DALE MARTIN SMITH THE SIZE OF PARADISE US/INTL: ASTERISM BOOKS CANADA: knife | fork | book
Category: canadian
I couldn’t tell you exactly why I associate this pretty pop song, “The Sweetest Thing” by Camera Obscura every time I think of Dale. Then again, it’s obvious… my life so much sweeter with him then without, the loving care and abiding friendship between us (along with his partner, Hoa Nguyen), our mutual affection for […]
Have you ever fallen in love with a place? Of course you have. A second visit to this visionary gem—my first [when I fell in love], reading with Don Pyle & Stevie Manning—I knew I wanted [had] to return to Niagara Artists Centre when she came out. Little did I know I’d have the grand […]
“Let’s do it for the poets.” “There is no better way to describe the chapbook, broadside, and zine publishers scattered across Canada than transient. The stop/start nature of the micropress “industry” is a solid reality. Presses come and go partially due to the lack of financial incentive—mostly micropresses are self-funded labours of love—and, more impactfully, […]
Readable. Clean. Meticulous. Striking. Pretty.* I don’t know exactly just how I lucked into this. By this, I mean a very special kinship shared/shaped by the love of good work. And food, and drink and plenty of laughs between us. I knew from reading Ralph’s work, his meticulous eye, and ear, he knows what belongs […]
You need a best friend in poetry to survive. – Henri Cole Poets Arleen Paré with Maureen Hynes and the love of good poetry amongst friends. An unforgettable evening, called into being. Grand. Thanks to Gaspereau Press, Annick MacAskill, the League of Canadian Poets, Katya at The Great Escape Book Store and all who held […]
The breeze from the lake. Fertile.
Gorgeousness. Opening weekend. Eric Schmaltz. Leslie Joy Ahenda. Sagan Yee. Jaqueline Valencia. Jake Byrne. Aaron Tucker MA|DE. Kyle Flemmer. Anna Veprinska. Lindsay Miles. Klara du Plessis. Fertile Festival of New & Inventive Works 05-21 August 2022 The Great Escape Book Store 957 Kingston Rd [BackLane] Guest Curators The Blasted Tree. Gap Riot Press. Hosted by […]
At the party I’d like to be a person of interest / but will end up a person of colour – AYAZ PIRANI, “POC RSVP” Poets, readers, and listeners who graced our space yesterday at the Gordon Hill Press Showcase KFB EAST at The Great Escape Book Store, were rewarded/met in kind. The beauty of […]
“And I have a new chapbook in the back for ten bucks.” Poets pushing their new chapbooks. Music to my ears. Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of “open mics,” largely because they’re often insular/clique-ish (the very same reading at each and every event) and messy (as in disrespectful, as in “too many” with most […]
