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October 18, 2017The Writer in the World: The Mismanagement of Mystery with Vladimir Lucien
A Conversation with Vladimir LucienPoetry's so-called "resurgence" as a form of public/social capital seems to reveal today something new of the role of the artist in the world. This new thing, to me, ...
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April 15, 2014
The Best Words
Sometimes I’m haunted by Coleridge’s nifty definition of a poem as the best words in their best order. If I try to say it quickly several times in a row, “order” starts to sound like “odour.” ...
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October 25, 2018"The Black Lives Matter Movement has its Roots in this Historical Moment" David Austin on his Book Exploring the 1968 Congress of Black Writers
2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Congress of Black Writers, which took place in Montreal. To mark this year's milestone anniversary, David Austin has brought that historic gathering to life in Moving ...
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June 08, 2018Billy-Ray Belcourt is the Youngest Griffin Poetry Prize Winner Ever
Billy-Ray Belcourt has won the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize for his acclaimed collection, This Wound is a World (Frontenac House). At 23 years old, he is the youngest winner of the prize ever. Belcourt ...
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April 06, 2015
Bodies Called Forth and Bodies Calling
Part of the reason I’ve decided to write about bodies this month is because I’ve been reading and talking so much about them—in newspapers, online, in books, and with friends and family. The transformations ...
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May 27, 2009
Ruth the Reckless
reck (rěk)1. to have care, concern, or regard2. to take heed or to have cautionWhat intrigues! What Machiavellian plots! What underhand dealings!Who would have believed that electing a new Professor ...
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April 22, 2014
Endurance
It was a minute-and-a-half since I finished toying with a poem that hadn’t been working for weeks; I had that submarine feeling that it was sinking out of sight. But I had no time to dither with the ...
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April 19, 2014
Truth Is...
I’ve been thinking about the difference between facts and details, how so many of us cling to something that isn’t quite working in our poems because it’s real, the way it actually happened. Changing ...
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May 30, 2021
Poetry: A Healing Tool for Dark Days
I started this month with mental health for writers, and I want to end it with a more personal look at the same topic.One of the many reasons I’ve been grateful to Open Book for offering me this residency ...
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April 17, 2023"My Poetry isn’t Mine to Define to You, My Friend" Ayomide Bayowa on His Masterful Debut Collection, Gills
Mississauga poet laureate Ayomide Bayowa's full length debut Gills (Wolsak & Wynn) is a lyric, thoughtful exploration of the immigrant experience, the insurmountable challenges of economic inequality ...
