Jean Baird's Annual report on Al Purdy A-frame writer-in-residence

 From Jean Baird's email report:

March 11, 2025 ANNUAL REPORT & FOUNDATION UPDATE Dear A-framers: What if Canadians started buying Canadian books with the same gusto that they are buying Canadian alcohol? This isn't my idea, but it sure is worth repeating and thinking about. We see the Arts under siege in the United States of America. In a recent Special to the Globe and Mail, Gil Garratt, artistic  director of the Blyth Festival writes: "Canadians are booing the American anthem at rinks; bars and restaurants are changing their taps and wine menus; stores are ripping American products from shelves; politicians are plotting the pinch points of import and export. “Buy Canadian!” we holler. And  in our stores, we see neat labels – “Made in Canada,” “Product of Canada,” “Canadian Made” – to make it easier to stand in the  aisle and make a sober choice. "But what about in our culture? I mean, you wanna talk about trade deficits? "In 2022, Hill Strategies pegged the U.S.-Canada cultural trade deficit at around $7.3-billion in favour of the United States, a gap that has existed for decades. As a culture worker for the past 30 years, I have watched a relentless flood of American culture spill into Canada. And make no mistake. Culture is one of America’s most lucrative exports." In difficult times we need the arts more than ever. The 2024 Annual Report is now up. You can read it at this link, and see what is happing with the Foundation project: https://www.alpurdy.ca/a-frame-annual-reports/           As well as providing the A-frame with a new foundation and basement, thereby doubling our space and our residency season, the project has resulted in a new driveway and we were also able to remove the remnants of the old garage that burnt down many years ago. Here's Al examining the remains For the basement to be usable it needs to be finished. We have a wonderful opportunity from a highly skilled contractor. He has offered to arrive in April to do the work in-kind, we only need to pay for materials. It would be so exciting to get the basement finished before the residency program opens in May. Please help us get that basement finished. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/al-purdy-a-frame-association/

Copyright © 2025 Al Purdy A-frame Association, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have supported the Al Purdy A-frame Association. Our mailing address is: Al Purdy A-frame Association 401--4542 West 10th Ave., Vancouver, BC V6R 2J1 Canada Add us to your address book

Full Moon in Late Winter/First Time: Katherine L. Gordon

 

Full Moon in Late Winter

Like a communion wafer

perfectly round and subtly silver.

I swallow it for transubstantiation.

It is inside my spirit

I am inside its ancient magic

for a transient moment

a piece of immortality,

the sun embraces me

through this deceptive reflection,

transmitted light

I am too frail to seize,

but I carry this moon sphere

into an undiscovered mystery,

a stream of shimmering dreams.

First Time

The first time I heard rattling

on the tin roof of a farm attic

I understood rain:

that tidal tattoo scattering

the clouds of my mind

into a million pilgrim orbs.

Water to awaken, nourish,

explore, imprint.

I became a wildflower.

Katherine L. Gordon

from Awareness Poems

SureWay Press, 2024

Autumn Ducks, Late October: James Deahl

For Raymond Souster

January 15, 1921 - October 19, 2012


Another autumn, and mallards
blanket these secluded waters
of Chipican, sheltered from
the sharp gusts off Lake Huron.

They arrived from up north on their
journey to the Gulf of Mexico.
In afternoon’s sun they bob
on water surrounded by the gold

and burnt red of maples,
the yellows of locusts touched by frost.
All our flowers are finished,
even the brave asters have folded.

You have been gone six years, Ray,
and every year at migration time
your spirit comes on autumn’s wind
with the mallards on their way south.

Ducks tarry on Chipicon, safe
before whisking away as winter
advances with its teeth of ice;
they sanctify each year since you were here.

from Awareness Poems

Katherine L. Gordon and James Deahl

SureWay Press, 2024

New Book:"Later Findings" by Allan Briesmaster

A decade or two ago Allan and Steven Michael Berensky (RIP) edited the seminal anthology Crossing Lines: Poets Who Came to Canada in the Vietnam War Era.

Dear Friends,

 

I'm excited to be able to tell you that my copies of Later Findings, from Ekstasis Editions, were delivered yesterday.

 

Because many of you said good things about my previous book, Windfor, I'm hopeful this new one will be equally well received, even though there are differences in tone and subject matter.

 

Let me know if you are interested in getting a signed copy at the reduced price of $20. I'd like very much for you to have one.

 

All the best,

Allan

p.s. pls add $5 for postage

from the book:

That Lyrical Light

Sunlight at noon and midafternoon
Is prose. Only when slanting low
does the daystar bestow
cadence and song on changed air
for eyes that widen:

               making winter woods a slow
pageant of stripes of trunks -
their long blue shadows drawn
across that lavender coverlet,
the fadingly-lit, crusted snow;

              filling luminiscent cups
of purple and yellow crocuses
close to cold ground with overflow colour
soon after April dawn or toward
a tender palette of sundown;

              yellowing the wavy green
in summer leaves wind-shimmered
along the treetop crests that sigh
at coming twilight just before
full shade engulfs them;

             striking, once fog dissolves
from a late-September north lake,
the fringes of maple ruddy with
a year’s lost warmth. Down-glittering
on puffs of air to frosted grass.

Tansience and brevity gain
such lovely strange dilations,
that must forerun the all -
too-common dominance by
broad day and starless night.

Caution: Deep Water - a poetic book review

the free spirit must not be caged

for Katherine L. Gordon (on reading her Caution: Deep Water)



Dear Katherine,

this may be your best book yet
your most important story
the imprisoning of a shaman spirit
in a 'progressive' Canadian retirement home

your saddest book, too
it's all here - readers will
feel your loss of the spirit visitors
the ferny spreadings and season
changes in your Spirit Valley

A too true cautionary tale
first word in your title
CAUTION!
Caution: Deep Water

I, too, left my spirit valley
retreated to a small village lot
but your wisdom decrees
when the retirement home beckons

CAUTION!!!!!
swim - swim far, far out
into Lake Ontario
this body will sink
but the spirit owl shaman
who invaded me long ago

will rise and fly
deep water is not the realm
for free spirits

Chris

Marvin Orbach in Biblioheaven

This is great reading! :)

I'd like to think that he made it to biblioheaven and can enjoy beautiful words without all the interruptions of mundane life.

Thanks once again,
Ariella (& Gaby - we read and enjoyed this blog post together)

---
Ariella Orbach | MSc (MSPL)


                     ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
RIP Marvin Orbach
June 13, 1940 - February 8, 2015




photo of Marvin Orbach by Andrew Dobrowolskj


great Al Purdy anecdote by Marvin Orbach

from an earlier blog posting of emails between Marvin and Chris


On 2012-07-12, at 2:07 PM, marvin orbach wrote:

Namaste Chris,
   I hope your Milton Acorn event went well, and that  you
accomplished everything you set out to do.  You must have had some
interesting poets reading  Milt's poems.
 
 Thank you very much for  sending the pictures of your hideaway.
It looks like a real paradise. You are very lucky to have  such a
place.   Do you have a special spot for meditation, somewhere in the
woods next to a stream?

    And thank you for sending me Katherine Gordon's  endearing new
poems. They were a pleasure to read.  According to my records, she
sent me some  items in the year 2004. Her material in my collection
consists of : booklets of poetry, correspondence,  photographs, and
holograph and typescript  copies of several of her poems.

    Many years ago I corresponded very briefly with Alden Nowlan.
It was a shock to find out that he passed away at such a young age.
Think of all the great poems he could have written, had he lived to an
old age.

    I am delighted that you like my neologism, Biblioheaven.
Somehow I believe that after I pass into the other world,  I will be
sitting on my favourite armchair, on top of a big white, fluffy cloud,
reading Leonard Cohen's poems until the end of time.

    I would be pleased   to  add some of your manuscripts to my
archival collection. Perhaps one day  a western Canadian scholar will
be your biographer.  I am surprised   that  Ontario universities
haven't  come running after  you, asking for your papers.  Oh well!!
The University of Calgary Library has the papers of many prominent
authors from across the country.  It is an ideal location for your
mss.

   It is great that you and your frienda are actively engaged in
preserving our country's literary heritage.  Blessings upon you.   As
for me, I have always been  a bit of an archivist at heart.  While a
student at McGill, I did take a course in archives.
*
  Al Purdy,  one of our great People's Poets,    many years ago
spent the winter months at Loyola, as writer in residence.  This is
where I worked for many years.  I thought a little anecdote about
Purdy would be of interest to you.  Al Purdy was in the habit of
bringing   beer into the classroom.  He would throw the empty beer
cans out  of the window, and they would tumble down into the snow.
Come spring, after  the snow had melted,  a  pile of beer cans was
clearly visible on the grass next to the classroom where Purdy had
held court.  A fitting tribute to one of our great poets.  Purdy was
always  very kind,  and passed on to me several nicely inscribed
volumes of his poetry.

    I hope your return home is without incident.
    Namaste.   Peace.
    Regards to Chase.   Woof woof.
    Marvin, in a sunny and warm Montreal.

                                  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

July 23/12

Hi Marvin,
Back from a very successful & enjoyable visit to Toronto. The Acorn launch at the Parliament Street Library went very well. Our little 'poetry fellowship' gang managed another full room for the event - same as we did with the Runnymede Library Tribute to Raymond Souster last November.

I also attended TO poet Julie McNeil's 20th annual poetry soiree. She's a great hostess, & I knew just about everyone there. It was esp. nice to see two longtime supporters of Canadian poetry there - Don Cullen and Maria Jacobs - both must be up there in the 70s somewhere now.

Love your anecdote about Big Al. Think I'll post it on my blog ... trust this is OK - too great a story not to share!  :  )

I'm in the final stages of organizing PurdyFest #6 - this year we're naming it AcornFest in honour of Milton Acorn. At the Parliament St. gig I hooked up with some old comrades & friends, & Joyce Wayne, from Steel Rail Publishing days, now plans to present a paper on Milt at the Symposium.

I'm planning to mail you the manuscript for my 1986 book, FOOT THROUGH THE CEILING. I received the inaugural Milton Acorn People's Poet medallion for it in 1987.

There are some interesting and even quirky things about the mss and its development. I'm taking a quick poke thru the mss now, to see what might merit mention.

I had 3 poet friends help me select the poems for inclusion, & in that methodical way we librarians like to do things, I drew up a graph and had the 3 friends rate the proposed poems from 1 to 5. Two of the selectors are long gone - both sad situations, dead well before their times & before either achieved the literary reps they deserve. Jones (Daniel) was one selector, and another was Shaunt Basmajian. I published chapbooks by both of them with my Unfinished Monument Press. I believe the third selector was James Deahl, but it might have been Carol Malyon? That page is a photocopy (the rest are the original typings), and the dogeared photocopy has blanked out the name of the first selector ... argggh.

Another interesting footnote is that I originally dated the poems, but the publisher/editor, Bev Daurio, thought that this detracted from the collection. So in the book the dates, or "circa dates", weren't included. I think Bev's decision was right, but it might make for an interesting study if anyone ever does decide to do a paper on me and my poetry (!!!)

The mss is in amazingly clean, basically pristine condition. I'm surprised at how neat my typing was on my old Selectric typewriter.

Plan to put it in the mail today or tomorrow. Will dig around & see what else to include.

Hope we can stimulate other poets to donate as well.

namaste,
peace & poetry power!
Chris  & Chase ... Wrffffffffffffffffffffffffffff!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Further inclusions today:

before I forget ... the chapbooks

DOMINION DAY IN JAIL (Chris Faiers)
WHITE RASTA IN WINTERTIME (Chris Faiers)

very rare copy (signed by all)
THE UNFINISHED ANTHOLOGY Vol 1
I didn't know I had any of these - found 2 or 3, and mailed you one

of the 6 poets, 3 died decades ago (David Reid, AIDS; Margaret Saunders, just got old; Shaunt Basmajian, heart attack after being stabbed while driving hack)

Thanks, Marvin, for encouraging me to donate to the Univ. of Calgary archives. While rummaging for a few more things to include with the mss mailout today of
FOOT THROUGH THE CEILING I found these. The signed (by all 6) copy of THE UNFINISHED ANTHOLOGY is a
very unique & special rarity & keepsake. Had no memory of them even existing.

peace & poetry power!
Namaste,
Chris ... and a heatstruck Chase ... wffffffffffffffffffff

literary celebrity and Milton Acorn

Hi Chris,

I've been reading Joel Deshaye's The Metaphor of Celebrity recently (a great book, but with significant problems) - and noted Deshaye's inclusion of MacEwen as one of his subjects (instead of Acorn.) I talked to an academic who specializes in literary celebrity about the matter, and they shared that Acorn, to them, is a special case in terms of literary celebrity: a form of "alt-celebrity" amongst writers and readers who resist traditional modes and infrastructures of celebrity. That comment made me really happy, because I think it's accurate.

S

Hi S,
Thanks for the note about THE METAPHOR OF CELEBRITY & Milt's omission. First I've heard of the book, or the topic of celebrity as a matter for academic study. For most writers, & esp. poets who were contemporaries of Milt & Gwendolyn, I'd have to think that Milt was by far the bigger celebrity, the bigger "name". There's a quote by me in Chris Gudgeon's bio of Milt, OUT OF THIS WORLD, how for a brief & shining period Milt had almost rock star status on the university reading circuit.

I shepherded Milt to one of these gigs at Western, & he filled a large hall with VERY enthusiastic students. When we had featured him at the Univ. of Guelph through our CLM Club, we booked far too small a venue - guess it was just a classroom - & it quickly filled to overflowing long before the reading started. Our underestimation of Milt's popularity was possibly a bonus, as it's better to have too large a crowd in too small a space than vice versa. Milt was in fine form both evenings, & he got well deserved rock star standing ovations & encores!

Milt was very charismatic in person. When he briefly lived with me at my very modest house in east end Toronto (185 Rhodes Avenue - Milt's standing joke was we were "Rhodes scholars") my blue collar neighbours immediately recognized this was someone great, unique, & that Milt wasn't your typical person. Complete strangers would give him the honourary title of Doctor, without guessing that it was the truth  ;  )

I only met Gwen once, at a meeting at the Bloor Street United Church where we were holding one of our first meetings for the Canadian Poetry Association. A meek & mild elderly lady was awkwardly standing by the coffee maker. When I caught her profile, I recognized her as Gwendolyn MacEwen, which she shyly admitted. Zero charisma. Maybe nice for so respected a poet to be so unassuming & unpretentious, but sadly there was nothing of Milt's inherent charisma about Gwen, at least at that time in her life.

Thinking of celebrity & Canadian poetry, there really isn't any sort of celebrity cult currently associated with CanPo. Not sure if this is good, bad or irrelevant  ;  ) I can't think of one outstanding poet, one living Canadian poet whose name would be be recognized by the general public, or even in academia. James Deahl refers to Milt & his cohorts as 'the great generation', & I have to agree. Whether it's the times, or a general mediocrity among the poets, or maybe just too many semi-talented poets, there is no longer a towering acorn tree for all to aspire to.

When I think of my personal list of favourite writers & poets, almost all of them would fit the category of alternative writers, outsiders, outliers. I'm thinking Basho in his hut & wandering the dusty roads of Japan, Kerouac blazing trails through the North Amerikan zeitgeist, lonely George Orwell in Burma, or Lawrence in Taos anticipating modern poetics. I'll add Thoreau living in his cabin by Walden, and Uncle Ho writing his haikuish prison diaries. Not a main stream celeb among them ...

The most charismatic living CanPoet in my humble opinion is Jim Christy. The dude has charisma & talent flowing off him, the same electric awareness which was instantly recognizable snapping around Acorn. Jim's pretty much an iconoclast, tho, as much as he is an icon. He should be in your neck of the woods this spring, as he's won a spot building one of his installations in the Elora Sculpture Garden. You should look each other up when he's there.

Good to hear from you, S. Thanks for keeping the flame burning for Uncle Milty  ;  )

peace & poetry power!
Chris ... & Chase Wrfffffffffffffzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz   (still accompanying me on our winter hikes, but sadly likely his last winter - hope he gets to enjoy another ZenRiver spring & summer)

Hand Painted on a Cave Wall: S. J. White

It is the hand chosen
for its aim with spear
its skill with flint
its touch with feather
and said of the father
of all our fathers:
after our lost and gone
under an old moon
in a morrow's time
this will be our sign,
       and they
not seeing, not knowing
will say of us ... why?


S. J. White

from Oddities: A Swansong of Late Poetry, S. J. White, chapbook, 2014


                ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hi Stan,
Many thanks for your ODDITIES collection. I retrieved it from under a stack
of unanswered letters & unpaid bills & took it with me to enjoy at ZenRiver
Gardens this aft. This is the 'shaman shack' test - and of course your poems
passed with flying colours. (The books which don't get flying colour status
go flying anyway -  into the middle of the Upper Moira River.)

I've found your poetry very reflexive, at least on my part. It sticks with
me for ages, until I finally get it & then I can't get the images out of my
head  ;  ) The several poems you wrote about visiting ZRG still resonate
with me, many years later. I'm sure these newer poems will do the same!

My favourites on this initial delving include "Local Mall", "A Girl Thing",
and "Hand, Painted on a Cave Wall".

Thanks again for sending this - many more enjoyable times with it
anticipated on the shaman shack deck this fall.

peace & poetry power!
Chris ... & Chase   Wrfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff!

                               . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for the many kind words, Chris. I am glad you are enjoying the book,
though had the poems not passed muster, I would have been happy at the
thought of them floating down the upper Moira river and clogging up water
systems...rare that poetry has a practical use.

Regards to Chase, stay well,

Stan.

                 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~



On 2014-09-08, at 9:29 AM, Don Gordon wrote:

You have caught our moment in time however elusive that is,
seasonal nostalgia, ghost of all our appearances on the autumn stage.
The hand most poignantly speaks to me of cave rock mysteries.

Katherine L. Gordon, in the Eramosa valley where spirits of first walkers
to this river remain



                ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                    

Tribute Launch for Ray Souster Jan. 15th

QB Launch: "Under the Mulberry Tree: Poems for & about Raymond Souster" When: Wed, January 15, 7pm – 9pm Where: Tequila Bookworm, Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada (map) Please join editor James Deahl, consulting editor Allan Briesmaster, and a dozen of the 35 contributing poets for the launch of "Under the Mulberry Tree: Poems for & about Raymond Souster", from Quattro Books . Under the Mulberry Tree is an anthology of poems paying affectionate and admiring tribute to one of the most important figures in Canadian poetry in the second half of the 20th Century. Raymond Souster (1921-2012) was a groundbreaking poet of wide-ranging influence who distinguished himself like no one else, as an editor, publisher, readings organizer, and mentor. The poets contributing to this anthology include some who knew Souster personally and others from younger generations who are extending the tradition of modernist “People’s Poetry” in a Sousterian spirit.                                        ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  The shy man was absent (Raymond Souster Tribute, Nov. 22, 2011) The shy man was absent from his own poetry tribute sixty plus of us crammed the second floor of Runnymede Library the shy man's bookish retreat for most of his 90 years The shy man's imprint was Contact (irony universal in poetry's ascent) he made contact with poetry readings poetry magazines and poetry organizations poetry of the best, by the best but poetry for everyone The shy man slipped his teller's cage miraculously to birth, with a few close friends the modern age of Canadian poetry A bank teller, for God's sake who never swore, womanized stole a dime, overwrote a line Will he even show up for his own funeral? will we file past an empty casket the shy man busy elsewhere, composing perhaps When the shy man passes to join his legion of friends in the Canuck poetry pantheon we earthbound ones will need a statue or two to fix his shy spirit a place beside bronze Al in Queen's Park? (Al shy? - all poets are shy) or comfortable yards apart from an even shyer genius Glen on his permanent bench outside CBC quarters? until the time of bust in bronze poet after poet visits Ray in a nursing home just around Runnymede's comfortable corner  But tonight the shy man's legacy connects a tribal gathering of poets his tribute        not one empty chair Chris Faiers                           ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~  ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~  Jan.9, 2014 Hi James, Your wonderful tribute to Ray arrived yesterday. I picked it up last night on my way over to watch bad TV with Chase at Morley's. Heartfelt content - every damn poem! - beautifully produced - great intro which gives the scope of Ray's contributions to CanPo. What an honour to be in the company of such great poets - it's a Who's Who of CanPo. I was bragging to Morley about how many of our co-contributors are GG winners. Morley asked if that was as high an honour as receiving the Order of Canada. I explained there are dozens of OofCs awarded every year, but only ONE GG for poetry. Morley was suitably impressed  :  ) As with the Milt issue of THE AMBASSADOR, every one of your projects hits a new high. It's hard to encapsulate everything you've done for People's Poetry, Milt, & CanPo in general over the decades. I told Terry during our marathon 'chat' this week that even tho the Cuban censors, or Tai, or God knows who omitted Terry's piece on Milt & Che, well, this just adds some major spice to the stew (to hopelessly garble metaphors) of your many projects. My mechanic told me on Tuesday that the Sube should last a while longer after about $1K in repairs. So good news all around, except the mechanic won't be able to round up the parts for the major work on the Sube's suspension until next week, so my participation has become even more highly unlikely for the launch of MULBERRY TREE    : (  :  ( I'm also looking forward to the spring release of Terry's new book on People's Poetry. Our tribe (Fellowship of the Acorn?) is sure doing a lot of moving & grooving on the CanPo scene these days. And People's Poetry festivals are springing up everywhere like dandelions (yeah, but we did it first 8 years ago!). Mucho thanks & congrats again, James! peace & poetry power! Chris ...  & Chase Wrffffffffffffffffffffffffff!                      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LESSONS FROM 2014: Stuart Ross

LESSONS FROM 2014

For your information, when
you eat things they go into you.
I learned this last year.
This year, however,
I cannot write a poem. I just
can’t do it. My dog skids
around on the ice outside,
I’m bleeding the radiator
with fifty leeches, seismologists
curl at the foot of my bed,
episodes of F Troop are shot
in my living room, guppies
do tricks in the depths
of my teacup, plus:

confusion is the basic unit
of all living organisms. It has
been dubbed the building block
of life. A single confusion
divides to produce two daughter
confusions. Let’s pack a lunch,
pile into the station wagon
and sit in the driveway.

In closing, then:
Blank sheets of paper
scribble poems on me.
A lamp throws a shadow
into the wastebasket.
The radiance of the night
is just about endless.

 


Stuart Ross
Wednesday, January 1, 2014

counting coup in CanPo/what constitutes self-publishing?

On 2013-07-09, at 9:30 AM:

Chris, could you send me a recent bibliography of books? Maybe the last four? I will need publishers and dates. Nothing self-published.Need it for the CC report. Thanks! -UP


Hi UP,
Here's a list of my publishing credits. It's a bit out-of-date, because I've grown even more lax in old age with keeping a record of these things. I've always thought of litbios as 'counting coup', something necessary to please academics & orgs like the CC, but somehow a bit pretentious & even adolescent in its self-promotional bragging.
But then again I am extremely proud of all my publications   :  )

I'll note with an * the most prestigious books (i.e. not associated with self-publishing), altho this issue itself is moot, as I was the publisher of an historically important small press - Unfinished Monument Press - which (self)published first collections by Robert Priest, James Deahl, Bruce Hunter, Lynn Kositsky  etc. etc. among a host of now-acclaimed Canadian poets & academics. UMP also published collections by GG winning poets such as Milton Acorn & Raymond Souster.

So this begs the question, is it self-publishing if you establish a (semi)respectable litpress, & then continue to publish yourself??? 

Thanks again for sponsoring me at Cat Sass Cafe! It was an enjoyable evening, one of the best readings I've experienced. Morley attended the music jam there last Friday nite & thoroughly enjoyed it.

peace & poetry power!
Chris ... & Chase Wrffffffffffffffffffff!

p.s. the tribute evening to Milton Acorn last Thursday at Q Space in TO was a true love-in - for all attending & reading & to Milt's spirit






~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 


Andreas Gripp has left a new comment on your post "counting coup in CanPo/what constitutes self-publi...":

love your response, Chris. Art Council pretension never disappoints. And as a side: if you self-publish a poem, it's not considered published in their eyes. But if you try to enter the same self-published poem in one of their sponsored contests for unpublished poems, they say it's already been published so it can't be entered. makes perfect sense.



Posted by Andreas Gripp to Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens at 11 July 2013 05:51

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Hi Chris and Raven K,

Chris - I do hope you had a good time drinking beers for you and yours (a.k.a. Raven K and Wilbur (Willy) Walnut :)

Jim - Melanie and I look forward to hearing the telling of the story about how W.W. lost his eye at the Silver Dollar during a stripper's table dance. :D

Chris - Sorry I missed you on Thursday at the pre-tribute toast with Milt at the Silver Dollar.   I need to see this plaque on the outside wall of the Waverley Hotel up close.  Chris you inspired me to type the following:

I,
like
the thousands of people,
several times
in the past
few months,
passed by
the Silver D.
on the Spadina car,
going or leaving
somewhere.

 . . . and I am
reminded
of
how I too
once
stayed
at the Silver D.
oh yes,
sadly,
this is
all about
me.

A night
I
will
never
forget.
      

I wish I could have joined Milt & you that evening.

performance, peace & poetry power!

Performatively,
simon

Simon C. De Abreu M.A., B.Ed
Program Teacher

Yellow Fur: a dog poem by Sheila Martindale

 

Yellow Fur

for Charlie

I emptied the vacuum cleaner today

and wept

over the yellow fur

shed before you left

for that place in doggie heaven

reserved for good and faithful friends

And as my tears fell

I remembered the day I found you

limp and unloved

your muscles wasted

your eyes deep pools of sadness

And of the joy you brought me

as you gained your health and strength

and how for years we ran and played

and how your damp muzzle

caressed my knees and toes

and how I buried my face

in your warm yellow fur

the last remnants of which

I remove from the filter now

Sheila Martindale