Ms. Lyric's Poetry Outlaws

In which I talk about Al Purdy (1918-2000), his place in Canlit and my personal encounters with him in the 90s, and the creation of the infamous Purdy podium by my father, Gerald. I also read some teensy lyrics I like of his: Winter at Roblin Lake from Cariboo Horses and Depression in Namu, BC from Sex and Death. Big Al: never to be forgotten.

Actually these are more like conversations, this one at the Earl's patio on Robson in Vancouver in rainy April during another plague semi-lockdown. She reads the poem "A dream of old Vancouver" and we laugh a lot about our reveries of former glory, talk history, form, Hopkins and I call Di Brandt a "beeyatch" as an editor ;) Read poems Diane says! And relish the madness of poetic chatter too (amid...

This poem which I mention IS from 2014 but not from Book's Griffin nominated collection Congotronic was requested by BC poet Geoffrey Nilson. This link takes you to a proper description of Book's varied poetic and political preoccupations in this text https://www.bibliovault.org/BV.book.epl? ISBN=9781609383077. As for me, I deal simply with this one dense contortion of an aural poem, roaming throu...

The birds and I bid you a jolly Monday with this Italian form of recurrences from the 2005 In Fine Form anthology, the last poem I'm reading from this edition. The Villanelle, a promising start to any week.

Friday's form, the famed sonnet, from the first ed of the In Fine Form anthology, in both Petrarchan and Shakespearean mode in discussion, with a nod to my sonnet collaborations in DOG with Joe Rosenblatt (also chatted about in the Poet on the Road series). And a movingly sweet sonnet about a young girl and her male caregiver who is attached and resists and yields to pure love. I recorded this las...

A 4th form poem, French again, from the first ed of the In Fine Form anthology. And Vuillard Interior from Elise Partridge (RIP), whom I met a few times in Vancouver at varied poetry events and she was always as warm and poised as this triolet.

Form the third from In Fine Form, ed 1. More French stuff but keeping it on the easier side, repetition-wise. Still, tragic. Enjoy your java!

Form the second from the In Fine Form anthology, ed 1, the convoluted yet simple French pantoum. Explaining forms isn't easy! This poem is strangely haunting.

The new series on the two Canadian In Fine Form anthologies begins (edited by Kate Braid and Sandy Shreve) with one of my fave forms (also addressed in the Poet on the Road podcasts relating to Shall and Frenzy) the ancient Persian ghazal and its contemporary North American version. I call Canadian poet John Thompson the "gateway drug" to the ghazal and recite his ghazal 9 after talking through th...

The last poem from A. Alvarez and his 1962 The New Poetry Anthology. A lesser known poet now. Who who who is he?? But seriously Happy Friday.

Second to last piece from the A Alvarez anthology in which I talk against accessibility and ramble forthwith into Hill's form and imagery before reciting the 3 part poem. And it is snowing. Again.

Ok 3 more poems "this week" from the A Alvarez anthology I say as if it were Monday but it's Wednesday! Also for these last 3 pieces, and perhaps into the future, I am discussing the poem first then just reciting it once. And today I'm dealing with a lesser known poet (because hey MOST of us are) Jon Silkin with his paean/curse to my fave flower. Go Dandelion go!!

A further A Alvarez offering, the wonderful poet Thom Gunn and his poem that could literally touch on the difficult beauties of being a gay man in the 50s. Find some of his books. You won't be disappointed.

Another A Alvarez pick, this time of a now lesser known poet, and his piece about dealing with your depressions. After the first 2 minutes my phone buzzes. I vanish only to return. Phone calls in the middle of podcasts are sort of bad things, but we deal. Happy Monday!

Poem the third from the A Alvarez anthology for your dour Friday ;) Philip Larkin, famed curmudgeon librarian, and his piece "Wants" which tells it like it really is. Drink up that java!

Poem 2 from the A Alvarez anthology is the complex angst of Sexton and her poem about being an age she never arrived at. I think we're all feeling nostalgic these days for the berry time in Damariscotta.

In which I introduce the 1962 anthology from which I will recite over the next 8 episodes and read and discuss John Berryman's The Song of the Tortured Girl. A jolly way to start your day!!

The second homage in my series in which I talk about a poet, now deceased, whom I actually encountered, however briefly. And mention the fickleness of fame. The torture of only being able to say NO. And recite what remains.

Who recites her poem "Standing in Heaven with Marilyn Monroe," and answers my three unique questions and two standard ones: talking feelings, craft, BC's Poetry in Transit program, film, and making poetry happen everywhere. She's an old friend. We laugh a lot and someone tries to give me their number in the middle of the interview. It unfolds at St Augustine's on Commercial Drive. So there are tra...

The final date of our Poet on the Road tour in which I discuss grief and nature in my book of elegies and aubades that came out in the ill-fated year of 2020 from ECW. And recite Beseech, a poem about the Fraser River. That's it. I'm done with me and what I've done.

Day 9 of Poet on the Road and my most recent Wolsak & Wynn/Buckrider collection, rife with childhood memories, weird stuff and homages to the American poet John Ashbery. I also read a bit of tour journal lore and mention renovating my endings. Join me! I've almost stopped sleeping on your couch.

Day 8 of Poet on the Road where I introduce my book of elegies for my partner Chris (1981-2010), talk form and mourning, read from the tour diary and recite one of the pieces I wrote not long after his death: The Spa for Grief. This was my first collection from ECW. Come on along!

Trobairitz (my last book with Anvil Press) saw me go on a fairly wild tour that featured much singing and growling. The cover is me playing bass and hairwhirling, courtesy of a photo session with Paul Saturley. Here I discuss the origins of the book, talk muses again, read snippets of my tour journal and recite a canso or medieval lyric poem along with a stupidly humorous prose piece. Horns up!! Y...

Poet on the Road continues with my 6th collection of poems, third out from Wolsak & Wynn. In which, in a hard year, I trace the life and work of photographer Mattie Gunterman, read a little from my tour diary in Ontario, recall meeting her ancestors and recite a poem about her death. Hey, it's Monday!

Part Five of Poet on the Road where I briefly recount how my personal life intertwined with my book tour, talk about Frenzy, my second collection from Anvil Press, and discuss the weirdness of my own concocted fusion form, the flood-ghazal. It's Friday! Come along for the ride!!