiFolle.

Claire Farley is from Québec's Outaouais region. She is the co-founder and editor of Canthius, a feminist literary journal. She has writing forthcoming in some mark made, a limited edition publication considering hybrid, material literary practices.

Rosemarie Krausz is a psychologist and psychoanalyst living in Ottawa, who is dedicating her retirement to writing poetry.  She is also a child of Holocaust survivors, which informs many of her poems.

Barbara Myers: I grew up in Halifax but have lived most of my adult life in Ottawa. I first got paid for writing as a girl reporter for The Halifax Mail-Star in the era of typewriters and linotype hot metal composition. More recently—over the past couple of decades—I added a laptop or two in order to contribute poetry, essays and book reviews to many journals and anthologies. Slide, a full-length poetry collection, was a finalist for the Archibald Lampman award (2010). For eight years an active member of Arc Poetry Magazine’s board of directors, I also facilitated the Wellington Street Poets collective and produced frequent collections of the group’s work (as Firegrass Press), including a memorial chapbook of the work of late Ottawa poet Maureen Glaude. The work these days is to put together a new book of poems.

Dawn Steiner began writing poetry under the guidance of Stephanie Bolster in 1997. She has produced three chapbooks The Ties that Bind (1999), Freeze Frame (2000) and Reflections (2001). She was a member of The Wellington Street Poets. The Wellington Street Poets collaborated on five chapbooks: A Capella (1998), Bouquet (1999), Black Leather (2001), All in the Waiting (2002), A Closer Look (2004) and The Temperature of Dreams (2005) and have produced a collection in book form called Oblique Strokes (2007). Her poems have appeared in The Algonquin Roundtable Review, The Voice, Local Lines and Bywords. She is currently working on a collection of her poems.

assignment: zero emerges from rob mclennan’s fall 2015 poetry workshop, in which participants were asked to ‘respond’ to a work of their choice from the anthology Crosscut Universe:  Writing on Writing from France, ed. & trans. Norma Cole (Providence RI: Burning Deck, 2000).

For information on the next workshop conducted by rob mclennan, click here.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: Young, Armantrout, Higdon, beaulieu + Hall,

Deanna Young has a new website to go along with her forthcoming trade poetry title; The Fiddlehead has a retrospective of the work of Rae Armantrout in their summer 2014 issue; Hailey Higdon's chapbook PACKING (Bloof Books) is now available for free download; derek beaulieu gets some good love from The Star Phoenix; and the University of Ottawa has announced a new undergrad poetry workshop with their fall writer-in-residence Phil Hall.

some author activity: Brockwell, McElroy, mclennan, Martin, Higdon, Betts, Cain + Poe,

Stephen Brockwell facilitates a TREE Seed Workshop on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 from 6:45 to 7:45pm on French Canadian Poetry; Gil McElroy, rob mclennan, Camille Martin and Hailey Higdon (among others) have new work in the first issue of Touch the Donkey; Gregory Betts writes on M. NourbeSe Philip over at Jacket 2, "Not against expression"; Stephen Cain responds as part of the "At the desk" series at Open Book: Ontario, as does rob mclennan; and Deborah Poe and Megan Burns posted a reading of part of their Poetry Month collaboration-in-progress over on SoundCloud.

some author activity: Thomas, Martin, beaulieu, Reid, Young + mclennan

[photo of how we would have preferred to move into the new house] Hugh Thomas has a new poem posted as part of the dusie "Tuesday Poem" series; Camille Martin reviews The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry (University of California Press, 2009), edited by Mark Weiss, over at her blog, and is interviewed by Katie Rosenthal over at Stated Magazine; derek beaulieu gives "advice to aspiring poets" through a q+a with Gauntlet; Monty Reid, Deanna Young and rob mclennan read at the Ottawa Public Library on October 7 with David Groulx, Rhonda Douglas and Chris Jennings, and mclennan also conducts a poetry workshop (pre-registration required) on October 17; and rob mclennan has quite the author page (as do others, I'm sure) over at filling Station magazine.

Stephen Brockwell's Summer Heat Poetry Workshop - Ottawa

On Saturday, July 7th, Ottawa poet and above/ground press author Stephen Brockwell will be offering The Summer Heat Poetry Workshop at the Carlingwood Branch of the Ottawa Public Library. The workshop will help poets invest more verbal energy into their poems.

A single poem chosen from up to five pages of work from each participant will be work-shopped to improve musical energy with a sharp focus on voice, tone, rhythm, syntax and line. Participants will be encouraged to share their work on a free social networking website prior to the workshop. Participants will be able to comment on each other’s work in an encouraging environment moderated by the workshop leader. The initial online collaboration will set the tone for an intense but positive three hour face-to-face workshop at Carlingwood Library.

Please send your poems to Stephen Brockwell at least one week prior to the workshop. Email poems to sbrockwell@yahoo.com, or drop them off at the Carlingwood Library. A list of suggested reading from previous workshops will be provided for reference.

Stephen Brockwell is the author of five books, including The Real Made Up (ECW) and Fruitfly Geographic (ECW) which won the Archibald Lampman award. With Stuart Ross, Stephen edited Rogue Stimulus: the Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament (Mansfield). Stephen was recently the featured reader with rob mclennan for the 17 Poets series at the Goldmine in New Orleans, Louisiana. Samples from his current project, Excerpts from Impossible Books have been published by above/ground press.

For more information on the workshop, contact paul.tyler@ottawa.ca