Introducing You Break It You Buy It and Canadian Poet Lynn Tait

“Don’t judge a poet by her age or her eye-liner.” – Lynn Tait*

If I had to give Canadian poet Lynn Tait a nickname, I would call her the “cliché crusher”.

Back in June in a small Perth County, Ontario town called Mitchell, Tait walked on the stage and provided a sneak peek of her debut poetry collection You Break It You Buy It. Not only did she hold the audience’s attention with her wordplay and witty zingers, but she made people laugh.

Officially launching this September 2023 – You Break It You Buy It (Guernica Editions, 2023) by Lynn Tait

This autumn, more readers will get a chance to hear Tait read as she begins her official book tour with readings already scheduled for Whitby, Sarnia, Toronto, and London. (Scroll down this blog post for times and locations or check out the event section of my blog for future updates.)

According to Tait’s prestigious publisher Guernica Editions, “You Break It, You Buy It features poems about disconnection, misconnections: the loss of friendships and identity, our voice, our purpose. At its core, it is a collection of elegies railing against and dealing with toxic relationships, from fair-weather friends, controlling mothers to narcissists. These poems invite the reader into personal experiences, public observations, and the price we pay, positive and negative for our interactions with the media, our global and local conflicts, environmental challenges, the pandemic, the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements. She writes about the dark underside of our lives with a sense of danger, humour and of hope for reconnection in the future with our community and our world.”

Coming Soon to London, ON – Black Mallard Poetry Series

Let’s dust off the microphones and bring out the sign-up sheets! Live poetry events are back!

If you love poetry and reside in or within driving distance to London, Ontario, Canada, mark your calendar for the first Wednesday of every month. There’s a new “live” poetry series being planned for this city and I’m expecting it to draw a crowd especially from those poets who have been patiently waiting for more literary events to return on a regular basis.

This new monthly series will spotlight two featured poets, followed by an open mic in which anyone can sign-up and share some work.

Black Mallard Poetry Series will spotlight two featured poets, followed by an open mic at Mykonos Restaurant, in their popular patio location on 572 Adelaide Street North. The event will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. 

This week, I chatted with Black Mallard Poetry Series curator Andreas Gripp about some of his personal goals and his plans for this new series.

Andreas, I’m so glad that poetry events are returning to Mykonos Restaurant and that established and emerging poets will have a home to share their work in a welcoming environment. You’ve planned several literary events in the past, including the Mykonos Open Mic Poetry Series in 2019, the Red Lion Reading Series in Stratford in 2021, and more recently special event readings with other poets in the London area. Where did the idea for the new series come from, why did you decide to organize it, and where did the name Black Mallard come from? 

I thought there was a need for a locally-focused reading series here in London. There are so many talented poets in this area and as you may know, it’s not always easy getting invites to do a featured presentation. I originally thought of going with just one featured poet every month, then began thinking how many bards there are in this vicinity and decided to go with two a month, as well as have an open mic, which Mykonos, of course, was known for. Since the pandemic put a close to the last incarnation of the restaurant’s monthly series, I thought the timing to try another one was good, with all of us emerging from our covid cocoons. 

Several poets from London, who were first noticed reading at the Mykonos open mic, graduated to doing a featured spot, then had chapbooks and debut full-lengths published within a few years. I’m always excited to hear and read the work of a new poet I might not be familiar with yet—and this series will be a platform for that to continue. 

Introducing Thimbles by Canadian Poet Vanessa Shields

“I saw the thimble on your finger but I didn’t know//you were our thimble.” – Vanessa Shields

I fell in love with Thimbles, the third and latest poetry collection by Canadian poet Vanessa Shields, while it was still an infant in PDF format.

Published by Palimpsest Press, Thimbles is the third and latest poetry collection by Canadian Poet Vanessa Shields.

Wow, such a raw and honest ravelling and unravelling of emotions. Such a heart-wrenching tribute to the late Maria Giuditta Merlo Bison, her loving, seamstress grandmother (or as the Italians would say Nonna).

As I slipped inside Shields’ imaginary sewing basket and learned more about her personal inter-generational love story, my appreciation for the book grew stronger!

Thumbs up!

In my opinion, it’s Shields’ best poetry collection to date. Even CBC Books recently listed it as one of the “55 Canadian poetry collections to check out in spring 2021”.

As I mentioned in my Goodreads review, her work not only explored a new maturity in subject matter but her use of the sewing and mountain themes and motifs beautifully stitched together the narrative thread of her 94 poems.

Throwback Saturday – The Love of Poetry Gathering 2020

somewhere between Arrivals and Departure/and Duty Free/we are grounded.* – K.V. Skene

Cancelled! Postponed! Grounded! Stay home! Stay safe! What is a lover of poetry to do?

Since March, due to the threat of COVID-19, Canadian literary and arts organizations have been banned from hosting public events or large gatherings. Non-essential travel has also been discouraged.

Prior to the cancellation of events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Ontario Poetry Society held a members’ reading and open mic early February 2020 in North York, Ontario, Canada. Photo by Raj Moonsammy.

After two months of social distancing, The Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS) website still states, “No events are being planned during the Pandemic.” That means the May reading in Cobourg has been cancelled and it is still not known when poets will be allowed to publicly (or even privately) gather in large groups again.

Yesterday, I received my copy of Verse Afire, the bi-annual publication of TOPS and was reminded of The Love of Poetry Gathering held February 9, 2020 at the union social eatery in North York, Ontario, Canada. It brought back so many fond memories of reuniting with and hugging poet-friends as well as meeting new people who also love the genre of poetry.

#NPM19 – Poems In Your Pockets, Submission Calls, Events, etc.

i’m in the bus which is really just an old car/and it’s night and pouring rain and i’m/thirteen and the car is jammed with bodies… – Eleonore Shönmaier*

Have you filled your pockets with poems yet? Have you dropped a poetic postcard in the mail? There’s still time to swirl in this whirlwind of poetic celebration. Below is a cluster of literary news items collected and raked up like paper leaves off my desk. Quick, line your calendar pockets with the words of poetry.

Tomorrow (Thursday, April 18 to be exact), The League of Canadian Poets will roll out nature’s leafy-green carpet to present Poem in Your Pocket Day, another initiative for its National Poetry Month 2019 (#NPM19) celebration. According to the League’s website, “you can carry a poem, share a poem, or even start your own Poem in Your Pocket Day event.”

Have you checked your mailbox lately? Look at what the League snail-mailed to me the other day! I’ve decided to share it a few hours early.

Sarnia’s 2019 National Poetry Month Celebration – A Poetic Marathon

So bright and full, it will incite lunatic talk,/bring the daredevil out in us and cause minor injury,/never again to be this big, within life’s tick-tock. – Tom Gannon Hamilton*

Every April, poets across Canada celebrate National Poetry Month (#NPM). Some travel to read and/or visit out-of-town events while others stay close to home to organize or attend festivities in their own regions. It’s an opportunity to meet new people, to share common interests, to hear other people’s work, and to grow as a poet.

“Sarnia’s gone big celebrating National Poetry Month. Join us!” said organizer Sharon Berg on Facebook.

Call this year’s #NPM19 a literary celebration as big as an orange moon and expect rhythm, rhyme, similes, and metaphors to soar across the skies like UFOs. To the general public, poetry may sound like the language of aliens but for audiences willing to listen, a new and deeper understanding of the world may be discovered.

In Conversation with London Poet Andreas Gripp

“It is my hope to assist in raising the profile of poetry in this region and to emphasize through readings and events that it is an inclusive art open to all.”* – Andreas Gripp

London poet and publisher Andreas Gripp is one of the hardest-working writers that I know.

This week, I chatted with the Synaeresis: arts + poetry magazine editor and Mykonos Open Mic Poetry Series organizer about his involvement with the literary community and his thoughts about poetry’s future in such a busy (and noisy) digital era.

Gripp wears many hats. In addition to organizing the new Mykonos Open Mic Poetry Series, editing the digital literary magazine Synaeresis, publishing books for and with Harmonia Press, he can also be seen sharing work from his own poetry collections.

Andreas, you’ve been part of London, Ontario’s poetry community since 1994 and during that time you’ve worn many hats. Recently you took on the role as the organizer for the new Mykonos Open Mic Poetry Series which is being held on the second Tuesday of every month. Why is a poetry reading series (like the one you are organizing) so important to the community?

London has always been in need of a place where poets of varied experience, as well as newcomers, can share their work. Without a literary open mic, the opportunities are few and far between (if at all). It’s where we meet old friends and new talent. The featured reader is someone who has taken their craft further than simply writing on paper and keeping it in a box. It’s a poet who has shared their work publicly, in print or digitally, and can be inspiring to those of us who may not be there yet.

Tom Cull, London’s Poet Laureate Loves to Make People Laugh

“Returning from a night ride,/the bat takes off his leathers.” – Tom Cull*

I laugh as I read and review this new book.

Let’s say bad animals (Insomniac Press 2018) is a hybrid between “a Red Bull of owls” hoot-enanny and “a threnody of hyenas”. Created by Tom Cull, London Ontario’s current poet laureate and a new poetic voice in the CanLit scene, this pocket-sized book (with a beaver-inspired cover) overflows with his fun-filled humour as he shines a flashlight on underlying concerns with our changing environment.

Tom Cull’s bad animals was officially launched June 1, 2018 at London Bicycle Café in London, Ontario.

Overall, I liked Cull’s approach. His impressive debut collection of 41 wild (think mischievous) and bad-animal inspired poems surprised me (in a good way) with his surreal yet accessible images: drowning machines, a poet of dodos, Saturday six-pack anglers, schools of strollers, and a plethora of four- and two-legged animals including swimming pigs and teenaged boys!

Sultry Summer Poetry Gathering – A Pictorial Reflection

“All summer was heat/in steaming reflections/warm beads of sweat imitated the rain,/pretended to nourish grass and birds,/found shade in tired branches.” – I. B. Iskov*

 I have never been to Greece but last Sunday (August 19, 2018) I could almost imagine the waves lapping the shores of the Cyclades, the whispers of Greek gods and goddesses, and the serenity of poetic blue skies over whitewashed structures.

 

Founding member/treasurer I. B. Iskov celebrated her birthday at The Ontario Poetry Society’s Sultry Summer Poetry Gathering held Sunday, August 19, 2018 at Mykonos Restaurant. Half way through the program, baklava (a rich sweet dessert pastry) was served.

What a dreamy place for members of The Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS) to share poetry on the breezy outdoor patio of Mykonos Restaurant in London, Ontario, Canada. Not only did the scent of Greek food and the turquoise seaside-themed décor add to the ambience but Heidi, the co-owner, showed her support for The Sultry Summer Poetry Gathering by applauding loudly.

What a celebration it was!

Ten Cities with Wayne Johnston – May 23 in London, Ontario, Canada

“Wayne Johnston has the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat with his tales of urban scenes.”* – Jim Chan, New York City videographer

 I’m sitting on the edge of my chair,

staring at all the accolades for Ten Cities: The Past Is Present, a free literary performance by Wayne Johnston to be held Wednesday, May 23 at 7 p.m. at the Arts Project Theatre, 203 Dundas Street in London, Ontario, Canada.

“Ten Cities: The Past Is Present” is a literary performance by Wayne Johnston. Illustration copyright © 2015 by Wayne Johnston. Used with permission from the artist.

“It’s brilliant! It’s funny, and sad, and unsettling and surprising.”* This quote is attributed to Guelph librarian Robin Bergart.

I’m intrigued!

Promotional material for the show explains that Johnston is visiting “ten sites in each of ten cities that have had a formative impact on his life.”