article on Marcus McCann in Northumberland Today for tonight's reading in Cobourg ON

Boundary-pushing poet reads in Cobourg tonight
Posted July 21, 2011
COBOURG -"In my work, I like that people point out its playfulness. It is funny. It is subversive," says Ottawa poet Marcus McCann.

"When I'm writing, I'm always dancing this dance with my inner-critic, saying, 'Can I get away with this? What if I push it a little further?'"

The results of McCann's attempts can be heard at the Cobourg Poetry Workshop's 3rd Thursday Reading Series this evening at Meet At 66 King East. Since leaving university five years ago, McCann has been managing editor of Ottawa's Capital Xtra, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender newspaper, a job he is leaving "to move on; to go back to school."

Author of Soft Where, McCann has been described as a poetic gymnast, to which he replies, "Serious gymnasts aren't at play at all. It's punishing work, right? Poetry is fun, but that doesn't mean it's not also hard work."

One critic said of McCann's work, "I love the leaps and jumps of his writing. I love the way the language flies."

Readings are a way to share new work, McCann says.

"I was once told that they should be, in a way, a 'best of' selection. They are also a way to share new work, stuff you're excited about."

McCann has been working against what he calls "the Canadian Rural Gothic" -- poems about nature, farming.

"The poems I'm most likely to read are urban, infused with technology, frank about sexuality and drug use," he says.

"But I'm not trying to be confrontational in my reading, and am willing to meet people half-way."

Also reading this evening will be Cobourg's highly regarded poet Wayne Schlepp and, making his first appearance at the 3rd Thursday Reading Series, Peterborough poet Stephen Kennedy.

Doors open at 7 p.m. with the readings commencing at 7:30. Go to www.poetrycobourg.ca for further details.

Michael Bryson reading on YouTube, from The TREE Reading Series,

Michael Bryson's featured reading at The TREE Reading Series, November 24, 2009, is now posted on YouTube.

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