Stanza 14 4 by League of Canadian Poets

14.4 | WINTER | DECEMBER 2017

IN THIS ISSUE 2 2 3 6

NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE CALL FOR JURORS POEM-A-DAY WEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;RE HIRING

BOOKISH BITS AND INDUSTRY NEWS

NEWS FROM THE FEMINIST CAUCUS

REVIEWS

FROM THE BLOG

NEW MEMBERS

MEMBER NEWS

WRITING OPPORTUNITIES

4 CALL FOR JURORS 4 POEM-A-DAY SELECTION COMMITTEES 4 POEM-A-DAY SUBMISSIONS 4 HAIKU CONTEST 4 AWARDS SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN 4 2018 FUNDING APPLICATIONS OPENING JAN 15 4 NATIONAL POETRY MONTH! 4 NEW MEMBER FORUM 4 FRESH VOICES 4 WE’RE HIRING

NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE PEASE NOTE: The League office will close on Friday, December 22 and re-open on Thursday, January 4, 2018. Happy holidays! EXTENDED DEADLINE: SHERI-D WILSON GOLDEN BERET AWARD Nominations for the annual Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for Spoken Word are now open until December 31, 2017! This award honours a Canadian spoken word artist who has made a substantial contribution to the development of spoken word, through the originality and excellence of his or her own writing/performance works, and through involvement in—and contributions to—the expansion of the spoken word community. Find out more at poets.ca/goldenberet. CALL FOR JURORS If you are interested in becoming a juror for any of our annual awards, let us know by emailing nicole@ poets.ca! The bulk of a juror’s work will take place in November through January, although our book award jurors begin receiving books as early as August. We need jurors for the following awards: • Raymond Souster Award (for League members’ new books) • Pat Lowther Memorial Award (for books by female-identifying writers) • Gerland Lampert Memorial Award (for debut collections of poetry)

• Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Prize, junior and senior categories (single poems, all work done electronically) Volunteers will be added to a slate of nominated jurors, presented and voted on at the AGM in June. (You do not need to be present at the AGM in order to be confirmed as a juror.) VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: POEM-A-DAY SELECTION COMMITTEE Submissions have been rolling in for the Poema-Day project, which has us very excited here in the office! We are still looking for volunteers to take on the task of selecting the final poems. We are looking for approximately 15 volunteers to work on their own or in pairs to select 1020 poems from groups of no more than 100 submissions. (It will likely be considerably less, but of course we don’t yet have a way of predicting submission numbers!) We will be accepting general submissions, but we will also be looking for some of those volunteers to select poems from submissions on the following themes: • • • • • • •

Poetry for young people and children Emerging poets (with one book or less) Animals/pets Love/family (or anti-love) Beginnings and endings Holiday/occasional poems Poetry in translation

You are more than welcome to volunteer on a selection committee and also submit poems for consideration, they will simply be reviewed by another committee. We hope to launch this project in the fall of 2018, with the first batch of submissions to be sent to selection committees in May, 2018. If you are interested in volunteering for this project, send me an email at nicole@poets.ca!

POEM-A-DAY SUBMISSIONS We’ve been thrilled to see all the amazing poetry coming in so far for the Poem-a-Day project we are hoping to launch in fall 2018. Thanks to everyone who was excited to take part even with our vague (although enthusiastic) early announcements! We’re happy to have more details for you now, and we hope you’ll continue to send us your great work. We will continue to update everyone as Poem-a-Day develops! Guidelines: • Members may submit up to eight (8) poems for consideration. If you have already submitted some poems, but you’re not sure how many, feel free to shoot me an email at nicole@poets.ca and I can check for you. • This project will open to submissions from non-members on January 20, 2018. • Poems may be previously published (if they are, please let us know when and where they first appeared). • Poems must be under 100 lines. • Feel free to request a specific date, month, or time of year you’d like your poem to be shared, if selected. We can’t guarantee to make it happen, but we are happy to try! We are accepting general submissions, but we also encourage submissions in the following themes: • Poetry for young people and children • Emerging poets (with one book or less) • Animals/pets • Love/family (or anti-love) • Beginnings and endings • Holiday/occasional poems • Poetry in translation (please include the original poem in your submission; ideally, one of the languages is English) Poems selected will be shared on Facebook and Twitter, published and archived on our website, and distributed to a Poem-a-Day e-mail list. Each poem will include a bio and photo of the poet,

including any links you’d like to share (eg. Website, social media, your publisher...). If the poet has a Twitter account, we would include the handle in our daily tweet on the day the poem was released! To submit, send your poems as .doc/.docx or .PDF files to info@poets.ca. POEM IN YOUR POCKET SUBMISSIONS We’ve also been blown away at the response to our Poem in Your Pocket call for submissions! These will remain open until Friday, January 15, and are open exclusively to members. You can find the detailed call for submissions at leagueofcanadiapoets.wildapricot.org, where you can log in using your email and unique password. GIVE THE GIFT OF POETRY Stumped on stocking stuffers? Give the gift of poetry! Donations to the League go directly towards furthering our goal of supporting poets and poetry in Canada. Through funding, awards, mentorship, and publication, we aim to bring poetry into the lives of everyday Canadians, while supporting the amazing poets who can make that happen. This holiday season, consider making a donation to the League on behalf of a friend or family member, and we can send them a unique note thanking them for their generous support of our mission. Find out more at poets. ca/support. Of course, the greatest support of all is your continued membership! Thank you for continuing to be a part of our mission. HAIKU CONTEST We are very excited to announce our first Haiku Contest, open to members and non-members across Canada! This award is a program created by our National Council to promote the art of Haiku, and to celebrate Haiku Month in February. The winner of the Haiku contest will receive 10

t-shirts printed with the winning poem, and will have their work featured on the League’s website and social media. The winning poem will also be included in the 2018 Poem in Your Pocket Day booklet, published internationally each April. Visit poets.ca/haiku for more details, and be sure to submit by January 15, 2018!

CANADA POETRY TOURS FUNDING The application form to request funding for readings taking place between April 1 and September 31, 2018, will be available starting January 15, 2018! This funding is allotted on a first-come, first-served basis per province (in which the reading takes place), and we often have more applicants than we can accommodate. Applications are only open until February 15, 2018 – for high-demand provinces (Ontario and BC), we recommend getting applications in as early as possible. Applications must be submitted by the host. We welcome e-mail submissions (this is a great way to ensure they get early). If you are a poet located in the GTA hoping to receive funding for a reading in Toronto, we recommend using our Readings in Public Places fund, which will open for applications in February—it provides a $100 honorarium and no travel reimbursement. BOOK TOUR RESERVATIONS Thanks to all of you who submitted book tour reservation forms for funding in 2018 for your forthcoming books. You will be notified by email by December 21 on the status of your reserved readings.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH April may still seem far away (especially with this latest onslaught of winter), but for us National Poetry Month is right around the corner. In 2018, we are so excited to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month in Canada! Keep your eyes peeled in January for an early announcement of what we have in store. National Poetry Month funding applications will also be available starting January 15. This funding is open to full members, as well as any individuals (member or non-member) who meet our full membership criteria. To be eligible for funding, events must take place in April, and be free and open to the public. Since we don’t have a theme this year, the theme can simply be “a National Poetry Month reading”! Readings can take place anywhere in Canada. Poets may only receive funding for one reading through the National Poetry Month funding program. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the League provides a $125 reading honorarium. There is no travel reimbursement available for these readings. Application forms at details will be available starting January 15 at poets.ca/npm. NEW MEMBER FORUM Our current Google Group list-serv will soon be retired as our means of inter-member communication, to be replaced with a more user-friendly forum, which you can find here: leagueofcanadianpoets.wildapricot.org/forum. This forum is password-protected and only accessible to members, and you can log in using your own unique login. This is the same login you would have used to update or view your member profile if you have done so since the last issue of ST@NZA. If you haven’t yet logged in to our new system, or you’re not sure, you can always just click “Forgot Password” and it will send you a password reset email.

In the forum, you can subscribe to receive e-mail updates of any new posts or comments that have been posted that day. You can also subscribe to individual posts that are of special interest. I encourage you all to head over and introduce yourselves! FRESH VOICES Check out the latest issue of Fresh Voices, with work from Tony Valuch, Greg Stidham, and Tony Brathwaite. Curated by Lesley Strutt and Blaine Marchand, these poems represent just a small portion of the great work being produced by our members, and we are excited to have this opportunity to share their poetry with you. If you are interested in contributing to Fresh Voices, please send 3-5 poems to lesley@lesleystrutt.ca. ROBBIE BURNS NIGHT We’re thrilled to be organizing a unique Robbie Burns dinner and fundraiser in this January, with a twist to celebrate the Chinese New Year and local poets! Keep your eyes peeled for details on tickets – we will let you know the moment they are available, and members will get early access. THANK YOU A huge thanks once again to everyone who made our first online silent auction a tremendous success! We would not have been able to do it without the following generous donors: ARP Books, Book City, BookThug, Coach House Books, Contemporary Verse 2, D.C. Reid, Grain Magazine, Griffin Poetry Prize, Indigo Book and Music, Lori Cayer, and The Walrus. And thanks to the League’s fundraising committee for their hard work in organizing this inaugural event!

(Wow there’s a lot going on this winter, eh?)

WE’RE HIRING! ADMINISTRATIVE & C We are seeking an Administrative and Communications Coordinator to work in our Toronto office 21 hours (3 days) per week. The Coordinator reports to the Executive Director and the Administrative Director, assisting on all manner of communication and administrative work in the office. This position begins at a rate of $19 per hour, with the opportunity to increase both hourly rate and number of hours worked each week for the right individual. The ideal Administrative and Communications Coordinator will be an energetic, self-motivated and creative individual who is interested in being part of a dedicated team at a growing National organization. Willingness to learn, make suggestions and improvements, and continually learn new skills is essential. REQUIRED SKILLS • Degree, particularly in communications or journalism OR equivalent experience • Minimum 1-2 years of experience in communications, with a background in social media. The ideal candidate will have some experience in a small-office environment, and experience working on literary projects • Strong interest in poetry, literature, and community-building • Creative, detail-oriented, and self-motivated learner with the ability to suggest improvements for the organization • Ability to work with minimal supervision essential. Ideal if candidate enjoys a small, friendly office working environment. • Must be proficient in Microsoft Suite on PC, Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, WordPress, and ease learning other programs as needed. The ideal candidate will be an excellent Google-r • Some experience using layout and/or design software, such as any of Photoshop, InDesign, Venngage, Canva, or other similar programs • Bilingual in French and English an asset OFFICE/ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES: • The Coordinator will help with all administrative and communications needs in the office. This includes answering phone and email inquiries, sending and receiving mail, assisting with elements of office management, improving systems, and updating what is offered. • Maintain the League’s filing system, database, and information • Order/maintain all office supplies, water, paper, etc. • Make bank deposits as required SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT: • Manage League social media accounts including Facebook and Twitter. This includes ongoing maintenance, increasing audience, and promoting all League projects and programs through social media • Create, execute, and manage social media and promotional campaigns for annual national projects such as National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, etc. • Research and post information that would be of interest to League members and followers

COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR • Work with other League staff on ‘branding’ for the League via social media, print media, website and promotional material design, etc. • Attend and represent the League at events, such as Word on the Street, our annual AGM, and other literary events as required • Work with staff and National Council to plan execution of social media strategy for emerging plans and projects WEBSITE MAINTENANCE • Work with the Administrative Director and Executive Director to update content on www.poets. ca, a WordPress website, updating events, news, information, and resources for members • Provide guidance to members on how to access website, how to make changes, and how to make the most of resources • Research and assist with creating new content, resources, and updates that will improve member experience READING PROGRAMMES: • Process readings and membership applications, reports, and requests for payments, as needed • Assist Administrative Director in providing stats and written reports. • Suggest new ways to improve delivery of programmes if necessary; update and provide resources to encourage hosts from across Canada to apply ANNUAL PROGRAMMING AND MEMBERSHIP SERVICES • Maintain membership database, contact information, and organizational information as needed • Manage invoices for membership dues, reading payments, and other business as necessary • Communicate all membership benefits, program information, opportunities, and events to members through social media, print, email, and any other appropriate channels • Work directly with our membership committee to coordinate new membership applications, welcome new members, and encourage participation in membership benefits • Attend and provide support at our Annual General Meeting and Poetry Festival conference. Our Coordinator will be asked to be part of every step of the event, including programming, promotion, and execution TO APPLY Please send a copy of a cover letter and resume as a single PDF attachment to lesley@poets.ca, using the subject line “Administrative and Communications Coordinator position.”

Deadline: January 10, 2018.

BOOKISH BITS & INDUSTRY NEWS I VALUE CANADIAN STORIES I Value Canadian Stories is a coalition of associations across the creative industries who are calling on the federal government to restore fair compensation to creators and publishers for the use of their works by the education sector. The League is proud to be a supporter of this meaningful venture. You can help the coalition ensure that Canadian lawmakers support Canadian creators and publishers during the review process and restore balance between the need to compensate our creators for educational copying and the need to promote access to quality content. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARD WINNERS Congratulations to all the incredible writers and publishers who were shortlisted for this year’s GGBooks awards, and to all the winners! FREE ONLINE COURSE: SUBMITTING TO LITERARY MAGAZINES Are you already preparing your 2018 resolutions and goals? If one of them is to submit more, you might want to check out this free 10-day email course from Literistic on submitting to literary magazines! WINDOW HORSES WINS AT ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS The beautiful film Window Horses won Best Animated Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, a big win for the film and for poetry. From the Window Horses team on Twitter (@ windowhorses): “We [are] honoured and in awe! It’s about bridging cultural divides and creating peace through curiosity, compassion, acceptance and poetry! Let’s work together to make the world more kind!”

CANADIAN POETS IN POETRY MAGAZINE Find new Canadian poets in the latest issue of Poetry Magazine, selected by Leaguer Jim Johnstone, who says: “If the poets here represent the current state of the Canadian imagination, count me among those who believe in its import and individuality.” WALRUS POETRY PRIZE Congratulations to Leaguer Shane Neilson, winner of the 6th annual Walrus Poetry Prize for his poem “Epistemology.” Read the poem online now, as well as Reader’s Choice winner Lenea Grace! MINISTER JOLY ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR THE COALITION FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY Canadian Heritage financial support for international activities of our Coalition for Cultural Diversity is now official, with a one-time investment of $100,000. GLOBE BOOKS 100 The Globe 100 was recently published, and we were thrilled for Leaguer Phoebe Wang, whose debut book Admission Requirements made the list! CANADIAN CREATERS AWAIT COPYRIGHT ACT REVIEW From the great folks at Focus on Creators: “It is clear that both creators and the government see the statutory five-year review of the Copyright Act as a key opportunity to address the policies that affect the livelihood of Canadian creators. It is now time to begin that review process; not only because it is mandated by legislation, but because there is an urgent need to address the policies that affect creators’ livelihoods. For Canadian creators, a full and meaningful review of the Copyright Act cannot come soon enough, and is now officially overdue.”

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Visit our Facebook page and join the conversation @Freedom_to_Read #FTRWeek

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Order Freedom to Read, our annual review of current censorship issues in Canada, and our 2018 poster at

freedomtoread.ca

BPNICHOL CHAPBOOK AWARD Congratulations to Sonnet L’Abbé, winner of the 2017 bpNichol Chapbook Award for her chapbook Anima Canadensis, published by Junction Books! CBC POETRY PRIZE Congratulations to Alessandra Naccarato, winner of this year’s CBC Poetry Prize shortlist! We were also thrilled for Leaguer Cornela Hoogland, who was among the 5 shortlisted poets. LOUISE BERNICE HALFE WINS LATNER WRITERS’ TRUST POETRY PRIZE Many congratulations to Louise Bernice Halfe, who won the Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize! We are so proud to have this stellar poet and person as a member. “In the works of Louise Bernice Halfe, we are in the presence of an extraordinary storyteller, okihcihtâw-iskwew (a warrior women): one whose voice emerges from profound solitude, and simultaneously opens to a vast polyphony of voices.” NATIONAL POETRY REGISTRY The latest project from Parliamentary Poet Laureate George Elliott Clarke is now live: the National Poetry Registry. Search the registry to find poems about your province or constituency! 13-YEAR-OLD REGUFEE WINS POETRY PRIZE From The Guardian: ‘She began writing poetry, she says, as a way of putting her dislocation into

words. “When I remember my Syria I feel so sad and I cry and start writing about her.” She tells me she doesn’t remember the country very well, though her poem suggests otherwise: it is, she writes, “a land where people pick up a discarded piece of bread / So that it does not get trampled on … a place where old ladies would water jasmine trees at dawn.”’ SOMALI CANADIAN WINS $10,000 LITERARY PRIZE Somali Canadian Rowda Mohamud won the inaugural Ross and Davis Mitchell Prize for Faith and Writing for her collection of poetry reflecting on her experiences of faith in Islam, racism, Islamophobia, and identity as a Muslim woman in Canada. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS REWRITING TRC CALLS TO ACTION AS POETRY From CBC: “Students at École Laura Secord School in Winnipeg are learning all about the history of residential schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action. About a month ago the students from Grades 4 to 6 visited the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to learn about the history of residential schools. And now the students are building on what they learned, examining the different calls to action and rewriting them though found poetry.” MERRIAM-WEBSTER WORD OF THE YEAR: FEMINISM

NEWS FROM THE FEMINIST CAUCUS

In 2017, lookups for feminism increased 70 per cent over 2016 on Merriam-Webster.com and spiked several times after key events. “The word ‘feminism’ was being used in a kind of general way — the feminism of this big protest,” lexicographer Peter Sokolowski said. “But it was also used in a kind of specific way: What does it mean to be a feminist in 2017? Those kinds of questions are the kinds of things, I think, that send people to the dictionary.”

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE CAUCUS If you would like to stay up to date on Feminist Caucus goings-on, including panel updates, submission opportunities, and general femme lit goings-on, sign up for the new feminist newsletter, Lit Feminist, here. All members of the League are welcome to join the Caucus! Members can volunteer to lead or be on Feminist Caucus panels, contribute to the newsletter, participate in Feminist Caucus business discussions and readings, and much more as we continue to grow this important committee of the League. FIND MONTHLY REPORTS FROM THE CHAIR ONLINE At poets.ca/feministcaucus, you can find a complete archive of monthly reports from the Feminist Caucus chair, Anne Burke. These reports include book reviews, event summaries, original poems from new members, and much more!

ACTION COMMITTEE UPDATE from Action Committee Chair Vanessa Shields

This month’s action report is going to be a little different. In an effort to really focus, there are fewer parts to the report. I’ve chosen to focus on a word definition—and let that be the thread that our Feminist needle pulls through so to sew a quilt of connectedness and thoughtful intention as we move into the holidays. Also, we will slide into another year. Soon, our inboxes and Facebook feeds will be inundated with lists of ‘bests’ (the ones for books are already showing up!) and ‘worsts’, and of course, pop culture news will offer us the ‘word-of-the-year’. It’s interesting how we constantly list and label - I’d like to know your thoughts on this. From listing our ‘best poets’ to labeling terms we use to selfidentify, it is apparent that words and their meanings hold incredible power. Language is what moves us to be outside of the voices in our own heads. I’d like to bring your attention to some headlines that did more than catch my eye—they pulled my attention and made me think. Furthermore, they motivated me to act—by sharing them with you. The Movement of #metoo | from The Atlantic #MeToo: How an 11-year-old movement became a social media phenomenon | from Fox news #MeToo Movement In Running For Time’s Person Of The Year | from Huffington Post Bisexual Women Say #metoo | from Huffington Post I was going to start this report with my own #metoo stories. But I decided against it. In fact, I never tweeted any #metoo tweets. I’ve written many poems about these experiences and they feel forgiven and free on the page. My #metoo finds her home on the pages of my journal and in the stanzas of my poetry. What I want to bring attention to here is a bigger conversation—a necessary and integral-toour-evolution-as-a-human-race kinda conversation that, I believe in my heart, poets and writers and artists and musicians are always having either internally or externally in some way, shape or form.

This is a conversation about MOVEMENT. Definition time, from Merriam-Webster. 1a (1) : the act or process of moving; especially : change of place or position or posture studying the movement of planets (2) : a particular instance or manner of moving was entranced by her graceful movements b (1) : a tactical or strategic shifting of a military unit : maneuver (2) : the advance of a military unit the steady movement of troops across the border c : action, activity —usually used in plural carefully watched the movements of the crowd 2a : tendency, trend detected a movement toward fairer pricing b : a series of organized activities working toward an objective; also : an organized effort to promote or attain an end the civil rights movement a movement to increase the minimum wage : the moving parts of a mechanism that transmit a definite motion : motion 7

b : the rhythmic character or quality of a musical composition a dance movement c : a distinct structural unit or division having its own key, rhythmic structure, and themes and forming part of an extended musical composition The symphony consisted of three movements. d : particular rhythmic flow of language : cadence a poem’s movement : the quality (as in a painting or sculpture) of representing or suggesting motion: the vibrant quality in literature that comes from elements that constantly hold a reader’s interest (such as a quickly moving action-filled plot) : an act of voiding (see 3void 2a) the bowels: matter expelled from the bowels at one passage What I love about this word is that it literally includes everything from civil rights to dancing to music to poetry to bowels. If I had to choose a word that I believe reflects 2017—especially (I hope!) within the LCP—I would choose MOVEMENT. Since 2016, when we started planning the 2017 Feminist Caucus panel, which essentially took a serious, hard, critical look at what it is we believe in and stand for. And then moved forward from there by assessing and revising our mission statement, I think it’s fair to say that the action our panelists and moderator as well as all those who

were in attendance and voted on the new mission statement took gave momentum to a movement that has been brewing within for some time now. This movement toward unconditional love and self-identification, toward inclusion and safe spaces, toward living with feminist ideals, toward equal representation for all, and forgiveness... the movement is ALIVE within each of us—and is doing what it should do—cultivate within the groups/people/places we call ‘home’ for our work and family and dreams. The #metoo movement makes me think about Feminism. About the waves that pulled—and continue to pull—us to the shore we call equality. Is Twitter leading the Fourth Wave of Feminism? Is the Fourth Wave of Feminism a movement that will (finally?) reach to all ends of the globe beginning with the west? Here’s a bit of history from our friends at Wikipedia: “Feminism in parts of the western world has gone through three waves. First-wave feminism was oriented around the station of middle- or upper-class white women and involved suffrage and political equality. Second-wave feminism attempted to further combat social and cultural inequalities. Although during the first wave of feminism, the women that rebelled consisted of middle class white women. However the second wave brought in women of color and women from other developing nations that were seeking for solidarity. Third-wave feminism is continuing to address the financial, social and cultural inequalities and includes renewed campaigning for greater influence of women in politics and media. In reaction to political activism, feminists have also had to maintain focus on women’s reproductive rights, such as the right to abortion.” Are we still in the third wave? How do different generations create, motivate and cultivate these ‘waves’ or ‘movements? If this interests you at all,

you’ll be thrilled to learn that that’s exactly what our next Feminist Caucus panel will address! Yes, we’ve paired three sets of poets together to discuss this incredibly important topic. We are committed to action as this report, our panels, and our meetings exemplify. If you are too, be sure to connect with us and join the Feminist Caucus. All you need to do to join is tell us you’d like to join! It’s that simple! Of course, attending our annual meeting and our panel will also connect you with firsthand knowledge and energy and action for the Feminist Caucus. I’d like to end this report with this interview between Gwen Benaway and Sanchari Sur. This is a poignant conversation, and one that shines a light on Twitter as a diving board for some intense jumping off and making BIG splashes. It’s also two feminists engaging in a conversation about awareness, respect, CanLit and more. Take some time over the holidays to read this. I hope you all have a superb holiday. That you bask in the joy of being with friends and family for love and tenderness. Maybe some gift-giving too - of course, give poetry as a gift! Be sure to give yourself time to work on your poetry, read those books you’ve been meaning to get to, and fall asleep peacefully knowing that being a poet is one of the best parts of you!

REVIEWS

VOODOO HYPOTHESIS BY CANISIA LUBRIN “With its expansive cosmic gaze, the book can feel like an answer to Voyager’s golden disc – a second compendium of Earth, sent in pursuit of the first as a reply to the idea that you could or should sum up human life on earth so surely. It is a record carrying what’s been obscured by triumphalist stories from the centres of power, their ethnographies that reduce difference to curio or pathology or amorphous threat. Rather than a series of frozen and curated still images and sounds, Voodoo Hypothesis offers a vivid, ever-changing process – a method.” – Reviewed by Geoffrey Morrison on Debutantes WINNOWS BY MAXIANNE BERGER “In the preface, Berger describes the composition technique she uses as ‘unhaikulike’ – I envision something like a word puzzle fanatic in a meditative state, scrolling through the letters until – aha! – the ‘answer’ appears… Berger’s reflections on her project are worth reading for anyone who, like her, delights in the joys & surprises of the English language itself.” – Reviewed by kjmunro

PETALS IN THE DARK ED. MARSHALL HRYCIUK “In this collection, he has shown how “the energy of renku lies in responding to poetry with poetry”. With humour & patience, & with amazing results, Hryciuk asks his renku participants to commit poetry – just do it!” – Reviewed by kjmunro

THE CHEMICAL LIFE BY JIM JOHNSTONE “These sparsely populated lines engage the ear in hooks, and allow the word or phrase to exist closer to the state of an object. The speed across this short line and concentrated focus on the few words that occupy them are like momentarily focusing on a sign outside a car window – clear apprehensions that persist as a series of afterimages through the landscape of the poems.” – Reviewed by Chad Campbell in The Manchester Review

INTO THE OPEN: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS BY SUSAN MCCASLIN “Quite often in McCaslin language rubs up against that which has no language, or at least no language recognizable by human beings.  In a longish poem “Wilderness/ Poetry” she explores how poetry engages wilderness by attempting to call it into speech…. The speaker humbly recognizes that “There is a syllabus we cannot master/and it has no name.” She is surer of language’s limitations than she is of language’s potential for control and mastery.” – Reviewed by J.S. Porter

FROM THE BLOG Vanessa Shields continues to share her insight into the world of balancing writing and parenting—her latest columns include reflections on solitude, vulnerability, and the question of kids at poetry readings. Find her archive of Writing Parent columns here! If you’re interested in contributing to our blog, please feel free to email us anytime! We love to hear from you.

NEW MEMBERS This is one of my favourite sections of the newsletter: it’s my great pleasure to introduce our new members each quarter, just as it’s my great pleasure getting to know each and every one of you in my time here. I’d like to highlight two of our new members from the past year, Inrid Ruthig and Benjamin Hertwig! Ingrid Ruthig was the winner of our 2017 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, with her debut collection This Being. Benjamin Hertwig also made waves with his debut, Slow War, which was a finalist for the Governor General’s Book Award for Poetry. Ingrid Ruthig is the author of This Being (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2016), winner of the 2017 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. She earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Toronto in the 1980s, and after more than a decade of practice in Toronto, left the profession to write full-time. Since 2001, her poetry, fiction, essays, and book reviews have appeared across Canada and internationally, as well as in translation, in publications such as The Best Canadian Poetry in English (Tightrope Books, 2012), The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, The Fiddlehead, Descant, Cordite (AUS), Magma (UK), Books in Canada, National Post, and Canadian Notes & Queries, among others, and her poems were featured by the Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. Her books also include Slipstream, Synesthete II, and, as editor, several other titles. Benjamin Hertwig is a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, studying post 9/11 war literature. Since leaving the military, he has spent time as a housing worker, an English teacher, a bike courier, a tree planter, and an artist. He won the 2017 National Magazine Award for Personal Journalism, the 2015 Prairie Fire Non-Fiction Contest and the 2015 Glass Buffalo Poetry Prize. His debut poetry collection, Slow War, is coming out with McGill-Queen’s in the fall of 2017. He lives and writes on the unceded land of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Waututh First Nations.

NEW MEMBERS SONJA ARNTZEN taught classical Japanese poetry and literature for twenty-five years. Currently Professor Emerita of the University of Toronto, but living on Gabriola Island in B.C, she continues to research and translate works of classical literature, particularly women’s poetic diaries of the 10th to 11th Century. Her most recent translation is The Sarashina Diary (Columbia University Press, 2014 Since 2005, she has been publishing her own English tanka and haiku in journals such as Gusts, Eucalypt, Kokako and Red Lights. With Naomi Beth Wakan, she also produced two books of “response tanka,” Double Talk (2010) and Reflections (2011). In 2017, her “Glossa on Leonard Cohen’s Anthem” made the long list of the CBC Literary Awards Contest. BILLY-RAY BELCOURT is from the Driftpile Cree Nation. He is a PhD student in the Department of English & Film Studies at the University of Alberta. Billy-Ray is also a 2016 Rhodes Scholar and read for an M.St. in Women’s Studies at the University of Oxford and Wadham College. His thesis was called “Decolonial Sight: Indigenous Feminist Protest and the World-to-Come,” and it made the case for a mode of looking at daily life, scenes of protest, violent encounters, and the world of the visual that can spot the rogue traces of a world-to-come. Billy-Ray studies Indigenous art, literature, and film and lets these objects occasion his thinking about the anti-/ante-/ ontological, queer worldings, native futures, the two valences of non-sovereignty, and ethics in a colonial present. SUSIE PETERSIEL BERG’s latest book, All This Blood, was recently published by Piquant Press. Her work has appeared in such journals as carte blanche, ArsMedica, and Understorey, and in the anthologies Desperately Seeking Susans, The Mom Egg Review, and Body and Soul. Her chapbooks include Awaiting Butterflies from

words(on)pages press, and You Will Still Have Birds: A Conversation in Poetry with Elana Wolff, from Lyrical Myrical Press. Susie Berg is also the former co-curator of Toronto’s Plasticine Poetry reading series. BARBARA BLACK DAVID DOWKER was born in Kingston, Ontario but has lived most of his life in Toronto. He is/was editor of the Alterran Poetry Assemblage. DORIS FISZER is an Ottawa poet whose poems have appeared in a variety of publications including Bywords Quarterly Journal, bywords.ca and The Voice. She has a poem forthcoming (April 2018) in the anthology When All Else Fails: Motherhood in Precarious Times, (Demeter Press). Her chapbook, The Binders was the 2016 winner of Tree Press’s chapbook contest. Her poem, “Zen Garden,” won the 2017 John Newlove Poetry Award. As the recipient of this award, she has been offered the opportunity to publish a chapbook through Bywords in 2018. Doris has recently completed a full-length poetry collection and is currently writing poems about her mother. DAN MacISAAC CHRISTINE LOWTHER (returning) has been a lifelong activist and a resident of Clayoquot Sound since 1992. She is the co-editor of two collections of essays, Living Artfully: Reflections from the Far West Coast (The Key Publishing House, 2012) and Writing the West Coast: In Love with Place (Ronsdale Press, 2008), and the author of three books of poetry, My Nature (Leaf Press, 2010), Half-Blood Poems (Zossima Press, 2011) and New Power (Broken Jaw Press, 1999). KAREN QUEVILLON teaches writing and literature at Seneca College and works as a freelance copywriter and editor. DAVID WHITE

MEMBER NEWS GARY BECK’s new poetry book evokes concern about disruptions to the desire for a comfortable, prosperous, untroubled life, Perturbations leads us through all its gloriously chaotic uncertainties. Perturbations is a 129 page poetry book. Available in paperback with a retail price of $11.99,  ISBN: 1941058701 and also in a Kindle ver sion. Published through Winter Goose Publishing. Available now through all major retailers. For  information or to request a review copy, contact: jessica@wintergoosepublishing.com CONNIE T BRAUN’s new book, Silentium: And Other Reflections On Memory, Sorrow, Place, and the Sacred has recently come off press and is now available to the public! With this collection of meditative, personal, memoir, and lyrical essays and narrative poetry, Connie T. Braun explores the multi-valences of silence within themes of loss, displacement, identity, heritage, and faith. Silentium: And Other Reflections On Memory, Sorrow, Place, and the Sacred. DAVID BRYDGES: The Wild West Poetry Festival from Oct. 14 to Oct. 22 had much wild bounty success. Twenty poets/musicians registered to experience various phases of the 9-day 18 event tour. We brought poetry to 4 communities (Edmonton, Jasper, Prince Rupert, and Nanaimo) in Alberta and British Columbia to celebrate Canada’s 150th plus birthday. Over 275 poems/songs in total were performed at an arts centre, Jasper streets, park, library, laundromat cafe, Pyramid Lake, seniours residence, local Legion, Via Rail dome car, community college, coffee shop, BC ferry movie theatre, and restaurant. A big thanks to Ottawa musicians Anne Hurley and Jim Videto for blending poetry and music. We truly brought poetry to the people creating a community connection. Beyond the mathematical measurements is the immeasurable ways friendships were strengthened, new ones

discovered, and the greater poetry community circle enlarged by a group of adventuresome spirits. League members participating were David Brydges, Kate Marshall Flaherty, DC Reid, Pierrette Requier, Norma Kerby, Harold Feddersen. Ann Graham Walker organized our dinner/social visit to Nanaimo attended by further league members Kim Goldberg and Janet Vickers. Especially historic was inaugurating Jasper’s first poetry festival. Special appreciation to the League for sponsoring two Canada reading tour grants to Kate Marshall Flaherty and Pierrette Requier. Both readings during Jasper’s first festival were well attended. MAGIE DOMINIC: In a new article in honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary of confederation, on the site “Canadian Writers Abroad,” an excerpt of Mordecai Richler’s 1967 essay refers to Newfoundland writer Magie Dominic. MELANIE FLORES won 1st prize in Polar Expressions Publishing’s 2017 National Poetry Contest for her poem “Final Moments”.  Her poem will appear, along with nearly 250 other new Canadian poems, in an anthology of Canadian poetry entitled “Let’s Fly Away”. SUPARNA GHOSH shares a video based on a couplet from a ghazal poem in her latest book, Occasionally. BARBARA E. HUNT recently celebrated the launch of an unusual poetry book, DEVOTIONS (including colouring!) Books are available at Amazon or www. thewritersplayground.ca. Tis the season to get your colour on! KEITH INMAN’s new book of poetry, SEAsia, has been released by Black Moss Press. Comments on the book include: from Jennifer Footman, the book ‘has a great narrative and strong images.’ The work ’flows like a novel...the language is musical... rich, round, flowing’; John B. Lee’s in his review of SEAsia, states ‘it is faith in poetry that triumphs’;

and Elspeth Cameron calls it, ‘powerful.’ Inman has a series of readings set up throughout the Niagara region at local libraries and cafe’s. Otherwise, he’s been busy judging poetry contests for youth, including two for the St. Catharines Public Library’s 17th annual ‘Fresh Ink Contest for Teens’, and Brock Universities November ‘festivalofreaders’ page poet contest. Keith will also judge the 2018 Spring Pulse Poetry Festival. KATE MARSHALL FLAHERTY: “Our poetry and music show “Memory and Loss” raised over $600 for the also Alzheimer’s Society of Alberta and Northwest territories! Local poets joined us: Pierette Requier, Mary Campbell, Danny Burrell, Alice Major and myself read, and were entertained by local musicians and Ottawa musicians Anne Hurley and Jim Videto. Over 75 people attended. It was a beautiful evening of poetry and song, and Michelle Mulder from the society gave a brief talk about all that the finds do to support families and individuals living with Alzheimer’s.” SUSAN MCCASLIN launched her new selected poems, Into the Open: New and Selected Poems (Inanna, 2017) at the Cottage Bistro in Vancouver, B.C. Her previous volume of poetry, Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cezanne (Quattro, 2016), was reviewed by Michael Robertson in The Malahat Review: Fiftieth Anniversary Issue. A review of Into the Open: Poems New and Selected (Inanna, 2017) by J.S. Porter appeared on the following websites: Inanna Publications website, reviews page, and the League of Canadian Poets reviews site. HONEY NOVICK was honoured with a Canada 150 Outstanding Neighbour Award from the Hon. Carolyn Bennett. CONCETTA PRINCIPE’s latest book of poems, This Real, is now out with Pedlar Press. It is a meditation on motherhood in the end times, referencing messiah, miracle, milk, psychosis, creation, and 9/11.

WRITING OPPORTUNITIES CANTHIUS Feminist literary magazine Canthius is accepting submissions for their fifth issue until February 1! Canthius accepts submissions of poetry and prose from a diversity of established and emerging women and genderqueer writers. INTO THE VOID POETRY COMPETITION The second annual Into the Void Poetry Competition, judged by M. Wright, is open for submissions until December 31! POETRY IS DEAD The latest call for submissions from Poetry is Dead is “Coven,” edited by Adèle Barclay and Leah Horlick: “We’re calling the four corners. We’re calling magic makers of all kinds. We’re calling for spells for survival, tinctures of remedy, gossip, renewal rituals, new moon intentions, full moon feels, astrology memes. We want writing that plays between the worlds, that conjures new worlds, that heals the world we live in. We’re warding off “witch hunts” of all kinds and throwing salt around like confetti.” Deadline: January 15 ROOM MAGAZINE Submissions are now open for issue 41.3 of Room, “The Queer Issue.” “This issue is a celebration of emerging and established queer writers and artists; the creative work itself does not have to be queer in focus. Do you want to queer genre? Create a poem about the corporatization of Pride? Or just write microfiction on the minutiae of daily living? All types of submissions are welcome.” Deadline: January 31 THE PURITAN The Puritan is calling for submissions to a special supplement to its Winter Issue, “Literary

Suburbia.” The “Literary Suburbia” supplement aims to publish work from a diverse range of perspectives—including those that challenge traditional renderings of the suburbs that fail to capture alternative economic and ethnic realities. Many of these traditional representations perpetuate the idea of the stereotypical white, middle-class suburb. In this supplement, we want to hear from writers whose perspectives represent the reality of heterogeneous suburban environments. Deadline: December 31.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

NATURE & PLACE POETRY COMPETITION The Rialto, working with the RSPB, BirdLife International and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, presents the Nature and Place poetry competition. Poems are invited that deal with any aspect of nature and place – these terms will be given a wide interpretation by the judge. Deadline: March 1. CALGARY DISTINGUISHED WRITERS PROGRAM The Calgary Distinguished Writers Program (CDWP) encourages submissions from promising Canadian writers for the position of Canadian Writer-in-Residence, a ten-month residency at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Arts from September 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Applications for the position are encouraged from writers from diverse genres—including literary fiction or nonfiction, poetry, script writing, and play writing. Candidates will have one to four published and/or performed works to their credit; community engagement experience, such as teaching or mentoring writers; and are expected to propose a project or projects that they will undertake during their term as Canadian Writer-in-Residence. The residency is a full-time term position, with half of the Canadian Writer-in-Residence’s time reserved for their own writing projects, and half comprising public outreach involving manuscript consultations, public presentations, and other related duties. Deadline: December 31.

STAY WARM, MAKE FRIENDS