Sep 10
1
Some Ink for Patternicity
Jim Johnstone
Jim Johnstone‘s Patternicity has been criminally underrated so far, but at least it received a review in Quill & Quire‘s Fall Preview by Newfoundland poet and Breathing Fire 2 alumnus Mark Callanan (rumour has it that his follow-up to Scarecrow is in the works with Signal).
Callanan does a great job with little space in conveying Jim’s language and content to illustrate “meaningful patterns in meaningless noise,” and “an unlikely marriage of faith and science.”: “Patternicity transforms the mundane into the otherworldly … it’s a compelling system of thought.”
Carmine Starnino also wrote of the book: “I love Patternicity for it dirty noises. … Jim Johnstone’s forms are shapely, but feral. His music is beautifully rational, complex and charismatic.”
Reviews by .
Aug 10
31
Red Nest Shortlisted for ReLit
Gillian Jerome‘s debut poetry collection Red Nest has been shortlisted for the national ReLit Award for Poetry, with six other titles. The winner of the award will be announced at the 10th Annual ReLit Awards Party, October 20th at the Opening Night Event of the Ottawa International Writers Festival. The ReLit, founded in 2000 as “an alternative to the big-money prizes,” is recognized by the Globe and Mail as “the country’s pre-eminent literary prize recognizing independent presses.” Red Nest was also shortlisted earlier this year for the Dorothy Livesay BC Book Prize.
Congratulations and good luck to Gillian!
Nominations & Awards by .
Aug 10
30
Nightwood in Transit
Joe Denham
Poets Joe Denham and Laisha Rosnau will both be featured in the Association of Book Publishers of BC’s Poetry in Transit project. In partnership with TransLink and BC Transit, the ABPBC produces sixteen poetry cards annually featuring the work of BC-authored and Canadian-published poets. The cards are displayed on buses and SkyTrains throughout the transit systems in BC. The Denham excerpt is from the “South of Black Point, Southeast Wind Screaming” section of his book-length poem Windstorm, published by Nightwood in 2009. And we hope the poetry card installers will take sufficient note to place the excerpt of Rosnau’s poem on the infamous Hastings route. “He Was the Number 14″ appeared in her most recent collection Lousy Explorers, also published in 2009.
Nominations & Awards by .
Nightwood novelist Andrew Binks appeared on the program “In Town and Out” on CBC Radio Ottawa (91.5) August 28 to speak about his Nightwood novel The Summer Between, praised as “a wonderful fictional debut” by Jim Bartley in Xtra and “a shimmering debut” by Shelagh Rogers. After the interview airs, it will be posted at the “In Town and Out” page as a CBC podcast. You can also keep up with Andrew at his website and his blog.
Also in Ottawa and also that day, Andrew read from his novel at the Rideau St. Chapters. His future reading schedule includes a gig in Kingston at Queen’s Campus Bookstore, October 2.
Readings & Events by .
Aug 10
24
Rita Wong at the Tar Sands
Nightwood author Rita Wong takes us on an illuminating and redemptive “healing walk around the tar sands dead zone” at rabble.ca. Rita’s report and walk follow up on the informed, electric and sharp political commentary of her Nightwood poetry collection Forage, the winner of the 2007 Dorothy Livesay BC Book Prize for Poetry.
“Her questioning truthfulness demonstrates that Wong is a significant poet.”
—George Elliott Clarke, Halifax Sunday Herald
Other Author News by .
Aug 10
22
Nominations Update! (George Ryga)
Elizabeth Bachinsky
AUGUST 2010: God of Missed Connections by Elizabeth Bachinsky has been nominated for the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature.
Joining Gillian Jerome and Red Nest’s previously announced nomination for the Dorothy Livesay BC Book Prize for best book of poetry in the province (won by Fred Wah), Elizabeth Bachinsky and Laisha Rosnau were shortlisted for the national Pat Lowther Award for their respective titles God of Missed Connections and Lousy Explorers . Bachinsky’s book was also a finalist for the $25,000 Kobzar Award.
Nominations & Awards by .
Aug 10
13
Launches Coast to Coast
Ray Hsu
Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon, the follow-up to Ray Hsu’s award-winning first collection, Anthropy, has been launched in Toronto. Rumour has it that Ray’s endeavour to start an alternative economy through a “launchswap,” accepting barters for books, netted him a real-life bird cage to go with his book cover. Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon was also launched in Vancouver along with the latest issue of Ricepaper Magazine, at the Rhizome Café on August 19.
Patternicity by Jim Johnstone and Other Poems by Jay MillAr were launched at the Piston in Toronto at an event dubbed “Pattern Recognition: A Night[wood] of Poetry.” (Thanks to BookThug Jenny Sampirisi for all her help on this one!)
Finally, Triny Finlay launched her second collection of poetry, Histories Haunt Us, in Fredericton. And she SOLD OUT of books! We do have more, readily orderable online through Harbour Publishing.
Readings & Events by .
Aug 10
7
Triny on the Radio
Poet Triny Finlay appeared on John Cunningham’s Speaking of Poets on August 8, 4:30 Manitoba time (2:30 PST, 5:30 EST) to talk about her new collection, Histories Haunt Us.
Readings & Events by .
Apr 10
1
Spring 2010!
Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon is the follow-up to Ray Hsu’s award-winning first collection, Anthropy, and the second book in a prospective trilogy that explores the “grammar of personhood.”
Jay MillAr is a Toronto poet, editor, publisher and virtual bookseller. His new book Other Poems, resists classification.
Patternicity by Jim Johnstone contains a suite of poems that won a 2008 CBC Literary Award.
In Triny Finlay’s second collection of poetry, Histories Haunt Us, she asks what it means to let in the ghosts of the past.
New Releases by .
Mar 10
20
The Summer Between Praised by Xtra
Read a recent review of The Summer Between by Nightwood’s debut novelist, Andrew Binks, which appeared in Xtra.
Reviewer Jim Bartley writes: “There are no lapses worth mentioning in this deftly structured and perfectly inflected story…. We watch him revel in love’s beginning and absorb the knowledge of its inevitable change. What a wonderful fictional debut.” Binks has read from his book to the likes of the Kingston Writers’ Fest, at the Proud Voices Stage during Toronto Pride, Joyland at Stealth Lounge, the Prince Edward County Authors’ Festival, and the Robson Reading Series in Vancouver.
Reviews by .
