reviewed by Pat Connors There are certain canonical books to which I always return, as they have an almost scriptural appeal to me. Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s passing led me to read parts of Poetry as Insurgent Art for at least the twentieth time. Poets of Contemporary Canada 1960-70 (edited by Eli Mandel) is my favourite snapshot…

Reviewed by John Vardon Ever since my mother died almost two years ago, memories of her surface into consciousness at all times of the day, evoked by events and objects both trivial and significant. I suspect that the same process was at work as the motivation and impetus for most of the poems in Alyda…

Wind on the Heath: new and selected poems by Naomi Beth Wakan Shanti Arts Publishing, Brunswick, Maine 2020 Softcover, 219 pages, ISBN 978-1-951651-55-8 $18.95 USD www.shantiarts.com Plato said, ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’.  The poems in Wind on the Heath are all about the examined life. Naomi Wakan, essayist, psychotherapist and poet laureate…

Reviewed by Sandra Stephenson Here is a little book I read with a haiku mind.  A haiga mind, really, as the pages are accompanied liberally with photos by the author, of her near-year in China teaching English.  Stationed in Jiaxing, The longer poems at the beginning of the book are signature de Belle:  sound rounds,…

Reviewed by Kim Fahner This review was originally published by Prairie Fire, Jan 28, 2020.  In the title poem of her newest collection, This White Nest, Frances Boyle poses the question “What shines?” This is the question that sits with the reader as they make their way through the poems, but others soon weave their way in,…

Reviewed by John Vardon Originally published by The New Quarterly As a poetry editor for The New Quarterly, I first encountered Susan J. Atkinson’s work when reviewing forty applications for an Ontario Arts Council grant about two years ago. Among the poems carefully excerpted from in-progress manuscripts by writers both emerging and well established, her…

Reviewed by Frances Boyle Serve the Sorrowing World With Joy by Meg Freer and Chantel Lavoie (Woodpecker Lane Press, 2020). This lovely short book by Kingston authors Meg Freer and Chantel Lavoie was written to honour an order of nuns who have been carrying out community service in their city since 1861. The Sisters of…

Reviewed by Josh Quirion My grandmother’s got two vertical freezers so full of food, it’s her house I’m running to when the four horsemen of the apocalypse descend. Nothing she does is accidental. If she makes a hundred eggrolls, she knows exactly how many she’s giving away, and how many she’s freezing—I usually get eight.…

Reviewed by Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni Toronto poet Gianna Patriarca’s new book, To the Men Who Write Goodbye Letters, has arrived at a propitious moment. The world is going through a terrible pandemic causing sickness and death across wide populations, requiring officials to impose lockdowns, mask-wearing and isolation. No one anticipated this dreadful environment, least…

Reviewed by Louise Carson After reading A Beautiful Stone, and then the poem on the back cover – ‘Following the Way’ – four stanzas, eight lines – it occurred to me that I could have just read that one poem then written this review. I’m not being cruel or facetious. Let’s unpack the poem together.…