Launching TAMARACKS – Canadian Poetry for the 21st Century

“Canadian literature has emerged as a world literature in the full sense of the term,” – James Deahl, editor of TAMARACKS*

It’s not every day that an American publisher takes an exclusive look at Canadian poetry but last autumn Lummox Press from San Pedro, California forged ahead and published TAMARACKS – Canadian Poetry for the 21^st Century, a 240-page anthology edited by Sarnia, Ontario resident James Deahl and compiled for the United States market.

TAMARACKS: Canadian Poetry for the 21^st Century (Lummox Press 2018) was edited by Sarnia, Ontario resident James Deahl.

Now it’s time to celebrate!

In less than a month, over half of the 113 contributors of TAMARACKS will begin touring the province and sharing verses from this anthology filled with over 175 contemporary poems ranging in topics from World War I (Robert Acorn’s “Passchendaele”) to Canada’s Residential Schools tragedy (Rhonda Melanson’s “One Catholic’s Apology for Residential Schools”). As of today, eight celebration launches have been scheduled between late March and early May 2019 for such Ontario cities as Hamilton, Toronto, Welland, and Sarnia.

Another celebration, this one organized by the publisher, will be held in California in mid-April. Additional events in London and North Bay are being considered for the autumn.

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‘Tis the Season for Books – A Potpourri of Literary News

“the snow is solitary/but not silent/there is the piercing /of the white-stained green” – David Stones*

Writing and reading may be solitary pursuits but like the snow mentioned in David Stones’ poetic lines above, Canada’s vast literary community is not silent. It is a flurry of words, sometimes a blizzard of voices supported by a potpourri of literary activities and events.

Below is a small scoop of national, regional, or local voices, plus books, projects, and events vying for your attention. May you open your heart this season and welcome the gift of creativity. Several of the local events are free. Many of these books are available for reading from the library.

FOR THE READERS:

NEW ON MY SHELF (in alphabetical order, according to author):

Conditions of Desire (Hidden Brook Press, 2018) by John Di Leonardo. This imprint of the John B. Lee Signature Series is a 74-page debut collection of ekphrastic poems as well as six drawings by Brooklin artist/poet John Di Leonardo. Di Leonardo was recently accepted as a full-member of The League of Canadian Poets and will be the editor/compiler/illustrator for Dancing on Stones, the 2019 membership anthology for The Ontario Poetry Society. More information about this submission call is available here. Watch for a Q and A feature in early 2019.

New books on my shelf.

Out of Line: Daring to be an Artist Outside the Big City (Wolsak and Wynn, 2018) by Tanis MacDonald. What can I say? This book of essays collected no dust on my shelf. It spoke to me immediately and I highly recommend it to my rural (and urban) writing friends. As a former Manitoba resident, I recognized some of the issues MacDonald expressed. As a current writer in rural Ontario, I also found her words inspiring. “Remember that creating art is a Long Game; it will take your whole life to grow into the artist that you are.” (p. 61)

It’s Here! National Poetry Month 2018! Let’s Celebrate!

 

Grace Vermeer

The poet guests have arrived carting their suitcases of books and waving their pocket poems in the air. Expect to see them sprouting like snowdrops and daffodils across the Canadian landscape. April nudges the scribes from their wintry abodes to share their words with the public.

This year, the League of Canadian Poets (LCP) shares the news in a black, white and gold poster trumpeting the words “Celebrating twenty years of National Poetry Month in Canada.” Similar to other years, the 30-day party will prod people to experience the power of poetry: write or read a poem a day or think outside the box and create personal poetic memories. Mayors and municipal politicians can expect visits from poets during their council meetings. Students may find a poet or two in their schools. Libraries may offer special writing workshops.

National Poetry Month 2018 (#NPM18) officially started on April 1, 2018 and will continue until the end of the month.

Expect Canadian publishers to be launching new books and literary organizations to be spotlighting poetry readings by well-known and lesser-known poets. Check out the League website for a list of events happening in your area plus information about their 700 plus members in Canada.

Lummox Press Seeks Poetry for New “Canadian Only” Anthology

If you’re a Canadian poet, polish up your poems but don’t wait too long! Lummox Press of San Pedro, California wants to see your best work for a new “Canadian Only” anthology. The deadline for submissions is February 7, 2018.

Canadian poet James Deahl will edit a new “Canadian Only” poetry anthology for Lummox Press. The book is expected to be released in October or November 2018 with readings in early 2019.

James Deahl (the Canadian poet assigned to edit the project) has already started some of the pre-editing but expects more poetry to come in over the next few weeks. The target size of the book will be 200 pages.

“My working title is Tamaracks: Canadian poetry for the 21^st century,” he said. “Publication should be in late October/November…There will be contributors’ readings early next year in cities like Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Sarnia, etc. Los Angeles too. All contributors will be invited to participate in all readings.”

Deahl’s passion for poetry is evident. He is the author of 26 literary titles and many of his accomplishments have been featured on this blog before. Two of his books To Be With a Woman (2016) and Unbroken Lines (2015) have been published by Lummox Press. For four years he has also encouraged Canadian poets to submit work to LUMMOX, an American poetry anthology published by the same press and has helped to organize Canadian launches for these books.

Leonard Segall, board rep, Lawrence House Centre for the Arts, says a few words at the Lummox Number 6 launch in Sarnia.

Last fall, several Canadian contributors of LUMMOX Number 6 participated in a reading in Hamilton.

On November 18, the Lawrence House Centre for the Arts hosted a launch for the same anthology in Sarnia.

The 216-page anthology featured the work of over 150 poets from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Australia, China, and Dubai.

Seven of the 23 Canadian contributors plus a previous Canadian contributor were on hand to share their work during this afternoon event.

Additional information about the anthology featuring American, Canadian, and International poets and authors appears here.

23 Canadian Poets Selected for LUMMOX Number 6

“If creation (life) is like a river, then surely poetry is one of the many eddies that feeds the river and makes our journey possible.*” – RD Armstrong, Editor-in-Chief, LUMMOX Number Six

Canadian poet James Deahl has done it again! For four years, he has been encouraging Canadian poets to submit work to LUMMOX, an American poetry anthology published by LUMMOX Press in San Pedro, California. His goal was (and is) to promote Canadian writers to an American market and he has certainly done that.

Canadian poet James Deahl is interested in promoting Canadian poets and their work to an American and international market.

“This year, there are 23 Canadian poets in LUMMOX Number Six,” said James Deahl in a recent announcement. “The most ever. And once again the city of Sarnia leads the way with seven contributors.”

Two of those Canadian poets have won awards for their submissions. Hamilton poet Ellen S. Jaffe won second prize for her poem “Another Kind of War Story” while Barrie poet Dr. Bruce Meyer won third place for “The Beautiful Neanderthals”.

Other Canadian contributors include: Rosemary Aubert, Ronnie R. Brown, Patrick Connors, James Deahl, Joseph Farina, Venera Fazio, Kate Marshall Flaherty, Jennifer L. Foster, Katherine L. Gordon, Debbie Okun Hill, Eryn Hiscock, Susan Ioannou, Donna Langevin, John B. Lee, Bernice Lever, Norma West Linder, Rhonda Melanson, Deborah A. Morrison, Lynn Tait, Grace Vermeer, and Jade Wallace.

Launching in Canada: LUMMOX Number Six (LUMMOX Press, 2017)

Edited by American poet RD Armstrong, the 216-page book features the work of over 150 poets from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Australia, China, and Dubai. “There is [sic] also a lot of other interesting goodies as well,” wrote Armstrong is his foreword to the anthology. “We have a conversation between the Queen of Bohemia, Philomene Long and Allen Ginsberg…This little gem comes from the old LUMMOX Journal. There are a number of essays ranging from a “newbie” poet in Dubai writing about dealing with rejection to two portraits of influential poets – Canadian Al Purdy (James Deahl) and American Ed Dorn (John Macker) to Murray Thomas’s “Music and Memory”.”

The anthology also includes flash fiction, several reviews about Canadian poetry collections written by Canadians, photography by Sarnia’s Lynn Tait, and the essay “On Writing and Dreaming” by Bright’s Grove editor/author/poet Venera Fazio.

Canadian Readings of Lummox 5

“In place of Romanticism there is a new cynicism.*” – James Deahl, one of 16 Canadian contributors to LUMMOX 5

Imagine an international poetry anthology filled with ‘isms’: nationalism, surrealism, environmentalism, alcoholism, Buddhism, existentialism, consumerism, idealism, even terrorism.

According to RD Armstrong, Editor-in-Chief, LUMMOX 5, “there are at least 850 isms on record.”  Many of which are included in the 255-page “isms-themed” book released earlier this fall by LUMMOX Press in San Pedro, California.

Titled LUMMOX 5, the collection features the work of close to 150 poets from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Australia, and Nepal.

LUMMOX Number Five – Lummox Press, 2016

Once again Ontario poets are well represented and include in alphabetical order: Ronnie R. Brown, James Deahl, Joseph A. Farina, Kate Marshall Flaherty, Debbie Okun Hill, Eryn Hiscock, Lawrence Hopperton, Susan Ioannou, Donna Langevin, John B. Lee, Norma West Linder, Deborah A. Morrison, Denis Robillard, Ken Stange, Lynn Tait, and Grace Vermeer.

To celebrate the Canadian contributions, three readings have been scheduled in the Ontario cities of Hamilton, Toronto and Sarnia. 

Canadian Poet James Deahl and His New Book Unbroken Lines

When dusk fell the luminous stones kept singing.—James Deahl* 

Canadian poet James Deahl is no stranger to this blog. News about his books and events often populate my posts. With over 20 poetry collections linked to his name, he’s currently one of the most prolific poets in Lambton County. He’s a busy guy. That’s an understatement.

Unbroken Lines: Collected Poetic Prose 1990 – 2015 (LUMMOX Press, 2015) by James Deahl

His latest book Unbroken Lines: Collected Poetic Prose 1990-2015 was released last fall by LUMMOX Press and was officially launched in Toronto in November. On Saturday, January 16, he will share the spotlight with his literary wife Norma West Linder who will be launching her children’s novel The Pastel Planet. The event starts at 2 p.m. at The Book Keeper, Northgate Plaza, 500 Exmouth Street in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. (More details on Linder’s book will appear in a future blog post.)

So far, reviews on Deahl’s latest book have been favourable.

In a Canadian Stories review, Carol Malyon wrote: “These works are gentle, reflective, meditative, and the language is poetic. They have been created by a mature poet, in complete control of his craft, and of the life that feeds it.”

In a news4u review, Patrick Connors wrote: “he never writes the same piece twice. In content as well as form, he seeks to expand and diversify his body of work.”

Hamilton, ON, Canada – Next Stop for LUMMOX Anthology Readers

“Even on colour TV/ his mother’s face/seemed only black and white” –Norma West Linder*

Nine** Canadian contributors to the California-based anthologies LUMMOX, Number Three and LUMMOX, Number Four will be sharing their work at “October Poetry Blast”, a special public event, Sunday, October 18 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Artword Artbar, 15 Colbourne Street in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Admission is free.

Nine Canadian contributors of the California-based LUMMOX anthologies will be featured Sunday, October 18 in Hamilton, ON, Canada

Readers (in alphabetical order) include: James Deahl (Sarnia), Jennifer L. Foster (Hamilton), David Haskins (Grimsby), Debbie Okun Hill (Sarnia), Donna Langevin (Toronto), John B. Lee (Port Dover), Norma West Linder (Sarnia), Michael Mirolla (Oakville), and Deborah Morrison (Hamilton).

Strong Southwestern Ontario Representation of Poets in California-based Anthology

“An amazing array of poetry from nearly every state in the union and five countries from around the world.” – RD Armstrong, Editor-in-Chief, LUMMOX Number Four

“Is it a bad thing if a Canadian poet is influenced by an American Poet?” and “What is a Canadian poem?” Those are two questions prolific Canadian poet James Deahl asked in his essay “A Canadian Poem, Eh?” published in LUMMOX, Number Four. Readers of the 224-page poetry anthology released last month by LUMMOX Press in San Pedro, California may soon find out.

LUMMOX Number Four features 160 poets. Over ten percent of the contributors are from Canada.

Edited by American poet RD Armstrong, the book features the work of over 160 poets from 46 of the United States, Canada, the U.K., Albania, Denmark and Sweden. It includes three interviews, five essays and a few reviews plus the poetry of the 2015 Lummox Poetry Prize Winner, H. Marie Aragon and the runner ups Nancy Shiffrin and Cynthia Stewart. Thanks to Deahl and his efforts to promote Canadian poets to the American market and his national sharing of the LUMMOX anthology submission calls, a strong representation of southwestern Ontario writers are featured in both the LUMMOX Number Four and Number Three anthologies.

In Hamilton – A Lummox/Raymond Souster Celebration – April 19

“There has never been a better time to be a writer in Canada.” – Canadian Poet James Deahl*

As the snow thaws outside my patio window, poetry event notices sprout like spring tulips across my desk. What a busy time of the year! National Poetry month begins on April 1 and I can’t wait to pack my bags and travel across Canada.

For those living in or near Hamilton, expect to see and hear some road kill (seriously) as well as desire themed poetry during the Lummox/Raymond Souster Celebration, Sunday, April 19 from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Artword Artbar, 15 Colbourne Street in Hamilton. The celebration features readings by James Deahl, G. W. Down, David Haskins, Laurence Hutchman, John B. Lee, Norma West Linder, Bernadette Rule, Lynn Tait and Anna Yin.

Published by Quattro Books

Featured books include Under the Mulberry Tree: Poems For and About Raymond Souster (Quattro Press, 2014) and the California-based anthology Lummox Number Three (Lummox Press, 2014).

Additional information about the April 11th Canadian and Sarnia launch of Lummox Number Three can be found here.

Additional information about the 2014 Toronto launch of Under the Mulberry Tree can be found here.

Submissions for Lummox Four are open from April 1 to May 31, 2015. More details here.

Happy National Poetry Month everyone!

*from the essay “A Dozen Canadas: Canadian Poetry in 2014” by James Deahl, Lummox, Number Three (Lummox Press, 2014).