Curious things for December 2013...

1) Blog discovery of the week goes to Susan Gillis, whose Concrete & River blog extends the discourse on Canadian poetry in a number of ways. Featuring personal thoughts on poetics, excerpts borrowed from recent releases as well as interviews with a variety of well-known poets, there’s so much to read it’s just about irresistible. This chat with Phil Hall was the first post to catch my eye. 

2) Dusie’s Tuesday Poem series has been running since April and in that eight month span gathered an eclectic and highly respected roster of contributors. While the parent website (www.dusie.org) is managed from Switzerland, this blog series is curated by fellow canuck rob mclennan and boasts a who’s-who of (mostly) North American poets. Well-known and emerging names converge in an informal, one-poem-per-week trickle-down. Checking in each Tuesday has become such a natural habit, it hadn’t crossed my mind to plug it here until now!

3) The minds behind Rattle, a print and online poetry journal out of Studio City, California, have devised a beautiful anthology comprised exclusively of authors who are children. Spearheaded by editor Timothy Green and entitled RYPA, the collection’s 60 poems quietly underscore the raw feelings and imagination that inspire one to write in the first place. It’s grounding to remember those origins, and worth celebrating. Details and ordering information for RYPA can be found here.

4) Every city deserves an events website as devoted to creativity as Ottawa’s Apartment613. Last Tuesday, they featured a holiday gift list focused on books by writers around the National Capital Region, covering genres like science fiction, political journalism, mystery and of course poetry! Small blurbs support Sandra Ridley’s The Counting House, Christine McNair’s Conflict, Nicholas Gagnier’s Ground Zero, Chris Jennings’ Occupations as well as the work of Sonia Saikaley, Cameron Anstee’s Apt 9 Press and rob mclennan (who gets his own category). If you’re unsure where to begin with Ottawa’s literary community, this gift list provides more than enough links to get you started.