an upcoming zoom launch, the ottawa small press book fair, the above/ground press anniversary party + other author (etc) updates,

, in which we discuss many things across these next few weeks,

Check out the above/ground press ZOOM launch we’re doing on Wednesday, May 28, 7pm EDT, with myself reading alongside Orchid Tierney (OH), Meredith Quartermain (BC), Brook Houglum (BC), Sandra Doller (NY) and Tom Jenks (UK), all of whom have recent above/ground press titles. Click here to join the event. I’m also reading in Ottawa on June 1, 2pm with Christine McNair and Amanda Earl at The Lieutenant’s Pump, 361 Elgin Street, most likely from unpublished work, including a short story and a handful of poems. I’ve been working on all sorts of things lately that you probably don’t know about. Secret, exciting things. (probably).

I’ll also be tabling at the Made in Alta Vista Market in Ottawa on Thursday, May 29 at the Jim Tubman Chevrolet Rink, 2185 Arch Street (outside the Canterbury Recreation Complex), from 4-8pm, sitting a table attempting to sell copies of various of my books and chapbooks; you should totally show up. And the ottawa small press book fair will be held in our usual (new) location at Tom Brown Arena on Saturday, June 21; the fair will be thirty-one years old this fall, if you can imagine. Can you imagine that? If you’ve never been to our small press fair, I usually bring three tables’ worth of above/ground press titles, from various frontlist to a random assortment of backlist, so even if you’ve been a subscriber for years, there will certainly be titles out you haven’t seen before. And we’re doing our usual pre-fair reading the night prior at Anina’s Café in Vanier, with readings by Pearl Pirie (QC), MA|DE (Jade Wallace and Mark Laliberte, Windsor ON), Manahil Bandukwala (Ottawa), James K. Moran (Ottawa) and Mahaila Smith (Ottawa), also.

Otherwise: Misha Solomon is interviewed over at Touch the Donkey, as is Jordan Davis; Melissa Eleftherion has new work up at Moira, and a reading online as part of DMQ Virtual Salon; J.R. Carpenter has been collaborating with Mary Paterson; Kate Siklosi is third in the Canadian Poets Series over at Peripity and/or Tronies; Elizabeth Robinson has a poem up at Verse Daily; Maxwell Gontarek has new work up at Pamenar Press online; Stephen Cain is featured via the Book*hug Press website for National Poetry Month; Gary Barwin now has a substack; Gary Barwin and Lillian Nećakov have some work from a new collaborative project via the “Tuesday poem” series; Stephen Collis is interviewed via the Simon Fraser University website; Rae Armantrout has some new work up at Granta, as well as at The Best American Poetry blog, and she also discusses two poems from her latest collection with Al Fireis, Julia Bloch and forthcoming author Laynie Browne as part of the podcast PoemTalk #207 at Jacket2; Amanda Earl has a new essay up at The Typescript; Genevieve Kaplan has new work up at Word for Word; forthcoming author Jon Cone has some new work up at Ant5; forthcoming author Ellen Chang-Richardson answers the ‘12 or 20 questions’ interview; Mahaila Smith also answers the ‘12 or 20 questions’; forthcoming author Terri Witek is featured via the Spotlight Series; Jessi MacEachern answers four questions via video for Erín Moure; and the video of Ryan Skrabalak’s reading for Woolsey Heights, alongside Cecily Nicholson, Ted Rees and Joni Flint Gonzales is now online. Oh, and I was interviewed by JWT BookAdventures.

And the postal increase sale is only on for another few weeks (although I’m also totally willing to backdate a 2025 subscription, if that appeals (I’ve had two new subscriptions over the past few days); arguably the best poetry chapbook deal in human history)! There are some really good deals there; get a handful of poetry chapbooks (some prose, also) or let me fill a whole box! And don’t forget to save the date for August 7 at RedBird Live in Old Ottawa South, where we’re holding the thirty-second anniversary reading/launch/party for above/ground press. Some of the poets already confirmed to read, each launching a new/recent chapbook, include Monty Reid (Ottawa), Jason Christie (Ottawa), Ellen Chang-Richardson (Ottawa), Beatriz Hausner (Toronto), Lina Ramona Vitkauskas (Toronto) and Mandy Sandhu (Toronto) (and possibly one or two others, not sure yet)! Tickets will be available soon!