Ms. Lyric's Poetry Outlaws

I invoke Dean Young to say a few things about what’s wrong with the Griffin and no Canadian prize and only one prize and the ickiness of it all that has nil to do with poetry. Yep.

Is it for the poet or the audience or both? What do scholars say? Let’s think about it.

In which I talk a bit about feminism and women writing their bodies and what’s happening to it all and then read a poem from Tregebov’s 2001 book On the Strength of Materials (Wolsak & Wynn) and Kishkan’s 1993 Black Cup (Beach Holme. Ed by Robin Skelton!).

1940-2021. One of our most mysterious and humble poets I’d say.

And also Jarring and another word for Diary and even Jeffers (Robinson). Enjoy!

Happy back to school! I speak of the crucial value of intensity in a poetic practice and read Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a funeral.”

I chat about the form and read an example. Mess about with it!

I talk about these forms and read an example each from Diane Seuss and Naomi Foyle. Experimenting is everything.

From Inventory (09, Anvil Press) and Listen Before Transmit (18, Buckrider Books). I lament the losses of books and then feature these two tough and sharp poets with their poems about enumerated dwellings.

In which I take back this word and think about what it means for the poem and especially the pursuit of muses and also, for women.

I ramble, I read Larkin and I contradict my own perceptions so it’s all most entertaining!

I chat about my own sonorous language obsessions, mention Longenbach and pop Death in at the end too.

In which I rant about the need for diversity, incorporate quotes from a Q & Q review, present two poems from two Moure texts and mispronounce Pessoa’s name (it’s FernandO of course ;)

Craft is the patterned heart of the poem. No poet can be without it.

Hard to scratch at the aesthetic surfaces of this concept but I try. Is beauty the core of poetry or its downfall or irrelevant or or or?

In which I imagine that Sylvia Legris and Tim Bowling were able to recite poems together from her 2005 book Squall and his 2019 collection The Dark Set. What are the echoes? You decide.

In which I commence a series called an Abecedarian of Poetics, each featuring a paragraph or two on some element of poesis. This is on stance and ferocity. Wait and see what else I come up with!

1940-2018. He reads a poem at the Griffin ceremony, I have memories and recount bio bits and then read a Gary Barwin piece for him at the end. Thanks Dave and connect with you word musicians again in Season Six!

In which there are still tech difficulties and I say wonderful too often (with Chris Banks it was incredible! Always one dominant word). I also talk too much (and cough) but sometimes that’s the way it goes. We chat about grief, cadence, writing revenge ditties, working in offices, university workshops, poetic infrastructure, the importance of reviews, and her latest book Nuclear Family! And Jean...

We triumphed over a range of tech challenges to chat deeply about music, form, nostalgia’s dangers, small towns, the need to read widely, growing up, transforming style, and the sustenance of the poem. And he reads his poem Hit Parade. A terrific time!

Gone at 44, she left us fierce poems about living as women in the world. Read her!

I’m a bit quieter in this one as we progress as I develop a cough! But boy did we have a deep chat about allusions and freedom, the Me Too movement, grandfathers, children, the importance of readings and dreams of a Poet’s Place other than on the bottom shelf. And she reads her piece Fiat Lux.

1956-2020. Poet, life adventurer, reviewer. Bio, memories and messages, chat about reviewing, a poem about the death of his mother. Thanks Michael.

In which the Ottawa poet and I talk about breath, writing processes, mentors, the origins of poetry in grief, the importance of reviews and the unimportance of prizes and much else. And she reads a poem called The Whole Tall World. O and I believe the writing workshop we met at was called Writing Wild Mind. Ah well, it was long ago!

Gone at 43 she filled a room with her bountiful accomplishments and colourful presence. I read her obit and then her poem of death that has no angels in it.