two poems online at Stride magazine;

Rupert Loydell, the same editor/publisher who was good enough to publish a book of mine back when he did such things--name      , an errant (Stride, 2006)--was good enough to solicit some poems from me that he has since posted online via Stride magazine, both from the work-in-progress "book of magazine verse." You can see those poems here and here. Thanks much!

Ongoing notes: mid-November, 2012

This is one of our honeymoon photos, taken in the village of Coton, on one of our last days. Aren't we lovely?

Today is the fall edition of the ottawa small press book fair! You should totally come by.

So much going on I can barely keep track. My upcoming January – March poetry workshops at Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeebar have a few spaces left. And keep an eye on The Factory Reading Series, whether via the sidebar on the top right, or the above/ground press blog for a number of events and new publications over the next few weeks. And then, of course, the 2013 above/ground press subscriptions are available. Why not sign up?

Ottawa ON: Ottawa poet Marilyn Irwin produced a small chapbook in an edition of eighteen copies for the sake of her Hallowe’en reading at the In/words reading series, little nothings (2012). This is her third poetry chapbook, after her self-published for when you pick daisies (2010; quickly re-issued by above/ground press) and the recent flicker (above/ground press, 2012). In little nothings, Irwin hones her tightly-packed poems into a finer sharpness, boiling down into incredibly compact poems. There is such a lovely quality of her ending poems before they end, writing just short of giving away enough or even too much, leaving entire spaces between for the reader to fill in. The chapbook of ten small poems might be dedicated “for quiet moments,” but the suggestion is deceptive, less quiet than sharp, or flare-lit.

another butterfly tattoo

fresh ink flares flesh

ruby lick wing whisper

another  butterfly tattoo

arctic breath lash dance

suckle sweet

soul secrets

insect small

The tumbling tongue-twister of the final poem, “sea sent,” is reminiscent of some of another Ottawa poet, Christine McNair’s, own works, from her trade collection Conflict (BookThug, 2012) or chapbook Notes From A Cartywheel (AngelHousePress, 2011). The words flip and twist but never trip. The words and phrases of Irwin’s short piece highlights a near-gymnastic series of turns, collisions and compactness that spark connections that could never have occurred, otherwise.

sea sent

in the sick thistle left to wither

weathered clover fills a parcel

Sunday stamp bottle wrapped

soaked notions orphaned oceans

flying narwhal hush

In/words reading series host David Currie suggested during his introduction of Irwin that she is one of the Ottawa poets worth watching over the next year or two. I’ve already been saying that for a couple of years.

England: It seems that British poet/publisher Rupert Loydell is still producing his smallminded books, as another small packet of publications appeared in my recent mailbox. The editor/publisher of Stride magazine and the late-lamented Stride Books, these works are deliberately produced as a series of quick handouts. Previous publications through this series were single-author works, with three to five poems per publication, but the new publications, a dozen in total, each hold a poem by Rupert M Loydell, and another by Paul Sutton.

UNDEAD NETWORK DRAFT

Darkness comes in a loop of dreams,

black paint over the wrong colours.

What lies inside the circle of sleep?

Winter singing and gestures without plot.

Did you see me woolgathering? Did you?

There is one thing missing: love’s true hoop.

Deleted photos linger on social network sites,

ghosts of lost battles and letting you go. (Rupert M Loydell)

I’m intrigued at the distinction, and wonder if the two authors are working their ways up to a particular project, whether collaboratively or otherwise? Is this work a collaboration or is the publication simply side-by-side? Still, the poems are wildly uneven, but the subtleties persist, and the quick publications nearly read as works-in-progress, quickly written, and quickly produced and distributed. I look forward to seeing what form(s) this might next take.

HAUNTING OF THE SECOND HOMER

Washed up onshore. I lay there for a week,

then removed the seaweed and bladderwrack.

Delightful, criss-crossing the town unseen,

sitting in converted chandlers, sipping white wine,

stealing from tables, pushing children over seawalls.

The place I stayed was an old lighthouse,

glowering over the salt marsh. I launched

from the top-rail, landing in mud suction:

hysterical owner screaming as she woke.

The woman wrote a novel, based on my

bullshit messages: copperplate letters

from a wronged housemaid, deflowered,

abandoned – drowning herself in black mud.

I enjoyed the book-launch, hurling pigshit

at the pony-tailed publisher. The granary

location went up like a vodka factory.

Oh Norfolk, you need the arts industry,

my hate destroyed this opportunity. (Paul Sutton)

Rupert Loydell reviews my poetry collections a compact of words (Salmon) and grief notes: (BlazeVOX)

British poet, editor and publisher Rupert Loydell was good enough to review two of my recent poetry collections in his "Recent Reading: Poetic Conversations," reviewing Enigma and Light, David Mutschlecner (96pp, Ashahta), My Love is a Dead Arctic Explorer, Paige Ackerson-Kiely (109pp, $17.50, Ashahta), The Rapture, Tim Cumming (81pp, Salt), Voluntary, Adam Thorpe (67pp, £10.00, Cape), a compact of words, rob mclennan (95pp, 12 euros, Salmon) and grief notes, rob mclennan (76pp, BlazeVOX).

Here is what Loydell was good enough to say about my work (click here for the full review):

rob mclennan (sic; the lower case is his insistence, not my mistake) is far from ordinary. He has an amazing writing and publishing output, and cannot fail to be on the radar of any poetry reader paying attention. From his Canadian base mclennan runs a pamphlet press, various book fairs and events, online journals of both poetry and poetics, inbetween travelling widely to book fairs, conferences and events around the world. En route he enthuses, challenges and networks and leaves in his wake a fine poetic output.

I've just caught up with his 2009 book, a compact of words, from Irish publisher Salmon, a book rooted in domestic matters, including familial breakdown/break up. Much of mclennan's work here is his trademark, or at least familiar, single or two line verses, drawing on the ghazal as a form, with diverse images and ideas accruing meaning as the poem goes on, but others are more straightforward and lyrical, particularly the poems in 'blindness: seven poems for kate'. These are poems which pick at mental and emotional scabs, states of being, poems which articulate real life but aren't afraid to confuse and abuse the norm.

what is the difference between song & burial

the difference of another document
[from 'the wrong man']

grief notes perhaps continues to chart a separation, but through an act of remembering and mourning. This book is one sequence or set of poems, each including the book title and then a further phrase. These are neither mawkish nor indulgent works, though, these are clever articulations of memory and loss, doubt and at times despair. Who hasn't, like mclennan been full of regret like this?:

I remember: whispers made
in sudden fields

as certain & as wrong as words
[from 'grief notes: weather,']

Slowly, slowly the poems build, through emotional aside, careful consideration, rant and rave, articulate and inarticulate thought to the final realisation that

hope is a four-letter word
just as dangerous, a further
street or river that then

leads sight, not the future,
but realizing we have one.

rob mclennan is original and hard-working, a writer who writes rather than pontificates, a doer and a maker and grief notes: is one of his best books to date.

12 or 20 (small press) questions: Rupert Loydell on Smallminded Books

Smallminded Books [photo borrowed by William Michaelian, here] is a fly-by-night publisher who produce books folded from a single sheet of A4 paper. The books are mailed out to friends, acquaintances and the authors as the publisher feels fit. There have been 12 titles in the last 8 weeks.

1 - When did Smallminded Books first start? How have your original goals as a publisher shifted since you started, if at all? And what have you learned through the process? How does this differ from your earlier work through Stride?

About 9 weeks ago. Casting around for workshop ideas to use with my first years in relation to 'writing as visual art' and artists' books, I came across instructions on how to fold/cut a piece of paper and fold a little booklet from it. I loved it. The workshop went well[so well that the next issue of With, our student magazine, is a gathering of 20+ different little booklets in some kind of wrapper] and I got very excited by the possibilities of this simple, quick way of making something.

The only goal has been to have fun and get some work I am interested in out into the world. It's different from Stride because it costs very little, and I make no claims for it. The work is produced in short runs and is usually out of print 4 or 5 days later.

2 - What first brought you to publishing?

Being introduced to the small press poetry world by poet friends, and my mother having mimeographed the church magazine while I was growing up, along with my family's bookworm tendencies.

3 - What do you consider the role and responsibilities, if any, of small publishing?

I think that is up to the individual publisher.

4 - What do you see the press doing that no one else is?

Having fun.

5 - What do you see as the most effective way to get new books out into the world?

Print and publish them, then give them away.

6 - How involved an editor are you? Do you dig deep into line edits, or do you prefer more of a light touch?

An incredibly light touch! I try not to deal with poets who can't edit their own work, or devise a way to work with others before submitting manuscripts.

7 - How do issues get distributed? What are your usual print runs?

200 copies. Stuff them into mail, put them into books, give them to students.

8 - How many other people are involved with editing or production? Do you work with other editors, and if so, how effective do you find it? What are the benefits, drawbacks?

Just me for Smallminded Books. I work with other publishers and editors on other projects, that is my own poetry titles, and when I edit books such as the recent Smartarse anthology for Knives, Forks & Spoons Press.

9- How has being an editor/publisher changed the way you think about your own writing?

For me, publishing has always been a way of reading other people's work and sharing enthusiasms.

10- How do you approach the idea of publishing your own writing? Some, such as Gary Geddes when he still ran Cormorant, refused such, yet various Coach House Press' editors had titles during their tenures as editors for the press, including Victor Coleman and bpNichol. What do you think of the arguments for or against, or do you see the whole question as irrelevant?

The arguments for and against have all been rehearsed and repeated numerous times. so much so that I think the discussion is irrelevant. I'm skeptical when presses exist solely to produce the publisher's own work, but have no problem with publishing my own work. The first Smallminded Books was a set of my own small poems.

11- How do you see Smallminded Books evolving?

I don't. It will probably run for a while and then stop when I'm bored with it. It's designed to be ephemeral and low-key. It's a quick fix to deal with my sense of exile from poetry publishing since I ended Stride.


12- What, as a publisher, are you most proud of accomplishing? What do you think people have overlooked about your publications? What is your biggest frustration?

I think the world needs immediacy, interesting objects and free gifts as much as glossy paperbacks or online access.


13- Who were your early publishing models when starting out?

For this, mostly a student-run magazine called Whip, which they produced and left lying around the university where I lecture. It had a different format though.

Otherwise I might point to some lo-fi artists books as well as everyday leaflets & flyers.

14- How does Smallminded Books work to engage with your immediate literary community, and community at large? What journals or presses do you see Smallminded Books in dialogue with? How important do you see those dialogues, those conversations?

It doesn't, the press relies on personal contacts/friendships, many from the 30 years I've been writing or the 22 years I published Stride. If it engages with communities at all is is only by giving them things to read.

15- Do you hold regular or occasional readings or launches? How important do you see public readings and other events?

No readings or launches, although I did hand out copies of my own Smallminded Books edition when I did a reading a couple of weeks ago. But the press is mercifully marketing-free.

16- How do you utilize the internet, if at all, to further your goals?

I don't. I am indulging my luddite tendencies with this one.


17- Do you take submissions? If so, what aren't you looking for?

Nope, I aren't looking for submissions. I read voraciously and invite authors to contribute if I think it appropriate.


18- Tell me about three of your most recent titles, and why they're special.

Mike Ferguson's Found In Dissonance is the first publication of any of Mike's ongoing sonnets project apart from on his blog, which is mainly to do with listening to LPs. The poems are gritty, urbane and witty. He deserves a proper book.

David Miller's from Holger Enke's Room is a snapshot of a longer sequence in progress, that demonstrates the author's philosophical and mystical concerns with belief and language.

Philip Terry's Spring Sestina (Sprung Sestina) allows Phil's playful sestina room to breathe and live on its own, giving a very different reading experience to a sestina in a regular book format.

Other titles by Richard Kostelanetz, Peter Finch, John Levy, Roselle Angwin, Peter Dent, rob mclennan and Nathan Thompson are just as interesting and focussed.

12 or 20 (small press) questions:

four new poems now on-line at Stride magazine (UK)

British online journal Stride recently posted four new poems of mine, here, from a work-in-progress manuscript, "Miss Canada." Thanks, Rupert Loydell!

Ongoing notes: early June, 2011

House-sitting in Old Ottawa South again, this week. See, here I am, writing away at the Starbucks (I know, I know...).

Have you been catching all these interviews on Kevin Spenst's website? Recent ones include Stan Rogal and Ken Norris, and then there's this less-than-recent interview with Phil Hall; apparently he has a new book, Kildeer, out with BookThug I'd love to get my hands on, as well as the new Rae Armantrout (see Amy King's recent interview with her, here). And don't forget that the Niagara Literary Arts Festival, simply because I'm finally home from such, is still actually going on. And have you seen the Trillum shortlist, including Ken Sparling's Book [see my review of such here]? About damned time.

Keep your eye on: the literary component of WESTFEST, as I read fiction alongside Jon Paul Fiorentino, Gabriela Goliger and others on June 11; a reading I'm doing at mother tongue books with Pearl Pirie and Monty Reid on June 16; the Toronto Small Press Fair I'll have a table at on June 19^th; the ottawa small press book fair, June 25, with pre-reading the night before at the Carleton Tavern. Where will you be for all of this? At all those places, I'd hope. I'm even doing a reading in Perth on August 12 with Christine McNair, if you can wait that long.

Vancouver BC: Presented as a talk on a series of readings is Vancouver writer Michael Turner's pamphlet Three Readings: Camera, Tape and Sound (Kathy Acker, Steve McCaffery/bpNichol, and Kevin Davies, as introduced by George Bowering) (Wednesday, January 12, 2011) as part of Western Front's “Past is Prologue” series, “an ongoing research project considering the Western Front Media Archive.”

The literary reading is a relatively recent phenomenon. Implying a written text, it is closer to Gutenberg than the pre-contact conveyance of Salish myths and legends or the Homeric tradition of poetic oration. Words spoken from a page, as opposed to those that come remembered.

As a reader and a writer I have participated in hundreds of literary readings. Sometimes I look forward to them; other times they fill me with dread. In preparing my visit to the Western Front Media archive, I chose to focus on the collection's literary program, curious to see if the documentation of readings at a centre known for interdisciplinarity differs from those at a literary festival or a writers' club.

What follows are three instances where a reading and its documentation combine to form a third event. The first focuses on the camera; the second on the videotape; the third on the relationship between what is seen and what is heard.

The fact itself that such is happening is astounding enough, as so many artist-run centres seem to be unaware of what exactly they're sitting on, given such staff turnover over the years. In Ottawa alone, I've witnessed both Saw Gallery/Video and Gallery 101 participating in such purges of their archives, as the first sold off, among other items, three first edition copies of Michael Ondaatje's Governor-General's Award-winning The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (1970) for fifty cents each (a book that, at the time, went for roughly $700 on Abe.com). Gallery 101, on the other hand, simply handed items out or left them on the curb to be collected, for their lack of space.

We now have decades worth of artist-run centres and literary readings in Canada; one can only admire Turner and Western Front, infamous for various literary readings over the years, including a large Talonbooks poetry launch in 1980, enormously for attempting to not only keep the records, but critically explore those same archives. In the first section, “Camera,” Turner explores a reading by Kathy Acker on February 2, 1977 from what would become The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec by Henri Toulouse Lautrec (1978). The second, “Tape,” writes of The Four Horsemen reading on November 21, 1977, and the third, “Sound,” explores a benefit reading for MacLeod's Books on October 22, 1983, focusing specifically on the segment by Kevin Davies.

The relationship between McCaffery and Nichol's performance and the deficiencies of the tape is uncanny, with the initial buckle acting as both muse and omen, or a transformational device that sets the stage for what is to come. Prefacing their performance is a story Nichol told at the conclusion of his Martyrology reading. When asked why his poem contained so many references to God, Nichol replied: “I decided a long time ago that anything that came into the poem I would leave in the poem. So I suppose that's in the way of explanation, not an apology.” What came into the documentation of McCaffery and Nichol's poem was just that.

One can only hope that this project continues, and possibly makes its way into some further printed documents, whether as an online archive of texts, and/or even a book-length study of the literary activity at The Western Front. If we don't understand just what it is we've done, what's the point of doing any more?

While a literature exists on the documentation of performance art (the performance document as object and the anxieties that result), I have found nothing on literary readings and their relationship to the (video) camera. One explanation could be the predictability of the format: the author, attached to the podium, reading from a text as if it were a script, one the audience might well be familiar with. A format such as this has little need of a camera operator; one merely presses “record.”

England: I recently received a small assortment of chapbooks by smallminded books, produced and curated by Stride editor/publisher Rupert Loydell, barely large enough to notice.

Nightclub

The Abyss: an apology for god's nightclub.

A calumny, a glorious denunciation of its

permutation on a kerygma: incomprehensible octagon.

In retrospect, it was always dark as anthracite,

propelled to decipher its reversion to

permutations.

So a penultimate home –

penultimate glorious calumny –

now The Anthracite nightclub. (Mike Ferguson)

Putting large poems in tiny spaces, I now own the splay and splendour of Peter Finch's The Insufficiency of Christian Teaching On the Subject of Common Emotional Problems (2011), the odd and sharp containments of Mike Ferguson's Found In Dissonance (2011), the wordplay of Richard Kostelanetz's Doublefulcra 2 (2011) and the wonderment of John Levy's Imagine A Whale (2011).

My

thoughts, she replied, are

like looking at a moving

whale with a magnifying

glass. (John Levy)

I can't find any real internet reference to these small items, although a review of one of Levy's previous in the same series exists here. These small, odd chapbooks remind in part of the Poems-For-All series out of California, tiny booklets small enough to leave in the most unlikely places, created as much for the sake of discovering new poetry audiences as astounding longtime readers. Just how long has he been making these, and how are they distributed?

Philadelphia PA: Recently in the mail, I received the most lovely letterpress object, Agnes Fox Press' sold out and numbered edition of fifty (I have number 19), Philadelphia poet Hailey Higdon's I WRESTLE HOME THE PAPERS (May, 2010). Produced as a five-page accordion strip, her meditation begins:

I wrestle home the papers.

I do.

Your divorced tendencies make you.

They make you.

He says: like baking cookies

you already put in the sugar

you can't get it out now

you have to throw away the whole batch

This is such a lovely piece, and I'm tempted to quote the entirety of such, being that it's short enough, but I won't, allowing it some future space to breathe on its own; considering they went out of print so quickly, might Agnes Fox Press produce another run? I'm caught by the thoughtfulll sadness of this small piece, encountering tweaks of loss, absence, blame, through the suggestion of divorce papers, and the possibility that eventually the feelings of loss will be gone, and the possibilities that this might, in fact, be entirely worse. Higdon, a pre-kindergarten teacher and poet living in Philly, is also the author of the poetry blog Palinode Project, as well as the Agnes Fox Press chapbook How To Grow Almost Everything (February, 2011), which I haven't yet seen. I am intrigued by what else she is capable of.

is it because I stopped meditating?

is that why I feel so asleep all the time?

why do

I have the urge to press my face against babies?

be near their heads and smell them?

this is a shape

I draw it with my fingers