Scotland Forever: a review of The Walk She Takes by Neile Graham

reviewed by Louise Carson   Full disclosure. I don’t know Neile Graham, creator of the poems in The Walk She Takes, but I do know Scotland, the subject of the thirty eight poems in this book. I don’t know it as well as Graham, who has visited multiple times to my once. But I think…

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The LCP New Quebec Council Representative: Carolyne Van Der Meer

The League is happy to announce that Carolyne Van Der Meer is the new council representative for Quebec.   Why is poetry important to you? In the words of Quebec novelist and poet David Goudreault, “Poetry is just another way of saying” (“La poésie est de dire autrement”). I believe this is true—another way of…

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Review: Undiscovered Country by Al Rempel

Reviewed by Adrienne Fitzpatrick This review was first published in Thimbleberry (Volume 4, Summer 2019) Rempel’s book arrived in the mail in late August, in the still bright summer. I was still slow with the heat. It was deep into October when I first read through it and it was a good companion. This work…

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Whispers of Ancient Sounds by Suparna Ghosh

Suparna’s video presentation evokes an expat’s musings from across lands and borders and other incarnations, real or imagined. It was inspired by the event sponsored by the League of Canadian Poets, and the 2020 National Poetry Month, with the theme of “A World of Poetry” Here, she has searched through her collection of poems from…

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2020 Raymond Souster Award Winner: Unmeaningable by Roxanna Bennett

and the 2020 Raymond Souster award goes to… Unmeaningable by Roxanna Bennett (Gordon Hill Press) From the jurors: Where and how is meaning made in a body that interferes with its own lines of communication? Roxanna Bennett’s Unmeaningable is a powerful example of embodied cognition. Crafted with rigorous precision, Bennett’s poems bore into a linguistic system…

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2020 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award Winner: Float and Scurry by Heather Birrell

The 2020 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award goes to… Float and Scurry by Heather Birrell (Anvil Press/A Feed Dog Book)     From the jurors: In the rapid-fire collection Float and Scurry, Heather Birrell tackles parenting, patriarchy, personal politics and much more, often while driving the reader to laughter. So many of this book’s subjects and projects…

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2020 Pat Lowther Memorial Award Winner: How She Read by Chantal Gibson

and the 2020 Pat Lowther Memorial Award goes to… How She Read by Chantal Gibson (Caitlin Press)     From the jurors: Chantal Gibson’s How She Read creates its illuminating poetics through language, image, and a hieroglyphic that only slowly reveals its significance. From a song of praise to Black girls; to an homage to the poet’s grandfather,…

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2020 Poetry Awards: Interview with Charlie C Petch

Charlie C Petch is the winner of the 2020 Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award from the League of Canadian Poets. Find out more about Charlie’s poetry and process below. LCP: What does poetry mean to you? CP: For me, poetry is authenticity, a vehicle for change, for growth, play, escape, and nurturing community. LCP: Who has…

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2020 Poetry Awards: Interview with Chantal Gibson

Chantal Gibson is the author of How She Read (Caitlin Press), and winner of the 2020 Pat Lowther Memorial Award from the League of Canadian Poets. Find out more about Chantal’s poetry and process below.   LCP: Tell the story of how your collection came to be. CG: I would say How She Read started…

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2020 Poetry Awards: Interview with Roxanna Bennett

Roxanna Bennett is the author of Unmeaningable (Gordon Hill Press) and the winner of the 2020 Raymond Souster Award by the League of Canadian Poets. Find out more about Roxanna’s poetry and process below:   LCP: Tell the story of how your collection came to be. RB: I began gathering and arranging material in different…

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