Poetic form gets exploded and reshaped in two recent volumes from River Halen and Otoniya J. Okot Bitek
The notion of making oneself "legible" to oneself and others is at the centre of Halen's project.
Fragments shored against ruins: Matthew Hollis charts the convoluted and painful path toward T.S. Eliot’s masterpiece in a new “biography” of The Waste Land
Eliot's vision of a fallen world blighted by urban decay and a somnambulant populace continues to divide readers.
“I eat those words like they is food”: The prismatic poetry of Pamela Mordecai
It would be salutary to see critics inside and outside of the academy pick up this book and engage with it thoroughly and thoughtfully.
Griffin Poetry Prize incurs backlash after eliminating its dedicated category for Canadian poets
The elimination of the Canadian category makes it that much harder for domestic poets to access time in the spotlight.
Putting the verse in metaverse: George Murray gets social with a private online network for poets
The new members-only social-media site aims to replicate the café or salon in a virtual environment.
Flight paths: Susan Glickman’s selected essays address poetry, criticism, and taking up art study in her sixties
Glickman’s focus on technique on a granular level reveals her to be a deeply knowledgeable and highly erudite reader of a wide range of poets.
Home and away: the dislocations of place and self in Hoa Nguyen’s A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure
The Toronto poet recalls her mother, a former stunt motorcycle rider, and her former home in Vietnam.
Newly published poem by Vladimir Nabokov delves into the personal life of the Man of Steel
“The Man of To-morrow’s Lament” imagines Superman’s angst at not being able to live a normal life after marrying Lois Lane.
Poet George Murray launches Walk the Line, a pair of workshops to teach beginning and intermediate writers the craft of verse
The former St. John's, Newfoundland, poet laureate is looking to demystify poetry and convince people that anyone has it in them to write verse.