2025 Ottawa Book Awards shortlist : On Beauty: stories,

Thanks much to the City of Ottawa! Yesterday it was announced that my short story collection, On Beauty (University of Alberta Press, 2024), was shortlisted for the 2025 Ottawa Book Awards! This is my first ever appearance on a shortlist for this particular award, so that's pretty exciting. Congratulations, also, to the other four on the shortlist: Manahil Bandukwala, for Heliotropia (Brick Books); Nina Berkhout, for This Bright Dust (Goose Lane Editions); Paul Carlucci, for The Voyageur (Swift Press); and Chuqiao Yang, for The Last to the Party (Goose Lane Editions). Hooray all! I've only actually seen Chuqiao's book of the quartet [see my review of such here], and it is remarkable, which makes me curious to see the other three. Naturally, I think you should pick up a copy of my short story collection [check out here for some links to reviews of the book, although it's Salma Hussain who really gets it], as well as the other nominated titles. There's plenty of time to read all five books, I'd think, before the winner gets announced on November 15th, yes?

VERSeFest (mini) 2024 : a report from the ground,

In case you hadn't heard, we did a mini-"fall into VERSeFest" in November, all part of our rebuilding period for our much beloved poetry festival, heading into our sixteenth year with current plans for spring 2025 programming. Can you believe it? And you know, we do have charitable status, if you are ever open to sending a donation our way. What might spring bring?

And you caught my report on our spring 2024 festival as well, yes?

Our November trio of nights opened on Thursday, November 28 at RedBird Live in Old Ottawa South with the delightful Madeleine Stratford as host, filling in for the scheduled host Stephen Brockwell, who was unable; she played up that she was Stephen Brockwell, "not feeling myself," and looking like another, a poet and translator. The evening held a quartet of stunning readings. Nova Scotia poet Alice Burdick read from her new poetry title with Anvil Press, Ox Lost, Snow Deep (2024) [did you see my recent interview with her here], and it was interesting to hear her stretch the possibilities of her work through the long poem [catch my review of her new book here, in case you missed]. She even conducted a small afternoon in-person poetry workshop as part of the festival on Saturday afternoon,

Following Burdick, Ottawa/Burlington poet Manahil Bandukwala [catch my recent interview with her here] launched her second full-length title with Brick Books, Heliotropia (2024), a book I'm still waiting to get my hands on (perhaps as the mail starts up again), accompanied by her "electric guitar boyfriend," Liam Burke. Our French-language Ottawa poet laureate Véronique Sylvain followed, offering poems from her second collection, which launched only a few weeks prior through Éditions Prise de parole.

And, to close out our opening evening, Cobourg, Ontario poet, editor, writer, publisher, events organizer etcetera Stuart Ross (who had also edited Alice Burdick's latest collection, as well as her prior), launching his new poetry title with Coach House Books, a publisher he offered he'd been waiting decades to work with: The Sky Is a Sky in the Sky (2024) [see my review of such here; see my essay on his short fiction as well here]. The collection does seem a culmination of everything he's accomplished to date, and I'm curious to see where he might go with his work next.

Our second night, Friday, November 29, opened in the Arts Court Studio with an event celebrating fifteen years of Urban Legends (who have been running spoken word poetry workshops, in case you weren't aware), hosting performances by three of their current/former directors, opening with Billie Nell, who I thought stole the show. As they said as part of the event (and others have said over the past couple of years as well), spoken word in and around Ottawa is but a shadow of its former self, and I admire greatly that these folk are working to keep the form current, active and relevant (attend their workshops!).

Apollo the Child [above] is always a solid performer, one of the standards of the Ottawa scene for some time, and he even had copies of a recent publication, with a further publication to appear soon in the new year. Much like Billie Nell, the work of Playto aka Panos was entirely new to me, and he performed a handful of poems that focused on new and recent parenthood (with one of his small children in the crowd, also).

Our second event of the evening was hosted by Ottawa poet and newly-minted VERSe Ottawa board member (with a debut novel forthcoming, you know) Ben Ladouceur. The first reader was Ottawa-favourite Chuqiao Yang (clearly the lighting in the space changed, and these photos seem terrible, don't they?), reading from her long-awaited full-length poetry debut, The Last to the Party (Goose Lane Editions, 2024) [see my review of such here].

Admittedly, I was extra excited to hear from Montreal-based poet Faith Paré, who is doing remarkable work, and even moreso when one considers she hasn't yet a full-length book [see the interview I did with her earlier this year, prior to her winning the Bronwen Wallace Award].

It had been a while since I'd heard Vancouver poet Stephen Collis read in person (most likely in spring 2013; I have a recollection of him reading in Ottawa back then), here to launch his latest poetry title from Talonbooks, The Middle (2024) [see my review of such here]. It is interesting to hear how his work has progressed, becoming more expansive and thoughtful as he moves ever forward, extending his lyric reach ever outward, even as his work becomes more grounded, intimate.

Our final event came the following afternoon (including some attendees from Alice Burdick's afternoon poetry workshop) at The Manx Pub, hosted by Ottawa English-language Poet Laureate David O'Meara and his Plan 99 Reading Series, a packed house to hear our final trio of exceptional poets [catch my interview with O'Meara on his laureateship here]. To open the afternoon was Kingston-based poet, writer and filmmaker Armand Garnet Ruffo [see my recent interview with him here]. He used to live in Ottawa, you know, so a whole slew of audience was there to hear him, especially that he was launching a new title with Wolsak and Wynn, The Dialogues: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow (2024).

Current Winnipeg Poet Laureate Chimwemwe Undi followed, reading from her Governor General's Award for Poetry winning (debut!) title, Scientific Marvel (Anansi, 2024) [see my review of such here], an award she won between announcing our line-up and her landing in Ottawa to read (so extra kudos to O'Meara's curation for this particular event). She did mention how unreal the award seemed to her, and expecting that she could still hear from them that the award was supposed to go to someone else instead, akin to Moonlight [the Academy Award "envelope-gate" debacle from 2017, in case you'd forgot]. I suggested that, no, she was not the La La Land of Canadian poetry.

It was good to have Dutch poet Erik Lindner back in Ottawa! He's read in town a few times over the past decade-plus, starting with an event years back through the Ottawa International Writers Festival. He read his poems in Dutch, and David O'Meara read from English translation, some of which came from his Words are the Worst: Selected Poems, as translated by Francis Jones (Vehicule Press, 2021).

Thank you to our host and our venues, and everyone who helped out! Thank you to the City of Ottawa and the Dutch Embassy for support! Thanks to Brian Pirie for his web design and ongoing assistance! And to the current VERSe Ottawa board, without whom this couldn't have happened at all.

Keep an eye on our website! We're hoping to announce an occasional series of in-person poetry workshops in the new year, and of course our spring festival! We've already been having meetings, you know. And did you hear we're hoping to announce the next nominees for our Hall of Honour come spring? Stay tuned!

VERSeFest (mini) festival, Fall Into VERSeFest: Nov 28-30, 2024 : schedule now online!

VERSeFest (mini) festival, Fall Into VERSeFest: Ottawa's International Poetry Festival : Nov 28-30, 2024 : schedule now online!

readings and performances by Manahil Bandukwala, Alice Burdick, Stuart Ross, Véronique Sylvain, Sergio Guerra aka Cheko7even, Apollo the Child, Playto aka Panos, Stephen Collis, Chuqiao Yang, Faith Paré [pictured], Armand Garnet Ruffo, Erik Lindner and Chimwemwe Undi, and an in-person afternoon workshop with Alice Burdick! Urban Legends! Plan99!

Tickets now available for Thurs via RedBird! https://www.verseottawa.ca/en/versefest

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Chuqiao Yang

Chuqiao Yang’s poems have appeared in magazine suchs as The Walrus, Arc Poetry Magazine, Prism, Grain, CV2, Room, and on CBC Radio. She was a finalist for the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers and her chapbook, Reunions in the Year of the Sheep, won the bpNichol Chapbook Award. The Last to the Party is her first full-length collection.

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

Hi rob! Thank you for inviting me to do this. It means a lot.

My first chapbook, Reunions in the Year of the Sheep won the bpNichol Chapbook Award which was a huge honour. I have that chapbook, and baseline press (Karen Schindler, I am talking about you!), and the RBC Writers' Trust to thank as all of that led to my first collection, The Last to the Party with Goose Lane Editions' icehouse poetry imprint.

I am answering your questions immediately after the book's release so I really don't know how things will have changed yet. So far, my friends and family and community have been really supportive, which is wonderful especially since this is my first full-length book. Things feel a bit different because I wrote a lot of the book in my 'youth' and early 20s and left the poems alone while I was in school. Revisiting them and reworking them now in my 30s and adding new poems to the collection felt a bit like I was greeting and bidding farewell to who I used to be when I wrote them the first time. Editing and peer review was bot fun and odd because it felt like I was low-key saying 'get over yourself' to myself which was pretty, pretty humbling.

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

I'm not really sure. For me personally, at least in the beginning, it felt like there was more opportunity to say something through poetry than fiction, non-fiction or another genre. But I like to dabble.  

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?

As you hinted at in your review of my book (thank you again), it takes a very long time and it happens in spurts. I could be more disciplined. I notice that when I am reading a lot, I am more perceptive and open to writing.

4 - Where does a poem or work of prose 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?

I piece things together over time. I learned a lot of new things about myself through the editing process working with Goose Lane and my editor. I'm excited to see how I've grown or changed or stayed the same, and I am excited to apply those lessons to other projects in the future.  

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

I like to go to readings from time to time but I don't like reading. I know that it's a chance for me, reading it aloud, or someone hearing it, to experience or encounter new dimensions of the poem but I always worry I'm being gimmicky, pretentious, or boring. I will say though that it's very useful to hear your writing out loud when you are working on it, or to have someone read your work to you as you edit it.

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?

People write for all sorts of reasons and those reasons can change with time. I really think it depends on the writer, their literary and/or personal goals, and what they hope to accomplish in their work.

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

Essential.

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

Focus on the work.

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

I let it pass without judgment. I used to beat myself up about it. But I don't think a period of time away from writing means anything negative; life is happening all the time and it can feel more damaging if your mindset is that you have to keep your momentum up in order to be prolific, purposeful or inspired. I really think it's more than okay to have long periods of time where you are just absorbing the world, or living in it, or even struggling to make sense of it or yourself. You aren't wasting time. You are just chilling out and taking it easy on yourself.

Of course it can be hard, but in those times, I try to do mindfulness techniques. I read and spend time with family and friends. I watch comedy, I see movies, or I just do nothing. I bide my time to take care of myself. It's all a work in progress even if you're not working!

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

Li-Young Lee, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Simple Recipes by Madeline Thien, T.S. Eliot. 

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

More sports.

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

I've been reading some teachings by the Stoics lately. I find reading their reflections validating and reassuring.

Also, last year I read this book called Luster by Raven Leilani in literally one sitting, it was amazing. I just finished Based on a True Story by Delphine du Vigan (wow!). Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky (also wow). Homie by Danez Smith (more wow). The Good Women of Safe Harbour by Bobbi French (WOW and so, so devastating).

20 - What are you currently working on?

Nothing has taken form yet, but maybe some stories.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

Chuqiao Yang, The Last to the Party

 

Pompeii

The Lupanar walls speak of a woman,
her art was intercourse.
Here, once, she left lovers to quiet deaths
on hard beds, sharp edges softened,
vestiges of a century of pleasure.
A caged, beautiful bird of prey, a tourist imagines.
But you’d almost think the walls spoke
of a woman whose art was praying,
back turned to a man, knees bent,
body arched, god-searching.
A brave, dying bird of prayer.
Colours, clay, heat, Pompeii’s countryside
burning down her body, the walls speaking
of a woman whose art was pleasure;
exhalations come a long way,
remnants of her existence,
her worship painted on the walls,
les petities morts in the history of lost lives,
little deaths in the history of survival.

There are long-awaited debuts, and then there are long-awaited debuts, such as Chuqiao Yang’s The Last to the Party (Fredericton NB: Goose Lane Editions/icehouse poetry, 2024). Born in Beijing, raised in Saskatchewan and currently living in Ottawa, Chuqiao Yang is a poet I first discovered in the summer 2010 issue of Grain magazine (Vol. 37.4) [see my review of such here] as part of Sylvia Legris’ stunning and maddeningly-curtailed run as editor there. The Last to the Party follows Yang’s bpNichol Chapbook Award-winning Reunions in the Year of the Sheep (London ON: Baseline Press, 2017) [see my review of such here], a number of poems from which have been reworked and folded into this larger collection. In one of the finest debuts I’ve read in some time (tied with Ottawa poet Ellen Chang-Richardson’s Blood Belies, which I’m currently reading as well), Yang writes of a prairie childhood, various travel, family and family roots and youthful adventures, rebellions and reconciliations, her lyrics offering a richness that is confident and subtle, considerations so clearly evident even in those poems published in Grain, fourteen years back. “Sometimes I float backwards,” she writes, as part of the opening poem, “The Party,” “ten times / over the South Saskatchewan / until I’m only kite bones / and promise: watch me, / a mawkish pre-teen pedalling / uphill, licked by rime, / peering into a neighbour’s window.”

Set with opening poem, “The Party,” followed by four numbered sections of poems, Yang has a painter’s ability to evoke a scene, whether landscape or portrait. She writes of moments turned and returned to, or recalled, turned and turned over, to better see, or see differently, attempting a fresh perspective on something that clearly won’t let go. Consider the short poem “Phaethon,” the first half of which reads: “I dreamt my father was alive. // Old, but happy, just // as I had left him. // He was bicycling.” She writes of foreign travel and prairie landscapes; she writes of roads home, and roads that lead away, and the realization that these are but the same roads, even before and beyond the clarification of what home means, and where, from Ottawa to Saskatchewan to Beijing, centred around friends, partners, parents and grandparents.

There’s a thread of wistfulness, and even melancholy, that runs through these poems, as Yang articulates intimate distances, drifts and attempts to connect or re-connect. She writes of a closeness that never quite feels close enough, or is never meant to last, but occasionally, unexpectedly, might or even does. Listen to the lines of the wedding-poem “Epithalamium,” a poem that ends: “And while there may be // years so full of sadness // you will be reluctant to trek // the dogged trail ahead, // you will reach for each other’s // hand, feel the other’s pull, // and you will be at ease.” She writes of a lifelong search for connection and belonging, and of finally landing at a moment that allows itself that comfort. Her poem “Friday,” a piece that immediately follows “Epithalamium,” includes: “Now, we share the same space, and life is a wide, / paved driveway.”

 

Ongoing notes: Meet the Presses (part one,

[Invisible Publishing, on point (so to speak) (being invisible]

Given how excited I know you are about this weekend’s ottawa small press book fair (whether the reading on Friday night or the fair itself on Saturday), I thought it might be worth discussing some of the things I picked up this past weekend as part of the annual Meet the Presses event in Toronto! [If you wish to see my notes from last year’s Meet the Presses event, see the link here]. And congratulations to former Ottawa writer Chuqiao Yang for winning this year’s bpNichol Chapbook Award for Reunions in the Year of the Sheep (baseline press)! [see my 2015 Open Book profile on her here; see my review of the chapbook here]

Cobourg ON: Stuart Ross (who will be at the ottawa small press book fair this weekend) furthers his way to forty years of continuous chapbook production through Proper Tales Press with Kingston poet Dale Tracy’s chapbook Celebration Machine (2018), a chapbook produced in an edition of 125 copies. The author of a scholarly title, With the Witness: Poetry, Compassion, and Claimed Experience (McGill-Queen’s, 2017), this small chapbook appears to be her poetry debut, a collection of short, first-person lyrics both composed directly and slant, writing in the most lovely indirect way. I like the quick movement of her lyric, and the casualness of her line, as she writes to end the short poem “Serious Living”: “If a violin sounds sad, is it?”

Don’t Look for Eunice de Souza’s Life

in These Poems

I won’t look for your life

in your poems,

but can I look for mine?

I’m asking because

I accidentally already

saw something familiar

about knowing, so not

only did I look and see

and know, but then I knew

about knowing too.

I hope you don’t mind I’ve put

your poem in my poem.

I’ve been careful

to leave out your life,

except in the exergue

of my address.

Calgary AB: From Kyle Flemmer’s The Blasted Tree comes the chapbook (another debut, I would think, given the author biography doesn’t specify any other titles) The Landscape We Left on Each Other (2018) by Lauren Elle DeGaine, produced in an edition of 40 copies. There is such a musicality to DeGaine’s work, moving from the lyric to prose poems, one with an energy that sparkles, and even crackles. Her poems manage to write uncomplicatedly on complicated things, something that could be mistaken for simplicity but is anything but. Much like Dale Tracy, this is another poet I would very much like to see further work from.

We Went to the Forest to Fire a Gun

I flick the lighter and picture your footsteps, treading snow and carpet pathways. The music I’m listening to brings memories of green and yellow days and I think about showing you this— I sing and blow smoke. We walked on a damn trail and smelled the earth: decomposition and the ache of things freshly growing. Back home, there were blood stains on your sheets, but you didn’t seem to mind. These are the gory moments of my life, paternal words flung like shards, my own voice a monstrous blade, now a ribbon of grass, but I turn monsters into you. I colour my new memories with you and they taste like fresh water and sweat and blue light and spliffs. Bright sky and bullet shells hitting ground and you holding my hand. These gorgeous spring days threaten us to be careful of summer.