author spotlight #2: rob mclennan,

Chaudiere Books is publishing Ottawa writer rob mclennan’s first collection of short fiction, The Uncertainty Principle: stories, later this spring, launching as part of the Plan 99 Reading Series at The Manx Pub in Ottawa on Saturday, May 10, 2014. Some of the stories from this collection, as well as from a subsequent work-in-progress, have appeared online at The Barnstormer, Reader's Digest Canada, matchbooklit, fortunates and Sassafras Literary Magazine, as well as quite a number posted to his blog: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here (for example). A short write-up by the author on composing the form of the short short story also appears at matchbooklit. Other short fiction has appeared online in Numero Cinq, the author's blog and The Puritan, with short essays on composing fiction at The Town Crier, The Puritan and at his blog. American writer Eileen R. Tabios was good enough to do a short write-up on the work-in-progress, here.

Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan [photo credit: Christine McNair] currently lives in Ottawa. The author of more than twenty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he won the John Newlove Poetry Award in 2010, and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2012. This spring also sees the publication of a second collection of literary essays, notes and dispatches: essays (Insomniac press, 2014). Other recent titles include the poetry collection Songs for little sleep, (Obvious Epiphanies, 2012), and a second novel, missing persons (2009). An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Chaudiere Books, The Garneau Review, seventeen seconds: ajournal of poetry and poetics and the Ottawa poetry pdf annual ottawater. He spent the 2007-8 academic year in Edmonton as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta, and regularly posts reviews, essays, interviews and other notices at robmclennan.blogspot.com

Some recent rob mclennan activity includes a four-part essay on "writing fatherhood" over at Open Book: Ontario, the essay "on writing (and not writing" over at the ottawa poetry newsletter, a write-up at Apartment613 and an article/interview by the Ottawa Citizen, as well as new and newish poems at Connotation Press Online, n/a, Thunderclap and posit.

John Newlove : 70 Canadian Poets, ed. Gary Geddes

Chaudiere Books author John Newlove has poems in the new 70 Canadian Poets (Oxford University Press), edited by Gary Geddes. Newly released this month, this anthology is a continuation of the '15 Canadian Poets' series he's been editing for Oxford University Press for nearly forty years. We can't wait to see our copy!

Amanda Earl, VERSeFest 2014 + the VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour

Amanda Earl posts on her upcoming gig and VERSeOttawa Hall of Honour award at this year's VERSeFest (as well as some other good things), over at her blog.

Association of Canadian Publishers' meeting, 2014

We were fortunate enough to attend the Association of Canadian Publishers' 2014 mid-winter meeting in Toronto recently. Conjoined with a meeting of the Literary Press Group (of which we are a member), we were able to take turns attending sessions throughout the weekend (as Rose the Intern allowed).

One of the highlights was a session on book reviewing [photo, left], with panelists Jared Bland from the Globe and Mail, Stuart Woods from Quill and Quire and Mark Medley from The National Post, lovingly moderated by ECW Press' own Jack David.

We were able to interact with LPG staff (all of whom are wonderful), and members of both organizations, including Karen Green from Anvil Press, Brian Henderson of Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Kitty Lewis of Brick Books, Linda Cameron of the University of Alberta Press [who snapped and posted this mid-conference photo of us on facebook], Alana Wilcox of Coach House Books, Silas White of Nightwood Editions, Michael Mirolla of Guernica Editions, Hazel and Jay MillAr of BookThug, and plenty of others.

We learned many things, had plenty good fun and managed to interact with friends old and new alike, including many who were amazed that we were able to attend a conference at all with a two-month-old (which would have been far more difficult had we not been staying in the same hotel where the conference was being held). Now if we could only get her to help fill out grant applications.

Marcus McCann in Niagara Falls and Hamilton

Chaudiere Books author Marcus McCann has two upcoming readings you should be aware of:

In Niagara Falls: Grey Borders Reading Series
w/ Dani Couture & Ralph Kolewe
7pm, Fri, Feb 28, 2014.
Niagara Artist Centre, 354 St Paul st.

In Hamilton: LitLive Reading Series
w/ Jim Smith, Christine McNair, Andrew Faulkner & others
7:30pm, Sun, March 2, 2014.
Sky Dragon centre, 27 King William St.

For information on further McCann readings and appearances, check out his events page, here.

Robert McTavish helps annotate Bobbie Louise Hawkins' home movies of Robert Creeley and friends

Robert McTavish, documentary filmmaker and editor of A Long Continual Argument: The Selected Poems of John Newlove (Chaudiere Books, 2007) helped Penelope Creeley annotate some home video footage. As Charles Bernstein posts at Jacket2:

Bobbie Louise Hawkins took these home movies from 1962 to 1965. She provided them to Robert McTavish for his film about the Vancouver poetry conference of 1963, The Line Has Shattered (2013), and then asked McTavish to send them to PennSound.  Penelope Creeley and McTavish provided most of the annotations. We welcome any further identifications: let us know!

McTavish will be in Ottawa in March 2014 as part of VERSeFest to present his documentary film, The Line Has Shattered (2013), including a panel discussion with Ottawa-based 1963 Vancouver Poetry Conference participants Robert Hogg, William Hawkins and Roy MacSkimming. Check the VERSeFest 2014 website for updates when we have them.

ottawater #10 : Dolman, Lea, Le Dressay, Massey + Prevost,

The tenth issue of the Ottawa poetry pdf annual ottawater is now online at www.ottawater.com, featuring work by Chaudiere Books authors Anita Dolman, N.W. Lea, Anne Le Dressay, Karen Massey and Roland Prevost, along with numerous others.

author spotlight: Amanda Earl,

By now you've heard that Chaudiere Books is publishing Ottawa poet Amanda Earl's first trade poetry collection this fall, tentatively titled "Kiki." But who, you ask, is Amanda Earl?

One of the city's most active writers, Amanda Earl [photo credit: Charles Earl] is a poet, publisher and pornographer from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Amanda's most recent chapbooks are the 2012 chapbook Sex First & Then A Sandwich (her third chapbook with above/ground press) and Me, Medusa (Red Ceilings Press, UK, 2012). Her poetry appears in magazines such as Rampike, the White Wall Review, filling Station, along with both online and print journals in Australia, Canada, England, France, Ireland and the USA. Amanda is a small press fanatic and a chapbook addict. Site: www.amandaearl.com; Twitter: @KikiFolle
 
Her visual poetry chapbook in Dan Waber's "this is visual poetry series" is Montparnasse, a project that relates directly to her "Kiki" manuscript, and her Tumblr account celebrates the spirit of Montparnasse: amandaearl.tumblr.com

Some recent Amanda Earl activity includes a lengthy interview at magenta: a uOttawa website, an essay Earl wrote on composing ghazals over at The Town Crier, the new DevilHousePress imprint she edits/publishes, a poem posted as part of the Tuesday poem series over at the dusie blog, inclusion in the "Women of Visual Poetry" issue of The Volta, and the announcement that Amanda Earl will be one of two people induced into the 2014 VerseOttawa Hall of Honour this March!

Chaudiere author N.W. Lea at The Factory Reading Series

Chaudiere Books author N.W. Lea (formerly known as Nicholas Lea), author of Everything is movies (Chaudiere Books, 2007), launches a new poetry chapbook at The Factory Reading Series, Ottawa, on February 6, 2014, alongside m erskine and Hugh Thomas.

Weird Canada reviews Michael Bryson's The Lizard and Other Stories

Joshua Robinson was good enough to review Toronto writer Michael Bryson's The Lizard and Other Stories (Chaudiere Books, 2010) over at Weird Canada. Thanks, Joshua! This is actually the seventh review of Bryson's ReLit award-shortlisted short story collection. Back when the book originally appeared, Bryson kept far better track of such than we did, highlighting links back to the sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second and first, here.

Catherine Owen reviews Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press, 2003-2013

Poet and critic Catherine Owen provides a second review of Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press, 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013) over at her blog, following on the heels of Ryan Pratt's review over at the ottawa poetry newsletter. Thanks, Catherine!

Although she does speak of omissions, wondering where particular authors are. How else does one boil down hundreds of publications into a single volume, without omitting someone? As well, the book deliberately worked to steer clear of works that had been reprinted since (such as Phil Hall) in single-author trade works.

Q&A with rob mclennan: Rebuilding a local literary empire

Ottawa Citizen Arts-Editor-At-Large Peter Simpson interviewed me for an article posted today on Chaudiere Books' rebuilding year, and includes announcements on our forthcoming Indiegogo Campaign, as well as poetry titles we're publishing later this year by Amanda Earl and Monty Reid. And of course, a lovely photograph of myself, Christine McNair and Rose the Intern. Thanks much, Mr. Simpson!

Ryan Pratt reviews Ground Rules: the best of the second deacde of above/ground press, 2003-2013

Our friend Ryan Pratt reviews Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press, 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books, 2013) over at the ottawa poetry newsletter. Thanks, Ryan!

rob mclennan's short story, "Character sketch,"

"Character sketch," a short story by rob mclennan which originally appeared in the Atlas Review, has now been posted over at his blog.

Marcus McCann in The Steel Chisel

We seem to have missed it (somehow), but here's a new poem by Marcus McCann from the September 2013 issue of The Steel Chisel.

Amanda Earl's AngelHousePress introduces DevilHouse

Amanda Earl's AngelHousePress introduces DevilHouse, a transgressive new imprint w/ interviews by literary transgressors M. M Dot Christian, Kathleen Bradean, Sean Moreland & Mark McCawley, & a call for work: devilhousepress.com

rob mclennan: six short short stories and an essay,

rob mclennan has six short, short stories from his forthcoming The Uncertainty Principle: stories, (Chaudiere Books, 2014) now online at matchbook, alongside a short essay on composition.

Ground Rules launch: a report,

On Saturday, December 7, 2013, we celebrated the publication of the first title in our Chaudiere Books re-launch at The Manx Pub. Thanks so much to David O'Meara and The Manx Pub for hosting the event, and Sean Wilson and the Ottawa International Writers Festival for their sponsorship, and ongoing support. Lovingly hosted by myself, we launched Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013 [see ordering information here] to a packed house with readings by contributors Marilyn Irwin, Stephen Brockwell and Sharon Harris. We even had copies available of the limited-edition chapbook I simply began: above/ground press at 20 [an interview with rob mclennan] (Ottawa ON: Apt. 9 Press, August 2013), a lengthy interview with myself on the beginnings and history of the press that Cameron Anstee conducted [read an excerpt of such here], as well as the previous above/ground press anthology, Groundswell: the best of above/ground press 1993-2003 (Fredericton NB: Broken Jaw Press, 2003).

Marilyn Irwin has been doing quite well lately, from her 2013 Diana Brebner Award win to poems in this year's issue of New American Writing. Part of her reading included a new poem longer than a single page (as she said during her reading, anyone familiar with her work would know exactly how shocking an idea like that is). Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of her (but hopefully someone else did).

Stephen Brockwell, while reading from his reprinted chapbook, Impossible Books (the Carleton Installment), included in the new anthology, was good enough to read a poem in the anthology by Stephanie Bolster. Brockwell's chapbook was an earlier work-in-progress excerpt (one of two such fragments of the same work produced through above/ground press) from what has newly appeared as The Complete Surprising Fragments of Improbable Books through Toronto's Mansfield Press. Notice, too, if you skim the crowd behind this photo of Stephen Brockwell, you can catch glimpses of Brian and Pearl Pirie, Cameron Anstee, Ben Ladouceur, Christine McNair and Monty Reid, among others.

Toronto writer and artist Sharon Harris read from a scattering of works, including her "more fun with 'pataphysics," originally produced by above/ground press as an issue of STANZAS and reprinted in the anthology, as well as a number of pieces from a couple works-in-progress. Harris is originally from Sarnia, Ontario, and read a couple of poems composed on and around her hometown (including some stories that don't seem restricted to those from Sarnia, and could easily be Ottawa Valley stories).

Writer, book conservator, designer and new co-publisher Christine McNair, who is also my lovely wife, designed and produced the book (which is absolutely gorgeous). If you can imagine, two weeks plus earlier, she managed to approve cover stock for the anthology from her hospital bed in the midst of a thirty-seven hour labour. We were enormously happy that she was able to be on hand for the event with our other co-production, two-and-a-half-week-old Rose, making this the baby's first public outing (basically, her first non-baby outing) and first literary reading. We suspect there might be many more such readings in her future!

If you were unable to make the event, fret not; the entire reading was recorded, and will be posted come spring as part of the first Chaudiere Books podcast. Expect to see at least one more Ottawa launch with different readers around the same time, and schemes are cooking to see launches in Toronto, Montreal and even Calgary. Have you joined our Facebook group yet, to keep apprised of updates? And of course, we will be announcing our Indiegogo campaign in the New Year, as well as our 2014 forthcoming titles. Stay tuned!

Marcus McCann on the véhicule press blog

Chaudiere Books author Marcus McCann has a poem reprinted on the véhicule press blog as part of their Sunday poem feature, selected by Carmine Starnino.

Now available! Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013

Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013
ed. rob mclennan

poetry / $24.95
ISBN 978-0-9783428-7-6

Working out of Ottawa, poet and publisher rob mclennan's baby, above/ground press, marks a second decade of the production of broadsheets, chapbooks, magazines, and anthologies that trace out the best shapes of the best of contemporary Canadian (and, increasingly, international) poetry. From the span of that second ten of years, he has compiled this book of traceries: a selection of work by writers ranging from the likes of the late Artie Gold, and Robert Kroetsch, to the living derek beaulieu, Rachel Zolf, Eric Folsom, Natalie Simpson, etc., all collected here as representative of a decade's aesthetic count.
    from Gil McElroy's "Introduction: An Integral"

Edited by rob mclennan, with an introduction by Gil McElroy, Ground Rules features writing from the second decade of one of the most active micro publishers in Canada, selected from a series of hundreds of publications lovingly edited, produced and distributed by editor/publisher rob mclennan. A follow-up to Groundswell: best of above/ground press, 1993-2003 (Broken Jaw Press, 2003), Ground Rules includes a wide range of work by Artie Gold, Mark Cochrane, Suzanne Zelazo, derek beaulieu, Stephanie Bolster, Amanda Earl, Nathanaël, Lisa Samuels, Rachel Zolf, Sharon Harris, D. G. Jones, Julia Williams, Eric Folsom, Gregory Betts, Natalie Simpson, Aaron Tucker, Monty Reid, William Hawkins, Emily Carr, Cameron Anstee, Helen Hajnoczky, Marilyn Irwin, Stephen Brockwell, Robert Kroetsch and rob mclennan.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Artie Gold, “doublet”

Mark Cochrane, “Rotator Cuff at 33 1/3,”

Suzanne Zelazo, “SUIT”

derek beaulieu, dream poem for dieter roth #1
derek beaulieu, untitled #3

Stephanie Bolster, “Night Zoo,”

Amanda Earl, "ivre,"

Nathanaël, “what exile   this”
STANZAS magazine, volume 1, issue #29

Lisa Samuels, "The Museum of Perception”
STANZAS magazine, volume 1, issue #33

Rachel Zolf, "the naked & the nude”
STANZAS magazine, volume 1, issue #40

Sharon Harris, “more fun with 'pataphysics”
STANZAS magazine, volume 1, issue #43

D. G. Jones, standard pose

Julia Williams, MY CITY IS ANCIENT AND FAMOUS

Eric Folsom, NORTHEAST ANTI-GHAZALS

Gregory Betts, The Cult of David Thompson

Natalie Simpson, The writing that should enter into conversation

Monty Reid, cuba A book

William Hawkins, the black prince of bank street

Emily Carr
]
& look there goes a sparrow transplanting soil
                    ]            [3 eclogues]

Cameron Anstee, Frank St.

Helen Hajnoczky, A history of button collecting

Marilyn Irwin, for when you pick daisies

Stephen Brockwell, Impossible Books
(the Carleton Installment)

Robert Kroetsch, Further to Our Conversation

rob mclennan, The creeks,

In August, 2013, Ottawa's Apt. 9 Press published the limited-edition chapbook (click to read the excerpt - I simply began: above/ground press at 20 [an interview with rob mclennan]) a lengthy interview with rob mclennan on the beginnings and history of the press conducted by Cameron Anstee.

to order: add $5 for postage, and paypal (here) or cheque to Chaudiere Books, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa Ontario Canada K1H 7M9

Ground Rules / Chaudiere Books article on Ottawa Tonite!

Ottawa writer and blogger Brendan McNally was good enough to do a short write-up on the Chaudiere Books re-launch and tomorrow's book launch at The Manx Pub over at Ottawa Tonite. Thanks, Brendan! Here's hoping we see as many of you as possible at tomorrow's event!

Anita Dolman at The TREE Reading Series, December 10, 2013

Ottawa poet, editor and fiction writer Anita Dolman reads at The TREE Reading Series on December 10, 2013 alongside Peter Richardson and Mike Caesar as part of the "local lights" feature. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies (see her bio on the TREE website here), including The Peter F. Yacht Club, Decalogue: Ten Ottawa Poets (Chaudiere Books, 2006) and as an above/ground press chapbook. above/ground press also published her translation of Two Dutch Poets in March 2013. See her "12 or 20 questions" interview here. Her essay, "A little less inspiration, please," was posted as the first in the "On Writing" series on the ottawa poetry newsletter.

Sharon Harris interview on CHUO-FM89 this Wednesday at 5pm;

Tune in to Click here Wednesday at 5 pm, on CHUO-FM89 for an interview with Toronto poet Sharon Harris, reading alongside Ottawa poets Marilyn Irwin and Stephen Brockwell at Saturday's launch of Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013 (Chaudiere Books) at The Manx Pub, 5pm.

Click here is a one-hour interview-based program broadcast on CHUO-FM89 (and at www.chuo.fm) Wednesdays at 5 p.m. It deals with the arts, socio-political issues and community events.

NEW! Listen to archived editions of the show. Click on "CHUO On Demand": http://chuo.fm/show/click-here

Follow Click here on Twitter: @clickhereradio

Tuesday poem #34 : Joe Blades

Chaudiere Books author Joe Blades has a new poem, "where is tomorrow's wine?," now posted on the dusie blog as part of the "Tuesday poem" series.

Gillian Wigmore on John Newlove

Prince George, British Columbia poet Gillian Wigmore discusses the work of the late Canadian poet (and Chaudiere Books author) John Newlove, and her recent Newlove-inspired tattoo [pictured] in the 8th issue of seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics.

Pearl Pirie interviewed by Liana Vioa

A new interview with Ottawa poet, editor and blogger Pearl Pirie, conducted by Liana Vioa, is now online.

book launch! Ground rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013

Produced to begin the re-launch of Ottawa literary publisher Chaudiere Books, co-publishers rob mclennan and Christine McNair invite you to the launch of Ground Rules: the best of the second decade of above/ground press 2003-2013.

Co-sponsored by our friends at the Ottawa International Writers Festival and The Manx Pub, the event will feature readings by three of the book’s contributors: Sharon Harris (Toronto), Marilyn Irwin (Ottawa) and Stephen Brockwell (Ottawa). The event will be (lovingly) hosted by Chaudiere Books co-founder, editor and co-publisher rob mclennan.

5pm, Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Manx Pub

370 Elgin Street, Ottawa

Sharon Harris [pictured] is a Toronto artist/writer whose poems have been anthologized in The Broadview Introduction to Literature, The Last Vispo, and Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry. She is the author of chapbooks from bookthug, In Case of Emergency Press, and above/ground, and her first full-length collection, Avatar, was published by The Mercury Press. She has written articles for Geist, The Globe & Mail, and Open Book Toronto;  is a past contributor to Torontoist and Word Magazine; and her work has been published in The National Post, dANDelion, The Capilano Review, Drunken Boat, The Volta, broken pencil, and Vallum. I Love You Toronto, her exhibition of photographs, appeared in newspapers, magazines, and on radio and television across Canada.

Marilyn Irwin’s work has been published by above/ground press, Arc, Bywords, and New American Writing. A graduate of Algonquin College’s Creative Writing program, she has three chapbooks: for when you pick daisies (2010), flicker (2012), and little nothings (2012). She won Arc Poetry Magazine’s Diana Brebner Prize this year.

Stephen Brockwell cut his writing teeth in the eighties in Montreal, appearing on French and English CBC Radio and in the anthologies Cross/cut: Contemporary English Quebec Poetry and The Insecurity of Art (both VéhiculePress, 1982). George Woodcock described Brockwell's first book, The Wire in Fences (Balmuir, 1987) as having an extraordinary range of empathies and perceptions. Harold Bloom wrote that Brockwell's second book, Cometology (ECW Press, 2001), held rare and authentic promise. Fruitfly Geographic won the Archibald Lampman award for best book of poetry in Ottawa in 2005. His Complete Surprising Fragments of Improbable Books is newly out from Mansfield Press. Brockwell currently operates a small IT consulting company from the 7th floor of the Chateau Laurier and lives in a house perpetually under construction.

Working out of Ottawa, poet and publisher rob mclennan’s baby, above/ground press, marks a second decade of the production of broadsheets, chapbooks, magazines, and anthologies that trace out the best shapes of the best of contemporary Canadian (and, increasingly, international) poetry. From the span of that second ten of years, he has compiled this book of traceries: a selection of work by writers ranging from the likes of the late Artie Gold, and Robert Kroetsch, to the living derek beaulieu, Rachel Zolf, Eric Folsom, Natalie Simpson, etc., all collected here as representative of a decade’s aesthetic count.

                        from Gil McElroy’s “Introduction: An Integral”

Edited by rob mclennan, with an introduction by Gil McElroy, Ground Rules features writing from the second decade of one of the most active micro publishers in Canada, selected from a series of hundreds of publications lovingly edited, produced and distributed by editor/publisher rob mclennan. A follow-up to Groundswell: best of above/ground press, 1993-2003 (Broken Jaw Press, 2003), Ground Rules includes a wide range of work by Artie Gold, Mark Cochrane, Suzanne Zelazo, derek beaulieu, Stephanie Bolster, Amanda Earl, Nathanaël, Lisa Samuels, Rachel Zolf, Sharon Harris, D. G. Jones, Julia Williams, Eric Folsom, Gregory Betts, Natalie Simpson, Aaron Tucker, Monty Reid, William Hawkins, Emily Carr, Cameron Anstee, Helen Hajnoczky, Marilyn Irwin, Stephen Brockwell, Robert Kroetsch and rob mclennan.

Copies of the book will be available at the event. See the OIWF link to the event here.

Paying Attention: Poetry and Spirituality : a workshop by Anne Le Dressay

Chaudiere Books author Anne Le Dressay will be teaching a workshop on Poetry and Spirituality through the new SpiritArt program sponsored by the Anglican church. The workshop takes place at All Saints Sandy Hill, 317 Chapel Street, Ottawa on Saturday, November 16, from 9:30 to 12:30. Here's the description:

Paying Attention: Poetry and Spirituality
Poetry is a close relative of prayer and mystical writing. It is a tool for self-knowledge and for connection to the world and its maker. Explore its possibilities  by reading, hearing, meditating upon and especially writing poetry. We will use some of the psalms in Leonard Cohen’s Book of Mercy as well as other poems as a framework for this workshop. If you have a favourite short poem (on any topic), please bring it along.

For more information: http://www.spiritartprogram.ca