Notes and Dispatches: Essays (Insomniac Press, 2014)

My collection of literary essays, Notes and Dispatches: Essays (Insomniac Press, 2014) has landed, with much celebration!

Enormous thanks to Mike O'Connor and Dan Varrette at Insomniac for seeing the book through.

This is my second collection of literary essays, after subverting the lyric: essays (ECW Press, 2008), and collect a variety of pieces composed since 2010, a number of which appeared, individually, in locations such as Open Book: Toronto, Jacket magazine, we who are about to die, Moira, Rain Taxi, ditch: the poetry that matters, Maple Tree Literary Supplement, The Capilano Review blog, The Globe and Mail book blog, Prairie Fire Review of Books, seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics, Lemonhound, filling Station, Jacket2 and The Town Crier. My thanks to all the editors and publishers for their encouragement and support, specifically Amy Logan Holmes, Clelia Scala, Julia Bloch, Spencer Gordon and Jenny Penberthy! Either order a copy directly from my lovely publisher, or check out some of my upcoming readings or book fair appearances over the next little bit (see sidebar for link list), including tonight's 21st anniversary above/ground press reading/launch/party, where I would be happy to sell you a copy!

The table of contents for the collection is as follows (with a couple of teaser/spoiler links):

1.    Reading and Writing Glengarry County: writing the Long Sault hydro electric project
2.    How to love everything: thoughts on rereading Sarah Manguso
3.    Douglas Barbour at 70
4.    The Chelsea Hotel, New York
5.    On Pearl Pirie’s “word chain umpteen-eight”
6.    Notes on Robert Kroetsch’s David Thompson
7.    Anticipating The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
8.    ‘a gentleman collector of sentences’: notes on rereading Lisa Robertson
9.    The green-wood essay: a little autobiographical dictionary
10.    Notes on writing, writing
11.    Writing the new (Vancouver) Geography
12.    A short interview with Ken Sparling
13.    The Peter F. Yacht Club: a miscellany,
14.    Notes on the confessional: Lynn Crosbie’s Liar: A Poem
15.    A short interview with John Lavery
16.    Notes on Natalie Simpson’s “similar fingers”
17.    Call and response: a note on Phil Hall, and 52 flowers (or, a perth edge)
18.    On Reviewing: an interview
19.    O bittersweet black sheep: Camille Martin’s Sonnets
20.    A brief note on (reading, writing) short fiction,
21.    A short interview with Michael Blouin
22.    Insect hopes: Jay MillAr’s accumulations
23.    A note on “Miss Canada”
24.    There is something about the body: Sylvia Legris
25.    There is no falling: Robert Hogg
26.    Richard Brautigan, Revenge of the Lawn: Stories 1962-1970
27.    Collaborating with Lea Graham
28.    Roy Kiyooka’s “Pacific Windows”
29.    Shorthand: eleven short essays on fiction
30.    A halt, which is empty: 402 McLeod Street, Stewarton
31.    Some notes on Lisa Jarnot’s “Sea Lyrics”
32.    Letter to Norma Cole (some notes on the prose poem)
33.    Some notes on Christine McNair’s Conflict
34.    On “from Hark, a journal: 1864-1967”
35.    An informal talk on compiling McLennan/MacLennan genealogies in Stormont and Glengarry
36.    Some notes on Mark Truscott’s Form, A Series
37.    Author Notes: rob mclennan