VERSeFest / Factory Reading Series : Lydia Unsworth and Nada Gordon,

In case you hadn't caught, The Factory Lecture Series returns to VERSeFest this year, with lectures by Manchester poet Lydia Unsworth and Brooklyn, New York poet Nada Gordon, on Sunday, March 29! A free event! Both poets also read that same evening alongside Jumoke Verissimo! Check out the full schedule and ticket information for this year's sixteenth annual VERSeFest: Ottawa's International Poetry Festival (with some events, as we're able, live-streamed in a pay-what-you-can donation, for those unable to make in-person). Also, there are a bunch of interviews with poets coming to this year's festival up at periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics, including with Lydia Unsworth, Nada Gordon, Gwen Aube, Sneha Subramanian Kanta, Paul Vermeersch, Hajer Mirwali and Isabella Wang--and more to come next week!

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Khashayar Mohammadi

Khashayar Mohammadi is a queer, Iranian born, Toronto-based Poet, Writer and Translato. He is the author of poetry Chapbooks Moe’sSkin by ZED press 2018, Dear Kestrel by knife | fork | book 2019, Solitude is an Acrobatic Act and The OceanDweller both by above/ground press 2020. His debut poetry collection Me, You, Then Snow is out with Gordon Hill Press.

[Mohammadi will be presenting a lecture online this Saturday, alongside Amish Trivedi from 1-2pm Eastern, as part of The Factory Lecture Series at Ottawa’s annual VERSeFest Poetry Festival; click here to register to attend via zoom]

1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?

I had already published 4 chapbooks before my debut, but there was something so definite and final about having a full length book published. It taught me organization and coherence on a larger scale, taught me how to manage concept and tone throughout various poems, and how to chisel a book out of a manuscript with the help of my editor.

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?

I grew up in a fiercely literary family, but I have to admit I didn’t read or write any poetry until my late teens. At the time I was getting into poetry Rupi Kaur was getting quite popular, so I picked up Milk and Honey and realized I like the format. I moved on from her to Warsan Shire and Deborah Landau, then slowly William Carlos Williams and Rilke. My first encounter with Canadian Poetry was Phil Hall and BP Nichol, and after getting into the local scene, I picked up every book I could find and read everything that came out vehemently until I got to where I am.

3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?

I always have different projects of different genres going at the same time. The Low and Slow gets accumulated over time and in a different work frame, and there are times when I feel I just need to produce work, so I translate, or write an essay. Depending on which type of piece I’m writing, the amount of editing varies. But I’d say my poems emerge quite close to how they get published. I write relentlessly so I’d call myself an overall fast writer.

4 - Where does a poem usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?

even though different poems always start differently, my favorite way of beginning a poem is taking a line usually taken from misheard and misused words in conversations I hear during the day, e.g. when I misheard “Dressed to go” as “Dressed for a poem” and treating it as a kernel or seed for an entire poem to take shape around it.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

I am incredibly social and I’ve always loved readings and interacting with my audience, whether virtual or in person!

6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?

I’ve written quite a lot about language and what it means to write across cultures through writing across languages and linguistic disciplines, but I’d also say recently I’ve been quite heavily gravitating towards Islamic mysticism and Islamic culture and the Arab Conquest in general. I’m trying to explore questions like “what does Islam mean in the Diaspora as opposed to Islamic nations?” and trying to demystify the monolithic Islam of North American media into its intricate working parts.

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?

well I was quite lost when I came to poetry. I had no sense of belonging, no sense of purpose or self-respect. Poetry gave me a warm place in a corner of this cruel world where I could comfortably express who I am. And my expression will hopefully provide a new home for another estranged soul. I believe in the power of poetry and have no interest in anyone who devalues and deems it inessential.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?

writing is often quite lonely, and its solitude can drown one in one’s own ego. Its absolutely essential to have one’s work looked over and altered to the point of comprehension. poets can be too precious about their own lines and wordplays that may not be relevant or Jermaine to the point. I’ve never taken a piece to an editor and emerged with an inferior poem. to me poems are always improved by a second pair of eyes.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?

“never underestimate how little people care about your work”.

may sound harsh, but it’s the single most motivating thought in my mind whenever I feel too invested in my own poetry

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (your own work vs. translation or collaboration)? What do you see as the appeal?

to me the appeal is mainly the fact that I can switch my workflow when I need to. There are times when I just don’t feel innovative enough to begin a thought from scratch, and translation can tone my poetry muscles without straining my intellect too much.

11 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?

lots of walking, lots of reading, very little writing. I believe the more time I spend thinking and reading, the better I can work and the more efficient my words become. my personal recommendation to a new poet is always to read more and to think more. giving your body time to process reading is as important as giving yourself time to read. so I usually read for an hour or so, walk for an hour or so, and then begin my writing only after.

12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?

the answer is always translation. I love how many possibilities translation poses, while not being so overwhelmingly open as to paralyze me intellectually. translation is immensely creative but its beauty is its limitations, and limitations are always what makes one create the most clever tools for comprehension and conveyance; which later come in handy while writing your own material!

13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?

Orange Blossoms. that is all.

14 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?

I love many art forms and I’ve written in great length on, about and influenced by Cinema, but I have to admit that nothing inspires my work more than Standup comedy. I listen to an ungodly amount of standup comedy every day and the tricks comics use in their language, in performance, in tricking the audience’s perception; nothing ever comes close to it.

15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?

At the moment I think my biggest influences for my work are great Sufi thinkers like Ibn ‘Arabi, Rumi, Ghazali and Hafez; but overall my greatest influence is always what I’m reading at the moment, especially books by my friends.

16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?

make more music. I wanna make some spoken word, Hip-Hop, experimental album and it is the next item on my list.

17 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?

well… I’m a chef by profession and I absolutely love cooking so I’ll always have that going for me!

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

necessity.

19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

Ooh! my favorite question! last great film I watched was Pedro Almodovar’s latest film Pain and Glory. I’ve since watched it more than 5 times. It’s a true delight. Midsommar and Portrait of a Lady On Fire round up the top 3.

my favorite books I read this year have been Hoa Nguyen’s A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure, Bardia Sinaee’s Intruder and Amanda Berenguer’s Materia Prima

20 - What are you currently working on?

So much… but mainly some more translations of some of the great modernist poets of Iran as well as writing more poetry on Diasporic West Asian culture.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

The Factory Reading Series pre-small press book fair reading, June 21: Kirby, de Belle, Walsh, Thomas, Rogal, Flack. Bartram, Hetherington + Mohammadi

span-o (the small press action network - ottawa) presents:

The Factory Reading Series
pre-small press book fair reading
featuring readings by:

Kirby (Toronto ON)
Julie de Belle (QC)
Matthew Walsh (Toronto ON)
Hugh Thomas (Montreal QC)
Stan Rogal (Toronto ON)
Brian L. Flack (Prince Edward County ON)
Victoria Hetherington (Toronto ON)
Jessica Bromley Bartram (Ottawa ON)
+
Khashayar Mohammadi (Toronto ON) (cancelled)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Friday, June 21, 2019;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

[And don’t forget the ottawa small press book fair, held the following day at the Jack Purcell Community Centre]

Kirby's [pictured] earlier chapbooks include Simple Enough, Cock & Soul, Bob’s boy, The world is fucked and sometimes beautiful, She’s Having a Doris Day (knife | fork | book, 2017), and their full-length debut, This Is Where I Get Off (Permanent Sleep Press, 2019). Kirby is the owner/publisher of knife | fork | book  www.jeffkirby.ca

Born in Ottawa Ontario, but living in Quebec, Julie de Belle has been writing poetry in both official languages since her early teens. She was a member of the Literary Translators of Canada where she first trying her hand at translation with Words on the Move. In 2013, she published her first collection of poetry in both French and English (not in translation but rather as two separate minds) called 2FACES with Broken Rules Press. Julie performs regularly at Twigs & Leaves in Ste. Anne de Bellevue and at Kafe Poe in Pincourt. She has given poetry workshops and performances in local libraries and cultural centres. Julie de Belle is a retired ESL teacher, has taught in China and in James Bay, and now works freelance from home, both writing and translating.

Matthew Walsh is a queer writer from Nova Scotia whose work has appeared in Matrix, The Malahat Review, and Pulp Literature among others. His first book of poems was published with Goose Lane/ Ice House and is titled: These are not the potatoes of my youth.

Hugh Thomas is a poet and translator living in Montréal, where he teaches mathematics at UQAM.  Maze, his debut poetry collection, was published by Invisible Publishing in June 2019. His poetry has appeared in chapbooks published by Bookthug, Paper Kite Press, above/ground, and, most recently, shreeking violet press (in a collaboration with Stuart Ross and Dag Straumsvåg).

Stan Rogal is the author of more books of poetry and fiction than one can reasonably count. He didn't send an author biography, but I know he has a new book of fiction out this spring with Insomniac Press, and a handful of poetry chapbooks with above/ground.

Brian L. Flack is the author of three novels … In Seed Time, With A Sudden & Terrible Clarity, and When Madmen Lead the Blind, and a collection of poems … 36 … Poems. He has contributed literary & social criticism to books, periodicals, and academic journals, and written many reviews for newspapers. For several years, he was the host of a weekly radio programme, “Bookviews”, on Q-107, in Toronto. In another life that he enjoyed for almost 40 years, he was a Professor of English Literature. He lives with the painter Susan Straiton ... by the lake, in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Jessica Bromley Bartram is an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer who lives in Ottawa with her partner Ian and beagle-esque dog Eleanor. Ghost Water Kiss is her first short story collection. She has also illustrated two picture books for Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Charles by S.E. Hume, which was published in 2018, and Summer North Coming by Dorothy Bentley, which will be released in spring 2019. Her work is included in 4PANEL 2, appears on the cover of Bird House by Ben Ladouceur, and she has published illustrations in Room Magazine (issue 42.1), CAROUSEL (issue 39), and The Globe and Mail.

Victoria Hetherington is a Toronto-based writer, visual artist and the author of I Have to Tell You (0s&1s, 2014). Her debut novel Mooncalves appeared in April 2019 with Now or Never Publishing.

Khashayar Mohammadi is an Iranian-born writer/translator based in Toronto. He is the host of knife | fork | book’s Chapbook Club and the author of the chapbooks Moe’s Skin with ZED PRESS (2018) and Poetry as Omission forthcoming with Anstruther Press. His poems have also appeared in Poetry is Dead, Bad Nudes, Half a Grapefruit Magazine, Bad Dog Review and elsewhere across Turtle Island. He is currently working on a translation anthology of contemporary female Iranian poets.

the launch of ottawater #15: Ottawa's annual poetry pdf journal

Ottawa’s annual pdf poetry journal
edited by rob mclennan

Come out to the launch of the fifteenth issue of ottawater, featuring new writing by Sylvia Adams, Barâa Arar, Susan J. Atkinson, John Barton, Meagan Black, Frances Boyle, Ronnie R. Brown, Alessia Di Cesare, George Elliott Clarke, Anita Dolman, Amanda Earl, Avonlea Fotheringham, Mark Frutkin, Adele Graf, Sarah Kabamba, Laurie Koensgen, Sneha Madhavan-Reese, Karen Massey, Pearl Pirie, Nicholas Power, Ryan Pratt, Claudia Coutu Radmore, Monty Reid, Sonia Saikaley, Tim Mook Sang, Ronald Seatter, D.S. Stymeist, Zoe Todd and Lauren Turner.

http://www.ottawater.com

The launch, featuring readings by a number of this issue’s contributors, will be held on Saturday, January 26, upstairs at The Carleton Tavern, Parkdale at Armstrong; doors 7pm, reading 7:30pm.

Lovingly hosted by editor/publisher rob mclennan.

Founded to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the City of Ottawa, Canada's glorious capital city, "ottawater," and its chemical formula/logo "O2(H2O)," is a poetry annual produced exclusively on-line, in both readable and printable pdf formats, and found at http://www.ottawater.com. An anthology focusing on Ottawa poets and poetics, its first issue appeared in January 2005, 150 years after old Bytown became the City of Ottawa.

The issue itself isn't online yet, but all previous issues remain archived on the site. Thanks to designer Tanya Sprowl, the ottawa international writers festival, and Randy Woods at non-linear creations for their continuing support.

The Factory Reading Series: Tucker, Hancock, McNair + mclennan, April 29, 2018

span-o (the small press action network - ottawa) presents:
The Factory Reading Series:

with readings by:

Aaron Tucker (Toronto)
Brecken Hancock (Ottawa)
Christine McNair (Ottawa)
+ rob mclennan (Ottawa)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Sunday, April 29, 2017
doors 2pm; reading 2:45pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

Aaron Tucker is the author of the novel Y: Oppenheimer, Horseman of Los Alamos (Coach House Books) as well as two books of poetry, Irresponsible Mediums: The Chess Games of Marcel Duchamp (Bookthug Press) and punchlines (Mansfield Press), and his latest chapbook with above/ground press Catalogue d'oiseaux. His current collaborative project, Loss Sets, translates poems into sculptures which are then 3D printed (http://aarontucker.ca/3-d-poems/); he is also the co-creator of The ChessBard, an app that transforms chess games into poems (http://chesspoetry.com).

Currently, he is an uninvited guest on the Dish with One Spoon Territory, where he is a lecturer in the English department at Ryerson University (Toronto), teaching creative and academic writing. You can reach him atucker[at]ryerson[dot]ca

Brecken Hancock's poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in The Puritan, Arc, Best Canadian Poetry in English, Best American Experimental Writing, The Globe & Mail and Hazlitt. Her first book of poems, Broom Broom (Coach House, 2014), was shortlisted for the ReLit Award and won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry. It was also named by The Globe & Mail's Jared Bland as a debut of the year, and appeared on a number of year-end best-book lists, including the National Post, All Lit Up, and BookThug's Best Reads. She lives in Ottawa.

Ottawa poet Christine McNair's [pictured] second poetry collection Charm came out from BookThug in 2017. Her first book Conflict (BookThug, 2012) was a finalist for the City of Ottawa Book Award, the Archibald Lampman Award, and the ReLit Award, and shortlisted for the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. Her chapbook pleasantries and other misdemeanours (2013) was shortlisted for the bpNichol chapbook award. McNair lives in Ottawa, where she works as a book doctor.

rob mclennan’s most recent titles include The Uncertainty Principle: stories, (Chaudiere Books, 2014), the poetry collection A perimeter (New Star Books, 2016) and the chapbook snow day (above/ground press, 2018). His poetry title Household items (Salmon Poetry, 2018) should be out soon, hopefully. 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. He also runs a reading series (this one!) three blocks away from where he was born.

the ottawa small press fair, spring 2018 edition: June 23

span-o (the small press action network - ottawa) presents:

    the ottawa
    small press
    book fair

spring 2018 /
will be held on Saturday, June 23, 2018 in room 203 of the Jack Purcell Community Centre (on Elgin, at 320 Jack Purcell Lane).

“once upon a time, way way back in October 1994, rob mclennan and James Spyker invented a two-day event called the ottawa small press book fair, and held the first one at the National Archives of Canada...” Spyker moved to Toronto soon after our original event, but the fair continues, thanks in part to the help of generous volunteers, various writers and publishers, and the public for coming out to participate with alla their love and their dollars.

General info:
the ottawa small press book fair
noon to 5pm (opens at 11:00 for exhibitors)

admission free to the public.
$25 for exhibitors, full tables
$12.50 for half-tables
(payable to rob mclennan, c/o 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9; paypal options also available

Note: for the sake of increased demand, we are now offering half tables.
To be included in the exhibitor catalog: please include name of press, address, email, web address, contact person, type of publications, list of publications (with price), if submissions are being considered and any other pertinent info, including upcoming ottawa-area events (if any). Be sure to send by June 10th if you would like to appear in the exhibitor catalogue.

And don’t forget the pre-fair reading usually held the night before, at The Carleton Tavern! (readers tba)

BE AWARE: given that the spring 2013 was the first to reach capacity (forcing me to say no to at least half a dozen exhibitors), the fair can’t (unfortunately) fit everyone who wishes to participate. The fair is roughly first-come, first-served, although preference will be given to small publishers over self-published authors (being a “small press fair,” after all).

The fair usually contains exhibitors with poetry books, novels, cookbooks, posters, t-shirts, graphic novels, comic books, magazines, scraps of paper, gum-ball machines with poems, 2x4s with text, etc, including regular appearances by publishers including above/ground press, AngelHousePress, Bywords.ca, Chaudiere Books, Room 302 Books, Textualis Press, Thee Hellbox Press, Arc Poetry Magazine, Canthius, The Ottawa Arts Review, The Grunge Papers, Apt. 9, Desert Pets Press, In/Words magazine & press, Ottawa Press Gang, 40-Watt Spotlight, Puddles of Sky Press, Invisible Publishing, shreeking violet press, Touch the Donkey, Phafours Press, etc etc etc.

The ottawa small press fair is held twice a year, and was founded in 1994 by rob mclennan and James Spyker. Organized/hosted since by rob mclennan.

Come on by and see some of the best of the small press from Ottawa and beyond!

Free things can be mailed for fair distribution to the same address. Unfortunately, we are unable to sell things for publishers who aren’t able to make the event.

Also: please let me know if you are able/willing to poster, move tables or distribute fliers for the event. The more people we all tell, the better the fair!

Contact: rob mclennan at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com for questions, or to sign up for a table

the launch of ottawater #14: Ottawa's annual poetry pdf journal

Ottawa’s annual pdf poetry journal
edited by rob mclennan

Come out to the launch of the fourteenth issue of ottawater, featuring new writing by Manahil Bandukwala, Stephanie Bolster, Sara Cassidy, Jason Christie, JM Francheteau, Spencer Gordon, Chris Johnson, N.W. Lea, Leah MacLean-Evans, Christine McNair, Colin Morton, Dani Spinosa, Priscila Uppal, Jean Van Loon, Ian Whistle and Maha Zimmo. The issue also includes visual art by Christos Pantieras, Joyce Crago, Denise Landriault, Nate Nettleton, Anne Marie Dumouchefl, Kathleen Axam, Robert Stevenson, and Andrea Sutton.

http://www.ottawater.com

The launch, featuring readings by a number of this issue’s contributors, will be held on Friday, February 2, 2018, upstairs at The Carleton Tavern, Parkdale at Armstrong; doors 7pm, reading 7:30pm.

Lovingly hosted by editor/publisher rob mclennan.

Founded to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the City of Ottawa, Canada's glorious capital city, "ottawater," and its chemical formula/logo "O2(H2O)," is a poetry annual produced exclusively on-line, in both readable and printable pdf formats, and found at http://www.ottawater.com. An anthology focusing on Ottawa poets and poetics, its first issue appeared in January 2005, 150 years after old Bytown became the City of Ottawa.

The issue itself isn't online yet, but all previous issues remain archived on the site. Thanks to designer Tanya Sprowl, the ottawa international writers festival, and Randy Woods at non-linear creations for their continuing support.

The Peter F. Yacht Club regatta/reading/christmas party!

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan;

The Peter F. Yacht Club annual regatta/christmas party/reading

at The Carleton Tavern (upstairs)
233 Armstrong Avenue (at Parkdale Market)
Friday, December 29, 2017
doors 7pm, reading 7:30pm

with readings from yacht club regulars and irregulars alike, including Roland Prevost, D.S. Stymeist, Faizal Deen, Chris Johnson, Amanda Earl, Christine McNair, Chris Turnbull (weather permitting), Frances Boyle, Anita Dolman and rob mclennan (and most likely some others).

readings! joyousness! possibly even cookies!

HOW COULD YOU SAY NO TO COOKIES?!?!?

the above/ground press 24th anniversary reading/launch/party!

above/ground press presents readings and other such by an array of poets:

Stephanie Bolster (Montreal)
Adele Graf (Ottawa)
Kristina Drake (East Hawkesbury)
Amanda Earl (Ottawa)
+ rob mclennan (Ottawa)

lovingly hosted by above/ground press author and Apt 9 Press editor/publisher Cameron Anstee
7:30pm door/8pm reading
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Backdrop Food & Drink
160 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa
http://www.thebackdrop.ca/

$5 at the door; includes a copy of a recent above/ground press title

Stephanie Bolster has published four books of poetry, the first of which, White Stone: The Alice Poems, won the Governor General's and the Gerald Lampert Awards in 1998. Her latest book, A Page from the Wonders of Life on Earth (Brick Books, 2011) was a finalist for the Pat Lowther Award. Work from her current manuscript-in-progress, Long Exposure, from which this chapbook is also drawn, was a finalist for the Canada Writes/CBC Poetry Prize in 2012. Editor of The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008 and co-editor of Penned: Zoo Poems, she was born in Vancouver and teaches creative writing at Concordia University in Montréal.

She will be launching the chapbook GHOSTS.

This is Stephanie Bolster’s fourth above/ground press chapbook, after the original Three Bloody Words (1996), Biodome (2006) and Three Bloody Words: Twentieth Anniversary Edition (2016). She also appeared in the fifth issue of the long poem magazine STANZAS (April 1995).

Adele Graf’s poems have appeared in many Canadian journals including The Antigonish Review, CV2, The Dalhousie Review, The Fiddlehead, Room and Vallum. Her first poetry collection, math for couples, was published this spring by Guernica Editions. 

She will be launching the chapbook a Baltic Friday early in grey.

Kristina Drake writes and edits in the wilderness of East Hawkesbury, Ontario. Her poems have previously appeared in Carte Blanche, Soliloquies and Yalla!, as an above/ground press broadside, and as a Tuesday poem on Dusie.

She will be launching the chapbook Ornithology.

Amanda Earl is an Ottawa writer, publisher and visual poet. She’s the managing editor of Bywords.ca and the fallen angel of AngelHousePress. More information is available at AmandaEarl.com.

She will be launching the chapbook Lady Lazarus Redux.

This is Earl’s fifth chapbook with above/ground press, after Eleanor(2007), The Sad Phoenician’s Other Woman (2008), Sex First & Then A Sandwich (2012) and A Book of Saints (2015).

Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan currently lives in Ottawa, where he is home full-time with the two wee girls he shares with Christine McNair. The author of more than thirty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he won the John Newlove Poetry Award in 2010, the Council for the Arts in Ottawa Mid-Career Award in 2014, and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2012. In March, 2016, he was inducted into the VERSe Ottawa Hall of Honour. His most recent titles include The Uncertainty Principle: stories, (Chaudiere Books, 2014) and the poetry collection A perimeter (New Star Books, 2016). He has two poetry collections forthcoming: Life Sentence (Flat Singles Press, 2018) and Household items (Salmon Poetry, 2018). An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Chaudiere Books (with Christine McNair), The Garneau Review, seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics, Touch the Donkey and the Ottawa poetry pdf annual ottawater. He is “Interviews Editor” at Queen Mob’s Teahouse, a regular contributor to the Ploughshares blog, and an editor/managing editor of many gendered mothers. 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

He will be launching the chapbook It's still winter.

This is mclennan's millionth chapbook with above/ground press. There are too many to list.