Posts by League of Canadian Poets
NPM22 Blog: Why? And Why Now?: On Poetry and Companionship by Rob Taylor
My mother is disappearing. Diagnosed with dementia six years ago, in recent months her confusion has redoubled, her memories leaving and arriving as unpredictably as fish to the surface of a pond. If she goes out of her house for a walk, she can’t always find her way back. If she wakes up after a…
Read MoreBlue by Owen Torrey
A Gathering of Poets in Response to Peril
How do poets respond to precarious events in the world? In his famous elegy for W. B. Yeats, W. H. Auden says, “poetry makes nothing happen.” And he adds: “it survives, / A way of happening, a mouth.” “On Feb. 24, 2022, when the world woke to the shock of the catastrophic bombing of Ukraine,”…
Read MoreNPM22 Blog: An Ecology of Intimacy: Through the Lens of Poetry by Penn Kemp
From Intimacy to Intimate, sans Intimidation. When asked to write a piece for National Poetry Month on Intimacy, who’s intimidated? Not me. I’ll just skip that ‘id’ and intimate softly what my heart wants…Yes, the heart wants intimacy, and who’s getting any, who’s getting too much in the last two years of involuntary isolation? My…
Read MorePost-Surgery Shower by Lauren Seal
Fresh Voices 25
Fresh Voices 25 features poetry by: Anthony Purdy, PJ Thomas, Margaret Code, Karen Quevillon, Nan Williamson, Francine Fallara, Danny Peart, Callista Markotich, Atma Frans, Lindsay Soberano-Wilson, K.P. Heyming, Louisa Howerow, Megan Stobbe, Meena Chopra and Carol Good.
Read MoreNPM22 Blog: Poetic Intimacy by Fedana “Fefe” Toussaint
I wonder what he tastes like… It may seem like a sexual statement to make, but every time I see him, I remember that my hands were made to hold more than just myself. More than just secrets and the lonely that I wrapped onto my fingertips, so much that I can’t seem to hold…
Read MoreIntimacy by Sarah Wolfson
NPM22 Blog: Creating Intimacy Onstage by Charlie Petch
Effective performers have a talent for making the audience feel seen. They say the things you’d only think, and never speak. They somehow gain your trust from the stage, in front of a room full of people. As poets, how do you create intimacy on the stage? What are the elements of performance, of pacing,…
Read MoreBook Awards 2022: Shortlists
The League of Canadian Poets is proud to present the 2022 Book Awards Shortlists, including the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the Raymond Souster Award. The winners – who will each receive $2000 thanks to funding from Canada Council for the Arts , Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council, – will be announced on May…
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