Ms. Lyric's Poetry Outlaws

Another elegy from the first part of The Art of Losing with a little background info and a recitation of this gorgeous and tragic blues sonnet.

Another elegy from the first section of The Art of Losing with a further paragraph from editor Kevin Young’s intro then a reading and discussion of Larkin’s paean to the need to be kind to all creatures who suffer death.

In which I begin a random sampling of elegies in sections from the anthology The Art of Losing: poems of grief and healing, edited by American poet Kevin Young (2010). I read the first two paragraphs of his introduction and then Lawrence’s haunting four stanza piece. And talk about some of its impacts and effects. Enjoy outlaws!

Happy New Year outlaws! In which I chat about her books, how I met her, and read a bio, a blurb by Joe and a poem called Quince. Thanks Anne :)

A Listener's Choice Poem from my recent interview subject in Winnipeg. And Katherine actually introduced the pleasures of Merrill to me! A perfect poem to end 2021. Enjoy poetry outlaws :)

Ms Lyric's begins Season 4 in Winnipeg having a wild conversation with poet Katherine Bitney about all things crow, poem, grief, witness, wildness and spells that make you go whoopsie! But first I start with a brief wrap of Season 3 and an intro to the new approaches of Season 4. Happy Merry word musicians :)

The final episode of Season Three, featuring a raucous conversation with Vancouver poet Heather Haley at the Italian restaurant Marcello's on the Drive. Let's call this one We Have Muzzled Nothing and Meat of the Matter where we cackle and chat about being tomboys, the punk rock circus, minimalist ethos, the importance of fucking, detachment from the scene and the hubris of youth. And she recites...

Fugues are about voicings, repetitions, hauntings. This is the last piece I'm reciting from the Planet Earth poetry anthology. Thanks to all Victoria poets who host and run series and workshop events! And to all the poetic forms in the world.

A poem about love from the Planet Earth anthology. A Vancouver poet. It's Wednesday and snowing in Edmonton too.

A palindrome of grief and beauty within the lush, lost worlds of indigeneity and nature. From the Planet Earth series anthology and another fine BC poet.

From Planet Earth Poetry poems, Yvonne Blomer's anthology, It's mythical, it's gory, it's true. And boy does it sound good.

From the Planet Earth poetry anthology from 2013. Poem one of five. I introduce the reading series, read from editor and host Yvonne Blomer's afterword and recite and talk about the memories and sounds of the Zwicky piece. Reading series, they matter.

In which I remember Jamie, affable, nutty, incensed, supportive, and jazzy. He was a good writer and person and I will always miss his presence at events as he photographed and absorbed. Thanks Mr Dadababy.

Requested by Edmontonian interview guest Alice Major. She thought I might post it around Halloween but hey it's just as powerful a spell on December 1st. Sexton speaks to all female creators who haven't felt accepted within patriarchy. And she does it here with craft and craftiness. I relate? Do you?

Requested by former interviewee from Edmonton, Paul Pearson. We speak of stones, gems, history, coming to sensual consciousness, the muse and Lowther, one of our mothers in Canadian women's poetry.

As requested by Edmontonian interview guest Kelly Shepherd! It's about family, the environment, the self. And sounds. And it haunts. Happy Monday!

As requested by a Vancouver interview subject, Diane Tucker. A beautiful poem about transcendental power through music and spirituality. And RIP Bly who just died this year!

Another Listener's Choice Poem from an interview subject, this one in Edmonton not Vancouver! O Herbert. Ever challenging to unfold. He resists. He gives. And he forgives my bumblings around with explications of what is after all his mystery :)

A Vancouver poet (who I have indeed interviewed but whose interview won't be posted until the last episode of Season 3!) asks me to read a Hawaiian poet. A gorgeous piece about work and fatherhood and love and loss. And smoking! Relish it.

Selected as a Listener's Choice by my first interview subject Heidi Greco. It's not a simple piece after all! There's violence in this writing. What's that deer doing anyway? And you can hear my cat.

I begin by reading a series of fragments from the ancient satirist Juvenal to show how old this type of grrrrrr is ;) Then I chat to myself in my yard (or maybe all the birds care) about the disparities and insufficiencies relating to big prizes/arts admin pay vs the every day impoverished maker's reality. And end with a quote about the whole notion that if you love something you should never ask...

The final poem in the Revolving City anthology for Friday! And I talk the anthology beast in general before discussing verbs and the Commercial Drive neighborhood in Taylor's powerful piece about vulnerability and love.

In which we rant and chuckle and explore aspects of form, eco-poetry, the gift economy of art, the problems with publishing, and the need to transcend what's expected and engage with the alternate. It's a raucous epic fueled by cheap wine at the Cannibal cafe in Vancouver!

Although I sound gooned at the start I can assure you it's a November morning and I am not. I talk about Heather Spears life and work, her death in 2021, her character and life energy. I flub the name of one of her books - it is the Word for Sand not Name. And I read her funny piece about poetry readings. Another amazing female poet and creative gone.

Second to last piece from the Revolving City anthology and I hem and haw and um a lot here, partly because I recorded this episode in my parents' garden and was worried about being interrupted and in part due to the fact that I am aiming to explicate staccato rhythms ;) at any rate, I read the poem well. Relish the vulnerability!