some author activity: mclennan, Landman + Martin,

[photo from Stephen Brockwell + Gwendolyn Guth's wedding last Saturday, taken by Christine McNair] ; rob mclennan has a new poem up on the Ottawa literary website Jam Jar Words, and an Author Spotlight interview by Jessica Kluthe, over at her blog; Seth Landman has some new poems over at Springgun #8; Camille Martin has a new poem up as part of the dusie Tuesday poem, as well as an "author's notes" piece on poetry, composition and Anselm Hollo posted on The Town Crier, the blog of The Puritan.

new from APT. 9 PRESS; I simply began: above/ground press at 20 [an interview with rob mclennan]

above/ground press author (and friend of the press) Cameron Anstee spent a few weeks working on an interview with me for the upcoming above/ground press 20th anniversary, now available (for pre-order) as a chapbook through his own small press, Apt. 9!

The publication sees official launch on Friday, August 23, 2013 at The Mercury Lounge (second floor lounge) as part of the 20th anniversary above/ground press reading/launch/party! I'm still waiting on a final confirmation before announcing, so watch this space over the next little bit for the announcement of readers and new publications!

Here's the announcement Anstee posted today:

This month, Apt. 9 Press is thrilled to be publishing an extended interview with rob mclennan: I simply began: above/ground press at 20. rob’s above/ground press is celebrating itstwentieth anniversary in August 2013. For any small press activity, this would be a stunning accomplishment. In Ottawa, a city that hasn’t always been as active as some others in the Canadian landscape, it takes on greater significance. Apt. 9, so often concerned with its Ottawa-specific context, could not let this anniversary go by without doing something to mark the occasion. So, we set up with rob over email for eight weeks and asked him about the origins of the press, what was happening in Ottawa when he got going, what his ambitions were, what they’ve become, what he’s proud of and what he regrets, how many staplers he’s gone through, how he’s funded the entire operation for twenty years, the material aesthetics of what he does, and an awful lot more.

The chapbook will be ready and available on Friday, August 23 at the above/ground press twentieth anniversary reading at The Mercury Lounge. rob is still lining up his readers, but from what we’ve heard so far you won’t want to miss it. We’ll post all the details here as they emerge.

Congratulations, rob, and congratulations, above/ground press! Hey, you can almost drink in the US.

new from above/ground press: The creeks, by rob mclennan

The creeks
rob mclennan
$4

The creeks:

            Mercy does not come from the sky
                     Norma Cole, Coleman Hawkins Ornette Coleman


Watershed. Stretched, a bend. Erupts. To be vulgar, coarse. Urban song, a thread of water. Spills. Underground, a Mohawk sky. We catch the rain. It snowflakes, tongue. Dark, manifold. So much a mirror, corner. Questions, held. Held up. This constellation, margin. Deeper than fulfilled, arthritic postures. We were not afraid. Thin, silent, mouths. Eye on you and then.


*


Search. We hold the river, down. This resolution, meets. Mouth to concentration, mouth. I can’t go. No stream made, out-of-print. Useless, feathered, goods. What drawn and twisted, space. Snow warrant. Thin portraits. A simple-minded function. What ritual, thing. The trees, the skimming moon. Bookstalls. A brittle, darkened room. The pavement, ear. Abyss. Tonal waves direct.


*


Atlantic, between. Heavy manner, a centred abyss. This battered dawn, bashed ancient stone. The remains of civilization. First thought, Ur-thought. Grotesque. The ocean’s subdivision. Tactless. Define a score, a roundabout, a hedge. A supernatural crescent. This heated, cooling effort. Passive, energized. History, become a mine. A gravel tendril. Soothe. You, who are large in our eyes.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
July 2013
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Produced, in part, as a handout for the 7th annual Welcome to Boog City poetry, music and theater festival, August 2-5, 2013 in New York City. Thanks much to David Kirschenbaum and Adam Tobin for their help and support. See the facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/487315468023865/

The author of more than twenty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, rob mclennan won the John Newlove Poetry Award in 2010, and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2012. His most recent titles include the poetry collection Songs for little sleep, (Obvious Epiphanies, 2012) and a second novel, missing persons (2009). The Uncertainty Principle: stories, is scheduled to appear in spring 2014. 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

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

some author activity: eckhoff, MacLeod, Christie, MillAr + McNair

kevin mcpherson eckhoff keeps posting over at Goodreads: Kathryn MacLeod has a new poem as part of the Tuesday poem series on the dusie blog; Jason Christie takes part in an impromptu residency in Vernon, British Columbia at the Mackie Lake House; Jay MillAr is interviewed over at The Toronto Quarterly; and Christine McNair answers the Poets in Profile questions over at Open Book: Ontario.

William Hawkins' 60s band, The Children, finally release their first album

Ottawa poet, musician, songwriter and above/ground press author William Hawkins is well-known in musical circles for, among other accomplishments, his participation in the 60s band, The Children, which has finally released a first album from 1960s masters. If you want to know more about William Hawkins, check out the profile I wrote on him recently, here, soon after he was one of two inaugural inductees into the VerseOttawa Hall of Honour. See here for the link to the original story (with audio files) on the CBC - All In A Day website, and here for the direct link (with audio) to ordering the cd from True North. As the CBC website writes:

The Children, now much older, finally release an album

Bruce Cockburn, David Wiffen, Bill Hawkins, Neville Wells, Richard Patterson, Sandy Crawley, Chris Anderson, Peter Hodgson.

You may recognize some of those names for being successful musicians in their own right. But for a few years in 1960s Ottawa, those guys were a band, a band called The Children. They never released any recorded material...until now.

True North Records has just released The Children -- Time Capsule: The Unreleased 1960s Masters, and Alan tracked down Bill, Sneezy and Neville to see what they think of digging up the past.

some author activity: Martin, Brockwell, Best, Tucker, Sand, Mangold, mclennan + McNair,

Camille Martin, Stephen Brockwell, Ashley-Elizabeth Best and Aaron Tucker all have new poems online in the new issue of The Puritan; Kaia Sand reads with Maged Zaher at The Switch, Portland OR on August 9, 2013; Sarah Mangold reads with Laura Newman and Gregory Laynor at the Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University, Seattle WA on July 25, 2013; and don't forget rob mclennan and Christine McNair's combined reading and chapbook launch at the In/Words Reading Series in Ottawa on July 31, 2013!

Cameron Anstee reads with Casteels, Miscione + Papaxanthos in Ottawa, August 10, 2013

above/ground press author Cameron Anstee reads in Ottawa at Raw Sugar Cafe [see the facebook event here], lovingly hosted by Michael e. Casteels. As the event reads:

On Saturday, August 10, Raw Sugar (692 Somerset St. W.) will be hosting an afternoon of poetry and fiction. There will be books for sale and writers to point at and say “Hey, do I know you?” or “My brother’s a writer!” or “I like your use of semi-colons” or “Do you know where I can find the nearest pub? I thought there’d be wrestling here tonight.”

BUT SERIOUSLY: It'll be a great afternoon of literature and we hope all of you can come. Bring a friend or two -- the more the merrier!

Cameron Anstee lives and writes in Ottawa ON where he runs Apt. 9 Press and is pursuing a PhD in English Literature at the University of Ottawa.

Christine Miscione is a Canadian fiction writer. Her work has appeared in various Canadian publications, such as Exile: The Literary Quarterly, This Magazine, and The Puritan. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Hamilton Arts Award for Best Emerging Writer. In 2012, Christine’s story, Skin Just, won first place in the Gloria Vanderbilt/Exile Editions C.V.C Short Fiction Contest (emerging writer category). Her debut short story collection, Auxiliary Skins, will be released August 2013. Find her at christinemiscione.wordpress.com/

Michael e. Casteels has self-published over a dozen chapbooks of poetry and artwork. His poetry has also appeared in: 529 (Proper Tales Press), Sterling Magazine, In/Words, and That Not Forgotten (Hidden Brook Press). He has work forthcoming in The Rusty Toque. He was nominated for the emerging artist award in the 2012 Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. He lives in Kingston, Ontario where he runs Puddles of Sky Press. Check out Puddles of Sky Press at puddlesofskypress.com.

Nicholas Papaxanthos is currently living in Montreal, pursuing an MA with a focus in creative writing at Concordia University. He recently put together the chapbook Teeth, Untucked with Proper Tales Press, and has been published in the anthologies Lake Effect 5 and 529, as well as in The New Chief Tongue 10, Sandwich Review, and This Magazine.

Raw Sugar Cafe
692 Somerset W., Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6P4
Saturday, August 10, 2013; 2:00pm until 5:00pm