some author activity: McNair, Hawes, Saklikar, Bell, MacEachern + Armantrout,

Christine McNair has added a rare new post to her blog; James Hawes has a poem up at SQUID; Renée Sarojini Saklikar is interviewed in the 5 Questions series by Finnian Burnett; Wade Bell offers his own piece on filling Station for The Typescript; Jessi MacEachern has new work up at the ex-puritan; and Rae Armantrout has a poem up at The London Review of Books.

some author activity: Houbolt, MacEachern, Inniss, mclennan, Jirgens + Beaulieu,

Kyla Houbolt has a new poem up at The Pi Review, as does Jessi MacEachern; Scott Inniss is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; rob mclennan is interviewed by Jamie Tennant over at his podcast; and Karl Jirgens offers an homage to Aritha van Herk, Fred Wah and Derek Beaulieu as part of acknowledging thirty years of filling Station magazine via The Typescript.

some author activity: MacEachern, Levy, Solomon, Smith, Dolman, Clayton + Baker,

Jessi MacEachern has new work up at the Spotlight series; John Levy has a new poem up at The Pi Review, as does Misha Solomon; Mahaila Smith answers some interview questions for Angry Gable Press; and AJ Dolman, Conyer Clayton + Jennifer Baker were interviewed yesterday on Friday Special Blend for their reading later today at the Kemptville Branch of the North Grenville Public Library.

some author activity: MacEachern, mclennan, Archer, Heroux + Barwin,

Jessi MacEachern, nina jane drystek, rob mclennan and Sacha Archer (among others) all have work in the final issue of Carousel, which also includes an interview between Jason Heroux and Jerrod Edson; and Gary Barwin is on the inaugural League of Canadian Poets Spoken Word Award shortlist.

Poetry at the Avant-Garde (Ottawa, June 1st): Jessi MacEachern, Stuart Ross, & William Vallières

Join us at the Avant-Garde Bar to see Stuart Ross (Cobourg), Jessi MacEachern (Montréal), and William Vallières (Montréal) read from their new poetry chapbooks from above/ground press.
Hosted by Bardia Sinaee.

Thursday, June 1, 2023 : Avant-Garde Bar, 135 Besserer Street, Ottawa
Event starts at 7:30pm.
Admission is free.
Chapbooks will be available for sale.
See the Eventbrite link here

About the readers:

Jessi MacEachern is a poet who lives in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal where she teaches English literature. She is the author of A Number of Stunning Attacks. Her chapbook When a Folk, When a Sprawl is her second chapbook with above/ground press.

Stuart Ross, winner of the 2019 Harbourfront Festival Prize, is the author of over twenty full-length books of poetry, fiction, and essays. Bird Snow on Hard Tracks is his third above/ground press chapbook. Stuart’s work has been translated into French, Norwegian, Slovene, Russian, Spanish, and Estonian. He lives in Cobourg, Ontario.

William Vallières is a Montreal poet. His work has appeared in The Walrus, Best Canadian Poetry, Event, Grain, and Plenitude. His first book of poetry, Versus (2019), is out with Véhicule Press. His chapbook, Poor Rutebeuf (2023), a translation of the French medieval poet Rutebeuf, is out now with above/ground press.

Event banner artwork by Barbara Caruso.

new from above/ground press: When a Folk, When a Sprawl, by Jessi MacEachern

When a Folk, When a Sprawl
Jessi MacEachern
$5

The ready-rot of consciousness. Keeps my nose cold

Three of us rode.


Whose rough-guise. Whose road-gyre

The smoke made it so


The wuzz-or-whir. The monologue will not revive

My memory of her.


Three of us drove. The night’s machinations


For twenty-eight long days. It was only May

The stench visible. In the glass


Would the lilacs be in bloom

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2023
as part of above/ground press’ thirtieth anniversary
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Jessi MacEachern is the author of the poetry collection A Number of Stunning Attacks, as well as the chapbooks Television Poems (above/ground), You Do Not Like Animal Sounds (Ghost City), and Ravishing the Sex into the Hold (Model). Her new poetry collection Cut Side Down is forthcoming with Invisible in 2025. She is the 2022–24 reviewer of Poetics for Oxford University Press's The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory and is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Bishop’s University.

This is MacEachern’s second above/ground press title, after Television Poems (2021).

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

2023 #AWP (unofficial) offsite (virtual) readings : day two of five: MacEachern, Heroux, Vallières, Webb + Drescher,

Furthering yesterday’s post, as part of the above/ground press thirtieth anniversary, I thought it would be both interesting and amusing to host a virtual (and unaffiliated) offsite reding as part of this year’s Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual Conference and Bookfair. I mean, offsite means offsite, right?

Jessi MacEachern (she/her) is the author of the poetry collection A Number of Stunning Attacks, as well as the chapbooks Television Poems, You Do Not Like Animal Sounds, and Ravishing the Sex into the Hold. Her new chapbook When a Folk, When a Sprawl is forthcoming with above/ground press in 2023 and her new poetry collection Cut Side Down is forthcoming with Invisible in 2025. She is the 2022–24 reviewer of Poetics for Oxford University Press’s This Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory and is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Bishop’s University.

Jason Heroux was the Poet Laureate for the City of Kingston from 2019 to 2022. He is the author of four books of poetry: Memoirs of an Alias (2004); Emergency Hallelujah (2008); Natural Capital (2012) and Hard Work Cheering Up Sad Machines (2016). His recent books include a short fiction collection Survivors of the Hive (Radiant Press) and two poetry chapbooks: New and Selected Days (Origami Poems Project) and Something or Other (above/ground press).

William Vallières is a Montreal poet. His work has appeared in The Walrus, Best Canadian Poetry, Grain, and Event, among other places. His chapbook Poor Rutebeuf, a translation of the French medieval poet Rutebeuf, just appeared through above/ground press. His first book of poems, Versus, is out with Véhicule Press.

Lindsey Webb is the author of the chapbooks House (Ghost Proposal, 2020) and Perfumer’s Organ (above/ground press, 2023). Her writings have appeared in Chicago Review, Denver Quarterly, jubilat, and Lana Turner, among others. She lives in Salt Lake City, where she is a Steffensen Cannon fellow in the PhD program in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Utah.

Julia Drescher is the author of OPEN EPIC (Delete Press, 2017). Her above/ground chapbooks are BLATTA & Metastatic Flower (2020). She lives in Colorado.

2022 NELSON BALL PRIZE LONG LIST : Hajnoczky, Harder, McKinnon + Weaver!

It is exciting to see four above/ground press titles (and three further above/ground press authors) on this year's longlist for the Nelson Ball Prize! Congratulations to all! Oh, and be aware that all four above/ground press titles on this list are still totally in print, yes? As the press release offers:

We're pleased to announce the Long List for the 2022 Nelson Ball Prize, as selected by our dedicated judges, Beverley Daurio and James McDonald. The judges read about 100 submissions of books, chapbooks, and ephemera, looking for the best in "poetry of observation" by a Canadian poet.

Stay tuned for the Short List! The winner will receive $1,000, thanks to our generous donors.

Here is the Long List of 10 titles, in alphabetical order by the poets' names:

Lines – Cameron Anstee (St. Andrew Books)

Undoing Hours – Selina Boan (Nightwood Editions)

wind – Guy Ewing (Puddles of Sky Press)

a grain of sand – Helen Hajnoczky (above/ground press)

Zero Dawn – Shelly Harder (above/ground press)

A Number of Stunning Attacks – Jessi MacEachern (Invisible Publishing)

Gone South – Barry McKinnon (above/ground press)

Rain's Small Gestures – Pearl Pirie (Apt. 9 Press)

Ghosthawk – Matt Rader (Nightwood Editions)

So/I – Andy Weaver (above/ground press)

some author activity: Naughton, O'Reilly, Burgoyne, MacEachern, Collis + Siklosi,

Katie Naughton is interviewed in the new issue of Red Weather; Nathanael O'Reilly has a new poem up at Marathon Lit Review; Sarah Burgoyne interviews Jessi MacEachern over at Canthius; Stephen Collis is interviewed over at the Canadian Literature Podcast, "Getting Lit with Linda"; and Kate Siklosi is interviewed over at Artisanal Writer.

some author activity: Archer, Collis, MacEachern, Niespodziany, Mody + The Free Nashville Poetry Library,

[above/ground press items seen in the wild at The Free Nashville Poetry Library; photo by Megan M. Garr] Sacha Archer is interviewed over at Artisanal Writer; Stephen Collis has a new poem up at the scales project; Jessi MacEachern has a new poem (audio and text) up at Vallum magazine; Benjamin Niespodziany has some new work up at Blue Arrangements; and Monica Mody has a poem up in the Tuesday poem series over at the dusie blog.

some author activity: Mohammadi, Barbour, MacEachern, Coulton + Robinson,

Khashayar Mohammadi has some new translations of poetry, by Shahin Sadeghzadeh, now up at Asymptote Journal; Edmonton Journal publishes an article on the late Douglas Barbour; Jessi MacEachern is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey; and Valerie Coulton has begun to curate a new series of free pdf poetry chapbooks, palabrosa, which recently posted a new title by Elizabeth Robinson.

some author activity: O'Reilly, Joseph, Mavreas, Tate, Betts + MacEachern,

Nathanael O'Reilly is interviewed over at Fevers of the Mind, and has a new poem up at Beir Bua Journal; Alexander Joseph has a poem up in the "Tuesday poem" series; a CBC article on Montreal's Billy Mavreas closing down his "curiosity shop and art gallery" after twenty years; and Bronwen Tate, Gregory Betts and Jessi MacEachern all have new work online at Carousel magazine.

some author activity: Joseph, mclennan, Moore, MacEachern + Dowling,

Alexander Joseph was interviewed for Boulder Jewish News; rob mclennan has posted a new poem to his blog, and another at Watch Your Head, and a further at Train : a poetry journal; Nathan Alexander Moore is interviewed over at poetry mini interviews; Jessi MacEachern participates in the "12 or 20 questions" interview series; and Sarah Dowling is co-editing (with Jane Malcolm) a special issue of Amodern, tentatively titled "Body and/as Procedure," and seeks critical papers!

new from above/ground press: Television Poems, by Jessi MacEachern

Television Poems
Jessi MacEachern
$5

Uncorked
Bob’s Burgers S4E17, “Eggs for Days”

The question we should be asking is:
Do you see the egg? Look up
“racoon, babies, wall.” Drive out
the mother with audio harassment.
From crawl space to family restaurant,
the voices groan. Three small faces look
up into the mother. The anger grows with
the stench. Nose hairs twitch like gnats.
A childless man emerges and runs
to the ocean. In steel bowls, we
divide our spoils. In the single-
occupant gender neutral bathroom,
we hide our feelings. Three small
faces open up wide; the result is profound
silence. Schnapps pours freely, pink sludge
in the bloated guts of our guardians.
The hangover cuts into the holiday
like a crime scene. Nostalgia
seeps into us; we recognize
the three wicker baskets, feel
the synthetic fibres against our palms.
Soon a headless bunny will stand in
the yellow straw, a sweet sacrifice.
“Sensational Gardens” combats rot,
the signature scent of a New Jersey
celebrity falls flat into decay.
Three small faces merge
with stars, a manly offering.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
August 2021
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Jessi MacEachern lives in Montréal, QC, where she teaches English literature. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in CAROUSEL, Touch the Donkey, Poetry Is Dead, Vallum, MuseMedusa, Canthius, PRISM, and CV2. Her debut poetry collection is A Number of Stunning Attacks (Invisible Publishing, 2021).

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

The Factory Reading Series: A Night of Too Many Poets, May 31, 2015

span-o (the small press action network - ottawa) presents:

The Factory Reading Series presents: A Night of Too Many Poets

featuring readings by:

Eric Schmaltz (Toronto)
Julia Polyck-O'Neill (St Catharines)
Dale Tracy (Kingston)
Andy Weaver (Toronto)
Carl Watts (Kingston)
ryan fitzpatrick (Vancouver)
Deanna Fong (Vancouver)
Cameron Anstee (Ottawa)
Jessi MacEachern (Montreal)
Jason Camlot (Montreal)
+ philip miletic (Waterloo)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Sunday, May 31, 2015;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

Eric Schmaltz is an artist who works with text & sound.

Julia Polyck-O'Neill is a curator, visual artist, writer, and co-curator of the Borderblur Reading Series in St Catharines, ON. She is a currently doctoral student in Brock University’s Interdisciplinary Humanities program, and holds an MA in Studies in Comparative Literatures and Arts from Brock University as well a BFA in Visual Art and English Concentration from the University of Ottawa. Her research examines historic and contemporary conceptualisms in Vancouver visual arts and literature.

Dale Tracy has her doctorate from Queen’s University, where she studied contemporary poetry. Currently teaching contemporary literature at the Royal Military College of Canada, she is engaged in Kingston’s arts community, reading at poetry events and arts festivals and collaborating in community theatre productions.

Andy Weaver's third book of poetry, titled this, will be published by Chaudiere Books this Fall. His two previous books, Were the Bees and gangson, were nominated for Alberta Book Awards. He teaches contemporary poetry and poetics at York University.

Carl Watts is a PhD candidate at Queen's University, where he is writing his dissertation on national and ethnic identities in twentieth-century Canadian literature. His poetry has most recently appeared in The Dalhousie Review and The Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2014. He is looking forward to riding the Megabus all the way to New York City next month, when he will join the Canadian Poetry contingent at the Bryant Park Word for Word festival.

ryan fitzpatrick is a poet and critic living in Vancouver. He is the author of two books of poetry: Fortified Castles (Talonbooks, 2014) and Fake Math (Snare, 2007). With Jonathan Ball, he is co-editor of Why Poetry Sucks: An Anthology of Humorous Experimental Canadian Poetry (Insomniac, 2014). With Deanna Fong and Janey Dodd, he works on the second iteration of the Fred Wah Digital Archive (fredwah.ca), originally spearheaded by Susan Rudy. He is a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University where he works on contemporary poetics and the social production of space.

Deanna Fong is the author of Butcher's Block (Pistol, 2008). She is also PhD student at Simon Fraser University, where she sifts through the recorded conversations of other poets from 1959 to 1989, so ask her if you want some dirt on your favourite authors.

Cameron Anstee lives and writes in Ottawa ON where he runs Apt. 9 Press and is pursuing a PhD studying Canadian literature at the University of Ottawa. He is the editor of The Collected Poems of William Hawkins (Chaudiere Books, 2015).

Jessi MacEachern is a PhD student at the Unversite de Montreal, where she studies the feminist poetics of modernist and contemporary writers. She received her MA from Concordia University in Creative Writing. Her poetry and criticism has previously been published in CV2, Lemonhound and Matrix.

Jason Camlot is the author of four collections of poetry: The Animal Library, Attention All Typewriters, The Debaucher, and most recently, What The World Said. His critical works include Language Acts (co-edited with Todd Swift) and Style and the Nineteenth-Century British Critic: Sincere Mannerisms. His poems and critical essays have appeared widely in journals and anthologies including New American Writing, Postmodern Culture and English Literary History. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford. Camlot is poetry editor of the Punchy Writers Series (DC Books), and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Science at Concordia University.

philip miletic is a writer, dabbling in a little bit of vispo, and is currently in his second year of his English PhD at the University of Waterloo. His work includes the pamphlet silver, the chapbook world 1-1 co-written with Craig Dodman, a short story chapbook and the birds sing, and a forthcoming chapbook from wordsonpages called mother2earth. He lives in Kitchener, ON.