some author activity: Polyck-O'Neill, Braune, Deen, Syersak, Schmaltz + Tokar,

Julia Polyck-O'Neill, Sean Braune, Faizal Deen and Jake Syersak etc all have new work in the sixth issue of where is the river; Eric Schmaltz is interviewed at the ottawa poetry newsletter; and Janice Tokar is shortlisted for the 2018 Far Horizons Poetry Award, via The Malahat Review.

new from above/ground press: The Peter F Yacht Club #26; VERSeFest special!

The Peter F Yacht Club #26
VERSeFest 2018 special
edited by rob mclennan
$6

With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars, irregulars and VERSeFest 2018 participants, including Manahil Bandukwala, Gary Barwin, Frances Boyle, Stephen Brockwell, Jason Christie, Sergio Coddou (trans. Lea Graham), Anita Dolman, Klara du Plessis, Amanda Earl, natalie hanna, Gonzalo Hermo (trans. Ivan Barreiro and Erín Moure), Major Jackson, Sneha Madhavan-Reese, Alex Manley, Steve McCaffery, Gil McElroy, rob mclennan, Peter Norman, Carolyn Marie Souaid, D.S. Stymeist and Janice Tokar

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
celebrating twenty-five years of above/ground press
March 2018
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
[a small stack of copies will be distributed free as part of the eighth annual VERSeFest, March 20-25, 2018]

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

new from above/ground press: The Peter F Yacht Club #25; VERSeFest special!

The Peter F Yacht Club #25
VERSeFest 2017 special
edited by rob mclennan
$6

With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars, irregulars and VERSeFest 2017 participants, including Cameron Anstee, Frances Boyle, Jason Christie, Stephen Collis, Anita Dolman, Amanda Earl, Patrick Friesen, Lea Graham, Marilyn Irwin, Gil McElroy, rob mclennan, Uxío Novoneyra, trans. Erín Moure, Pearl Pirie, Roland Prevost, D.S. Stymiest and Janice Tokar.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2017
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
[a small stack of copies will be distributed free as part of the fifth annual VERSeFest, March 21-26, 2017]

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

The Peter F. Yacht Club Christmas party/reading/regatta : a report,

Last night we held our annual PFYC Christmas party/reading/regatta [see the report from last year's event here] at the Carleton Tavern, our "office Christmas party," if you will, for those of us in our informal writer's group [see a history of PFYC here].

Stephen Brockwell provided some fine co-hosting duties, as well as an array of photos (all of these pictures were taken by him). There were short readings by Amanda Earl, Stephen Brockwell, Frances Boyle, Pearl Pirie, Marilyn Irwin, Janice Tokar, myself, Gwendolyn Guth and Roland Prevost, with an array of audience that included Monty Reid, Brian Pirie, jwcurry, Rachel Zavitz, Steve Zytveld, Jason Wiens (Christmassing here from Calgary) and Robert Stacey [pictured at the end, with me]. Most read short selections of new pieces and/or works-in-progress, but for myself, who could only manage a poem or two from the new book (all my works-in-progress aren't yet ready for public consumption).

It was good to hear some new work from Gwendolyn Guth, including a poem since that has been accepted for a forthcoming anthology on motherhood via Demeter Press. Congratulations, Gwen!

Really, much of the enjoyment of the PFYC Christmas event is in hearing new work from poet-friends that perhaps don't read as often as they should, whether Gwendolyn Guth, author of the 2010 chapbook Good People, or Janice Tokar, author of the 2014 chapbook ARRHYTHMIA.

Some of us, including Marilyn, Pearl and myself, even provided some baked goods, with an array of chocolate goodness brought in by Roland and Jan. There was also much merriment! I also brought along copies of a variety of above/ground press items not set to release until January, including the new issue of Touch the Donkey, and above/ground press' 800th item! (What could it be? Stay tuned!)

Unfortunately, weather and circumstance kept a few readers away, including Jason Christie, Claire Farley, Chris Turnbull, Chris Johnston, Christine McNair and Vivian Vavassis. But hey, there's always next year, right?

above/ground press on Parliament Hill: Clarke, Earl, Reid + mclennan,

As part of his tenure as current Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke hosted a poetry reading in Centre Block of Parliament Hill this past Friday afternoon, featuring poets Amanda Earl, Monty Reid, myself and Romanian-Canadian poet Diana Manole [who posted her own report on the event here]. Incredible thanks to Mr. Clarke and all on the Hill who had helped make such possible!

I was unclear whether or not a poetry reading had been held on the hill prior (apart from, say, Milton Acorn, who used to perform his poetry on the grounds circa 1970, or the complete reading jwcurry did of bpNichol's The Martyrology in the gazebo behind the Parliament Buildings in July 2006), but Clarke claimed this was the first official poetry reading on Parliament Hill, which was incredibly exciting to think about (although I always consider such statements suspect, and am hesitant to back such a claim without further research). Sponsored by The League of Canadian Poets, this year's #NationalPoetryMonth theme was "The Road," to which Clarke appended William Shakespeare as well, and most readers (but for myself) read a short excerpt of Shakespeare's work as part of their performance.

The room was perfect for the event, known as room 256-S Centre Block (I attempted more information on-line of the space, but found little but this array of photos), decorated with maps, and paintings of ships, trains and other modes of transport. The road, indeed.

Clarke later offered that he originally launched Whylah Falls in Centre Block in 1990, also, as organized by his MP, Dr. Howard Douglas McCurdy (I know numerous books have been launched on the hill, having even been in attendance for a mid-1990s event of Anglo-Quebec poets), but this the first, he suggests, with League funding (I'd be curious if there's a list anywhere of prior poetry readings on the Hill).

The crowd was roughly forty or so, predominantly made up of a variety of Hill workers (and even the Romanian Ambassador to Canada!) as well as poets Roland Prevost and Janice Tokar (who were good enough to take these photos with my terrible camera) and Chris Johnson. Clarke's reading included King Lear, Earl's included an array of unpublished work composed around her hospital scare from a few years back, Manole read from her Romanian-English poetry collection B&W, and Reid read a selection of pieces from a number of his published books (given, at that point, I was recovering from newborn and night two of three sleeping at the Montfort with Christine and baby, I'm amazed I recall so well; the afternoon was a bit hazy. I was even wearing clothes I'd been sleeping in...). I read two unpublished poems, including this piece, composed for newborn Aoife.

the peter f yacht club regatta, 2015

Another year has come and nearly gone, which means we've held our annual Peter F. Yacht Club Christmas party/reading/regatta at Parkdale Market's Carleton Tavern (I seem to have reported on the event from two years ago, but not last year's, for some reason). Pearl Pirie was also good enough to post her own report as well.

Last night was a half-packed house with readings by PFYC regulars Cameron Anstee, Amanda Earl, Marilyn Irwin, Chris Johnson, Ben Ladouceur (pictured, above), Karen Massey, myself, Roland Prevost, Monty Reid (pictured, below), Peter Richardson and Janice Tokar. After an exhausting non-stop four days of Christmas travel and social, six-months-pregnant Christine McNair was exhausted, and sent her regrets, as did more than a couple of others, including at least one unable to appear for the sake of snowstorm concerns.

There were readings, books, chapbooks, cookies and cupcakes, all part of our casual mid-holiday holiday gathering. And drinks. And a few loaves of banana and zucchini bread floating around the room as well. Oh, and festive merriment. Yes, yes.
 

And: even though you missed the event, you can still pick up a copy of the new issue, here. Otherwise, the next events through The Factory Reading Series have yet to be scheduled, but there are already plans afoot for the launch of the next issue of ottawater, and readings by a variety of writers, including Gary Barwin and Julie Morrissy, as well as appearances by Anne Boyer and Ben Ladouceur as part of our slot at this year's VERSeFest; keep an eye out here for details, or keep checking Bywords.ca (obviously). And you know about the above/ground press 2016 subscriptions?

The Peter F. Yacht Club : a profile,

A short profile I put together on The Peter F. Yacht Club is now online at Open Book: Ontario, with input from Laurie Anne Fuhr, Anita Dolman, Vivian Vavassis, Peter Norman, Amanda Earl, Peter Richardson, Wes Smiderle, Janice Tokar, Pearl Pirie, Cameron Anstee, Ben Ladouceur and Marilyn Irwin.

some author activity: beaulieu, Anstee, Lea, Tokar, Cooley + Press,

derek beaulieu (pictured) is named the first artist in residence in the 124-year history of Calgary's Lougheed House, from May 1 to June 30, 2015; Cameron Anstee is profiled over at Apt 613; N.W. Lea is interviewed over at the Chaudiere Books blog; Janice Tokar has a new poem posted on the Chaudiere Books blog as part of Poetry Month; and Dennis Cooley and K.I. Press write on Turnstone Press for the CV2 blog.

new from above/ground press: The Peter F Yacht Club #22; VERSeFest special!

The Peter F Yacht Club #22
VERSeFest 2015 special
edited by rob mclennan
[see the link here for information on the previous issue]
[see the links here for information on the 2014 VERSeFest special issue, the 2013 VERSeFest special issue, the 2012 VERSeFest special issue and 2011 VERSeFest special issue]
[see the link here for a history of the publication]
$6

With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars, irregulars and VERSeFest 2014 participants, including Cameron Anstee, Dennis Cooley, dalton derkson, Anita Dolman, Stan Dragland, Amanda Earl, Laurie Fuhr, Daphne Marlatt, rob mclennan, Pearl Pirie, Roland Prevost, Monty Reid, Armand Garnet Ruffo, Janice Tokar, Tom Walmsley and Gillian Wigmore.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2015
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
[a small stack of copies will be distributed free as part of the fifth annual VERSeFest, March 24-30, 2015]

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

Cameron Anstee's 2014 Poetry Chapbook Round-up: Baker, Schmaltz, Pirie + Tokar,

Ottawa poet, publisher and blogger (and above/ground press author) Cameron Anstee was good enough to mention Jennifer Baker's Abject Lessons, Eric Schmaltz' Mitsumi Elec. Co. Ltd.: keyboard poems, Pearl Pirie's today's woods and Janice Tokar's Arrhythmia as part of his 2014 poetry chapbook round-up. Thanks much!

You can see his original post here, with far more titles than the ones excised.

Jennifer Baker. Abject Lessons (above/ground press). Debut chapbook! Smart, funny, thoughtful, steeped in Ontario (literary) history. Jennifer Baker is growing as a poet and you’ll want to have this earliest one on your shelf in another few years time.

Eric Schmaltz. Mitsumi Elec. Co. Ltd.: keyboard poems (above/ground press). Visual/concrete poems build “using a disassembled keyboard, black paint, black ink, and white cardstock.” Engaging visual work taking apart and reconstituting the mechanical means of production. Possibility and order (possibility of order?) set against decay, imprecision, and disorder.

Pearl Pirie. today’s woods (above/ground press). A hugely entertaining re-telling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears that thinks through the implications of each decision in the story, and what the conditions of their home says about their family dynamic.

Janice Tokar. Arrhythmia (above/ground press). Tokar’s first chapbook (I believe). A meditative lyric sequence in 12 parts. I was glad to encounter Tokar’s work for the first time this year, and look forward to seeing where it goes in the future.

Poets in Profile: Janice Tokar,

Janice Tokar recently discussed her chapbook Arrhythmia (2014) as part of her "Poets in Profile" questionnaire over at Open Book: Toronto, and even managed to gain the attention of someone south of the border. Lovely!

The Factory Reading Series : Tokar, Turnbull + Mannell, July 25, 2014;

with readings by:

Janice Tokar (Ottawa ON)
Chris Turnbull (Kemptville ON)
+ Julie Mannell (Montreal QC)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Friday, July 25, 2014;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

Janice Tokar’s [pictured] poetry has appeared in Arc Poetry Magazine, the Bywords Quarterly Journal, The Peter F. Yacht Club, ottawater and Experiment-O. Her first chapbook, Arrhythmia, was published by above/ground press in April, 2014. An earlier manuscript of  Arrhythmia placed second in the 2012 Tree Press Chapbook Contest.  Jason Heroux, the contest judge, commented: “Janice Tokar's spare, pulsing poems beat with the irregular rhythms of life, death, love and loss, searching for balance in a world where everything always seems slower or faster than it feels.” Originally from Manitoba, Janice resides and works in Ottawa.

Chris Turnbull lives in Kemptville, Ontario. In 2010, above/ground press published a chapbook of her visual and multi-performative piece, continua. Thuja Press published her chapbook Shingles in 2001. Her poetry has been published in The Volta, Ottawater, Convergences, How2, ditch, Dusie, Open Letter, Dandelion, and experiment-o (Angelhouse Press), among others. Occasionally, she has written poetry reviews and interviews, as well as the "On Writing" essay series at the ottawa poetry newsletter. Her sometimes small press mag, rout/e, has more recently become an ongoing footpress project involving placing poems on trails, including pieces from Monty Reid, George Bowering, rob mclennan, derek beaulieu, Amanda Earl, Pearl Pirie, Angela Rawlings (http://scalar.usc.edu/works/stroboscope-magazine/issue-1), Steven Ward, and Jamie Reid. The full-length "Continua" was recently accepted by Chaudiere Books for publication in 2015.

Julie Mannell, originally from the tiny village of Fonthill, Ontario, is a writer of fiction, poetry, and essays, and the founder of The McGill Creative Writing Society. She is currently a blogger for The Huffington Post and her work has been featured in The National Post, Matrix, SubTerrain, and Branch magazine, amongst others. Mannell is the recipient of The Lionel Shapiro Award for excellency in creative writing and the Mona Adilman Poetry Prize. Her work has garnered attention from celebrities like Roseanne Barr who gave her the "Vagenius Award". She currently works and writes in Montreal. Her forthcoming novel is tentatively titled "little girls".

Ryan Pratt reviews Janice Tokar's ARRHYTHMIA (2014)

Ryan Pratt was good enough to review Janice Tokar's ARRHYTHMIA (2014) over at the ottawa poetry newsletter. Thanks, Ryan!

new from above/ground press: ARRHYTHMIA, by Janice Tokar

ARRHYTHMIA
Janice Tokar
$4

i.


The forest breathes north
for a thousand miles

a slow, deep exhale
of patient resuscitation

We fill our lungs
saturate each pulse

April 2014
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

“Tonight / we watch a saucy moon / jig in the crater's pool.” Janice Tokar’s spare, pulsing poems beat with the irregular rhythms of life, death, love and loss, searching for balance in a world where everything always seems slower or faster than it feels.
    -- Jason Heroux, 2012 Tree Press Chapbook Contest judge

Janice Tokar’s poetry has been published in Arc Poetry Magazine, the Bywords Quarterly Journal, The Peter F. Yacht Club, ottawater and Experiment-O.  An earlier manuscript of Arrhythmia placed second in the 2012 Tree Press Chapbook Contest.  Originally from Manitoba, Janice resides and works in Ottawa.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

new from above/ground press: The Peter F Yacht Club #19; above/ground press 20th anniversary special!

The Peter F Yacht Club #19
above/ground press 20th anniversary special
edited by rob mclennan
[see the link here for information on the previous issue] [see the link here for a history of the publication]
$6

With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars and irregulars including Steven Artelle, Cameron Anstee, Gary Barwin, derek beaulieu, Joe Blades, Mark Cochrane, Amanda Earl, JM Francheteau, Marilyn Irwin, Marcus McCann, rob mclennan, Roland Prevost, Monty Reid, Stan Rogal, Janice Tokar + Vivian Vavassis.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
August 2013
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

the peter f yacht club christmas party/reading/regatta: a (small) report,

above/ground press helped close off 2012 with the annual Christmas party/reading/regatta for the journal/group The Peter F Yacht Club [see John W. MacDonald's report on the 2005 event here and my report on the 2007 event here], with various contributors reading selections of new work, as well as from issue #17 of The Peter F Yacht Club.

The evening featured readings by Amanda Earl (top, with Janice Tokar in foreground), Marilyn Irwin (above, with Craig Calhoun in foreground), Roland Prevost, Janice Tokar, myself and Montreal's Kirya Marchand (accompanied by her Ottawa-based family), and an audiencethat included Rhonda Douglas, Craig Calhoun, jwcurry, Rachel Zavitz, Charles Earl, Christine McNair, Grant Wilkins and David Blaikie, as well as the very late Jason Wiens (who recently guest-edited a Prince George section of filling Station magazine, due out shortly).

Amanda Earl made a point of doing a "final reading" of her ghazal manuscript; final, at least, until the work is accepted as a full trade collection. Kirya Marchand has been an intriguing discovery, and she read the piece I first noticed of hers from a recent issue of Grain magazine [see my review of such here]. Marilyn Irwin read from her small chapbook [see my review of such here]. She is doing the most amazing things with small spaces, and now has work forthcoming in New American Writing. Janice Tokar read work that wasn't in the issue, due to the fact that the issue included some of her visual pieces (she and Grant Wilkins discussed the possibility of performing said works, so keep an ear out). I've been increasingly impressed with the work she and Roland Prevost have been doing over the past couple of years, and am interested to see what the new year brings for both of them.

As always (being the very nature of an event between Christmas and New Year's), there were those able to make it, and others who weren't, with notable absences (due to travel and/or family) by Pearl Pirie, Sandra Ridley, Anita Dolman, Vivian Vavassis, Stephen Brockwell, Monty Reid, Cameron Anstee and Gwendolyn Guth. The night was long, but we managed to make it longer, with the five of us (above: Marilyn, Christine, Jason, Craig and myself) lingering on into late hours I don't want to think about. A great night, overall.

Looking forward to 2013, and already scheming a half dozen new publications for the first three months of the new year! Jordan Abel? Joshua Marue Wilkinson? Abby Paige? Deborah Poe? Helen Hajnoczky? Wanda O'Connor? Subscriptions are still available for 2013 (of course).

new from above/ground press: The Peter F Yacht Club #17!

The Peter F Yacht Club #17!
edited by rob mclennan
[see the link here for information on the previous issue]
[see the link here for a history of the publication]
$6

With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars and irregulars, including Cameron Anstee, Stephen Collis, Anita Dolman, Amanda Earl, Laurie Fuhr, Lea Graham, Marilyn Irwin, Ben Ladouceur, Kirya Marchand, rob mclennan, Peter Norman, Sean Moreland, Pearl Pirie, Roland Prevost, Monty Reid, Janice Tokar + Vivian Vavassis.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
November 2012
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
[copies will also be available tonight as part of the door cover of The Factory Reading Series VERSeFest Fundraiser with Anstee, Pirie + Brockwell, or on Saturday as part of the ottawa small press book fair!]

If you subscribe to above/ground press' 2013 subscriptions today, this might even be included (if you ask all nice, like)!

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

Coming soon! information on The Peter F. Yacht Club Christmas party/reading/regatta at the Carleton Tavern, Saturday, December 29th

new from above/ground press: THE DUSTY OWL QUARTERLY VOLS. 27-42

THE DUSTY OWL QUARTERLY VOLS. 27-42
edited by rob mclennan
$4

Contributors:
Cameron Anstee
Amanda Earl
Laurie Fuhr
Warren Dean Fulton
Marilyn Irwin
Alastair Larwill
John Lavery
Marcus McCann
rob mclennan
Christine McNair
Pearl Pirie
Roland Prevost
Monty Reid
Sandra Ridley
+ Janice Tokar.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
in an edition of 200 copies, May 8, 2011,
for the triumphant return of Steve “Dusty Al” Zytveld
to The Dusty Owl Reading Series
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
write for submission/subscription info, c/o 858 Somerset
Street West, main floor, Ottawa ON K1R 6R7,
or check out rob_mclennan@hotmail.com or abovegroundpress.blogspot.com

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2 & in US $) to: rob mclennan, 858 Somerset Street West, main floor, Ottawa Ontario Canada K1R 6R7.