National Poetry Month : David Groulx,

 

Pow

When a man is abused

he goes willingly.

All the other men will gather

to see what kind of beating he can give

what kind can he take.

A fist is always a measure of character.

A cut sometimes looks like a scratch, and a strike was struck!

Here, lions would walk away from each other as would horses,

mooses and asses. Anything with a brain, no wait, even jellyfish.

Here, his punch will tell you

if you will lead him or leave him.

A punch is a point and here it is;

You will know what you can take from this man,

and what you can give.

 

 

 

 

David Groulx resides in Canada.

Published 11 books of poetry.

Nominated for the Archibald Lampman award in 2015 and 2019.

His books have been translated into French, Ojibwa and Cree languages.

Red River Review nominated his work for the Pushcart prize.

One Throne Magazine nominated his work for the National Magazine award.

Won the John Newlove award in 2019.

His work has been published in over 200 magazines in 16 countries.

Six Questions interview #48 : David Groulx

David Groulx was born in Northern Ontario. Now calls Vanier home. His poetry has appeared in over 200 publications. His latest book, From Turtle Island to Gaza was nominated for the Archibald Lampman award in 2019.

Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought you here?

On and off I've been living in or around Ottawa far longer than either I or the city expected me to. I initially moved here for work. Northern Ontario has been being emptied of people for the last thirty years because of it, or the lack of it. When I moved here, the Gilmour was still going. My first time in Ottawa was the first time I saw someone getting mugged.

Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community here?

I didn't really 'get involved' I was so struggling to find what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it. that mostly I stayed away from other writers. Although I do recall attending a reading at Tree of which you I think were just taking the reins, I think Pearl Pirie was there too, memory becomes a Trickster.

Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all?

I think some writers have a media induced image of ourselves as either living in communities of bohemian bliss or wretchedly alone in the mountains caves of Greece neither of these scenarios are vaguely true. Writers know talking to other writers is pretty boring.

Q: What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow?

What is happening for me, here in Ottawa is that some old ideas I've had about self-publishing have been reignited. The freedom of letting go of expectation. Publishing or what I call the business side of poetry is becoming less and less appealing to me. I find it less distracting and the art probably has a better chance of breathing.

Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your engagements here? How have the city and its community, if at all, changed the way you approached your work?

I've done some work here in the city such as grant and award juries and the like. Mostly my work is in some form of modest isolation when it comes to  an actual community. I don't come out of my cave too often, especially these days.

Q: What are you working on now?

These days I'm editing a poetry manuscript, but mostly I'm working on a shorter piece called, Under the Black Sun, it's about disturbing issue of male suicide, its prevalence and more disturbing fact that we as a society mostly ignore. It is a challenge to write about. I have also found a character that disappeared 25 years ago, she's back and wants to do a monologue from a sidewalk in Montreal, so there's that.

 

N.W. Lea's Understander shortlisted for the Archibald Lampman Award!

Congratulations to Chaudiere author N.W. Lea, whose second poetry collection, Understander (2015), has just been shortlisted for this year's Archibald Lampman Award, alongside titles by Pearl Pirie (the pet radish, shrunken) and David Groulx (Wabi­goon River Poems). The annual $1,500 Archibald Lampman Award acknowledges an out­stand­ing book of poetry by a National Cap­i­tal Region author pub­lished during the previous calendar year. See Arc Poetry Magazine's announcement for such here. The Archibald Lamp­man Award will be pre­sented in con­junc­tion with the City of Ottawa Book Awards on Octo­ber 19, 2016.


Copies of Understander are still very much available, as are copies of Lea's debut collection, Everything is Movies (2007).

As the judges said of Understander:

In this bril­liant book of com­pact lyrics, themes of alien­ation and fragility meet dark humour and hope. Part Baude­laire, part Bashō, Nicholas Lea’s pre­cisely-focused poems exam­ine the raw edges of being. Ques­tions, equiv­o­ca­tions and mis­di­rec­tions abound, as Under­stander walks with ner­vous aplomb along the edge of the abyss, but never falls in.

Pirie and Prevost on Petrie Island: rout/e

Chaudiere author Chris Turnbull recently posted that two further Chaudiere authors--Pearl Pirie and Roland Prevost--have poems posted ("5 Poets at Petrie Island") as part of her ongoing rout/e project, and she includes a report on such on the rout/e website. As she writes: "Poets David Groulx, Roland Prevost, Pearl Pirie, Sandra Ridley, and Blaine Marchand have poems appearing at Petrie Island as part of rout/e! The poems will be placed by Katherine Forster, Coordinator at Petrie Island, and Chris Turnbull, in time for Thanksgiving (Canadian). What a lovely display case the Petrie Island folks have built for their displays…The poems will be placed in these for discovery on self-guided walks…thanks, all, for participating." 

Pearl Pirie also posted a report (with photos) of the same on her own blog (from which this photo was lifted).

ottawa public library: a poetry reading & a workshop,

Chaudiere Books authors rob mclennan and Monty Reid will be reading as part of a group reading (along with Chris Jennings, David Groulx, Rhonda Douglas and Deanna Young) at the Main Branch of the Ottawa Public Library (120 Metcalfe Street) on Monday, October 7, 2013 at 7pm. In partnership with Versefest.

Also, rob mclennan will be running a poetry workshop at the Rosemount Branch of the Ottawa Public Library (18 Rosemount, at Wellington Street West) on Saturday, October 19, 2013 from 1-3pm. Pre-registration required.

Check here for information on either/both.