above/ground press' anniversary in Apt613, Toronto Star + Amanda Earl's substack!

We will see you at tonight's above/ground press 30th anniversary event tonight, yes? In case you hadn't seen, Steven W. Beattie was good enough to include myself and above/ground in an article on small press that ran in the Toronto Star (as well as some other places), Ryan Pepper wrote on tonight's event at Apartment613, and Amanda Earl was kind enough to provide some anniversary/birthday acknowledgement via her clever substack. Thanks so much!

some author activity: mclennan, Hawkins, Lea + Robinson,

rob mclennan has a poem, originally posted in the print edition of Literary Review of Canada, now online as part of their newly-revised website; an article on legendary Ottawa poet William Hawkins now lives online at Apartment 613, as does an article on N.W. Lea (the artist formerly known as Nicholas Lea); and Elizabeth Robinson is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey.

some author activity: Trivedi, Barwin, Earl, Anstee, Dennis + Reid,

Amish Trivedi has some new work over at OmniVerse; Gary Barwin has some new work online at Vallum; Amanda Earl has some new visual poems up at h&; Cameron Anstee and Michael Dennis' literary blogs are featured as part of an article over at Apt613; and Monty Reid gets a write-up by Bren Simmers as part of Brick Books' Celebration of Canadian Poetry.

some author activity: Poe, Armantrout, Carr, Smith, McNair, Waldrop + Clarke,

Deborah Poe and Rae Armantrout (as well as many others) have new poems in 1913: a journal of forms #6; Emily Carr has a lyric essay on "eating disorders and body image" in Better issue three; Jessica Smith has a new poem up in the "Tuesday poem" series up at the dusie blog; Christine McNair and her work gets a good write-up by Alejandro Bustos in Apt613; Rosmarie Waldrop's Camp Printing (1970) is now online as a pdf at ubu web; and George Elliott Clarke has two new poems up at The Toronto Review of Books.

Apartment613 interviews: Gary Barwin, Marthe Reed, Marcus McCann and Monty Reid

Alejandro Butros was kind enough to interview above/ground chapbook authors Gary Barwin, Marthe Reed, Marcus McCann and Monty Reid recently for the sake of an article he was working on for Apartment613 on the 20th anniversary of above/ground press.

Since the original article by Butros could only include short excerpts from each of them, Gary Barwin was good enough to post his full responses over at his blog. Subsequently, Marthe Reed did the same, as did Marcus McCann. For the sake of completion, I include Monty Reid's responses as well to get a sense of the full range of materials. Thanks all for your generous work and words!

Monty Reid's responses are below:

1. What does the work of above/ground press mean to you?

above/ground means persistent, stubborn, wide-ranging, generous, cheap, self-reliant, unpretentious, hopeful, short, colorful, timely, funny, astute, alert, energetic, over-punctuated, under-capitalized, surprising, repetitive, capacious, serious, frustrating, exhilarating and available.

2. Please share a memorable anecdote about above/ground press.

I don't have an anecdote, just one piece of advice: be careful with offers to help move the above/ground library or any of rob's books - there are lots of books, and lots of stairs.

3. When did you first hear bout a/g press? How has it evolved, if at all, since your first interaction?

I had heard of above/ground before I moved to Ottawa in 1999, but don't know if I'd actually seen any of its work.  I may have first heard of it from the Contributor's Notes in other magazines.  One of the charms of the press is that it hasn't evolved much, at least not in the time I've known it.  It's well-adapted to its niche and there's little pressure for it to change, it survives and meets the needs of its environment.  In fact, if it were to change, it would be another press, which rob has already started.

4. Poets are often overlooked by the press and publishers. Given that this article will be written for an audience that is comprised mostly of non-writers, can you please explain how critical a publisher like a/g press is.

small independent publishers like above/ground are crucial in the literary community.  They give an opportunity for new writers to make an appearance, and for more-established writers to try out work that might be outside their routine.  It creates hope, and at least a small audience, for writers, and it offers a model for other potential publishers.  I think the abundance of micropresses in Ottawa owes a great deal to the consistent presence of above/ground. 

5. As an Ottawa poet, what is your view of your fellow poets in the NCR?

the community of writers in Ottawa is varied, of course, but at the moment it's particularly lively and supportive.  It's  a great pleasure to be working alongside people like Stephen Brockwell, Sandra Ridley, Michael Dennis, jw curry, Christine McNair, Dave O'Meara, Mike Blouin, Pearl Pirie and so many others.  While there is an excellent support network within this community, I think Ottawa poets have a particularly hard time getting broader attention because of the overwhelming dominance of nearby Toronto in what is a very small market, and the general perception across the country of Ottawa as a government town and little else.  In part, it's this very difficulty in reaching a wider audience that makes the Ottawa scene so rich and drives it diy ethos.

Apt 613: Alejandro Bustos on above/ground press' twentieth anniversary,

Over at Apt 613, Alejandro Bustos was good enough to write an article on the above/ground press twentieth anniversary, "Celebrating 20 years of poetry with above/ground press," with input from Marthe Reed, Gary Barwin, Monty Reid and Marcus McCann, as well as a mention of Cameron Anstee and Apt 9 Press. Thanks, Alejandro! Here's hoping we even see twenty more...

some author activity: Ladouceur, mclennan, Poe, Robertson + beaulieu

Ben Ladouceur and rob mclennan both have new poems up in April's issue of The Steel Chisel, and there's a profile on rob mclennan up at Apartment613; Deborah Poe reads a poem by Aimé Césaire; Lisa Robertson has another new post up at Harriet, the blog of the Poetry Foundation; and derek beaulieu's concrete and visual poetry is discussed at Exepose, the University of Exeter's Independent Student Newspaper.