The Year 2008 is going to be one of predictions.
My first public prediction is that poetry is making a resurgence.
I’ve just returned from Alexis Kienlen’s poetry reading for She Dreams in Red and I’m most certain that poetry is on the rise.
Here’s the thing: Poetry needs to be read aloud. People miss out on poetry because they try to read it silently to themselves. There’s no poetry in that method. Find your voice.
Here’s the next thing I re-discovered tonight: Poetry can be made by 3 year olds. By the time we’re 18, we forget that we can use words to do more than order fries.
My follow up thought was that publishers are going out of business. Poetry has never sold well, unless you count 500-1000 copies as spectacular. BUT, micropresses are coming back into fashion.
I received a Miranda July book as a birthday present. It’s spectacular. I love it. A friend showed me Actualities by Monica Kidd from Gaspereau Press. This is a beautifully crafted book.
Book as objet really works with poetry.
I’m in the middle of reading Alison Cader’s book of poetry Wolf Tree from Coteau Books. It’s brilliant.
John Maxwell at SFU told me 2008 is his year for rediscovering poetry.
Something is happening.
Poetry is on the rise.
She Dreams in Red is published by Frontenac House, which has a great, new website (fairly new, last year). David Scollard, publisher of Frontenac House, gave Alexis an incredible introduction. I wish he’d publish it. He said something about why they publish poetry and that it is the pursuit of higher intelligence driving them. He seems like a man entirely clear on why he’s publishing books.
I’ve been reading Alexis Kienlen’s LiveJournal blog for several years now, and I was excited when she announced that her book of poetry had been accepted for publication by Frontenac House. Having worked for a book publisher I know how difficult the acquisition stage is, how much work goes into deciding whether a book is the right fit or not, and here was a wonderful example of someone I knew making it through that process--a process, which at times, can be as hard as writing the book in the first place.
Maybe Alexis will re-tell the story in the comments about what that process was like and how excited she was to hear that her book was going to be published.
I was determined to blog about her book, and because Alexis is my friend, I wanted to do a good job. Instead I procrastinated and now She Dreams in Red is published and several people have reviewed it and I’m still working out the best way to talk about it.
I don’t know why I try to make thing harder than they need to be. She Dreams in Red is a beautiful book of poems.
In university I never understood poetry, and I still feel nervous about it. But I have found poets whose work I enjoy, Dennis Cooley in particular. Alexis’ poems are as inviting and as evocative.
The poems are divided into the following sections: Chinese Cafe, Indonesia, Mongolia, Tibet, and Love and Lust.
Each time I pick up the book, I find a new favourite. I’ve been reading the poems in chronological order because I feel there is a greater story that the collection is telling, at the same time, every time I wander by my book stack, I pick it up and randomly flip to a new poem. It’s a great way to discover this book, and I’m very glad that Alexis has published a book of poems because it gives me an entry back into the world of poetry.
If you haven’t picked up a book of poetry in a while, I suggest She Dreams in Red. It’s good to re-discover this writing form and I guarantee you’ll find something that grips your imagination in this collection.
You can purchase a copy from Frontenac House by emailing the editor or by visiting one of the stores listed. I say, get on it though, poetry runs are often small so if you want a copy, now is the time. I found the fastest, non-procrastinating way was to email the editor and send in a cheque. Old school, I know. But we’re talking about poetry. In some ways I think it demands a handwritten note.
