Thursday, July 28, 2005

Post-prairie

I'm very proud of this. I have been working on the proofs of Post-Prairie -- an anthology of new poetry edited by Robert Kroetsch and l'il ole' me. I love the work in this anthology. Here's some copy from the Talonbooks catalogue:

"Prairie poetry," as it came to be known in the 20th century, has found no more eloquent and accomplished a practitioner than Robert Kroetsch. Yet the North American prairie his work has made so recognizably visible in all of its characteristic particularities is changing profoundly in the 21st century. This change is marked by the transition of a cultural identity primarily rooted in place, to one that is rooted in a rapidly fragmenting, urbanizing, technology-based globalization. In an opening dialogue between the archetypal practitioner of this poetics of place, Robert Kroetsch, and a new practitioner, Jon Paul Fiorentino, the reader bears witness to a rare literary event-a master passing on his legacy to the students who have become his peers.

Post-Prairie will be out in Fall 2005 and includes new work from

derek beaulieu
Rob Budde
Louis Cabri
Jason Christie
Rosanna Deerchild
Adam Dickinson
Jon Paul Fiorentino
ryan fitzpatrick
Marvin Francis
Jill Hartman
Clive Holden
Catherine Hunter
Larissa Lai
Sylvia Legris
Nicole Markotic
Chandra Mayor
Suzette Mayr
Mariianne Mays
Duncan Mercredi
John K. Samson
Ian Samuels
Natalie Simpson
Karen Solie
Andy Weaver
Darren Wershler-Henry

Post-Prairie is dedicated to Marvin Francis -- a wonderful Winnipeg poet and Post-Prairie contributor who passed away last year.

10 comments:

rob mclennan said...

very much looking forward to this anthology! an important book, to be sure.
congrats!
rob

Jonathan Ball said...

a nice gesture to dedicate the book to marvin, something i'm sure he was very proud to be a part of.

J said...

I didn't get to know Marvin that well, but I was always a fan of his work and he was always gracious and kind. Great sense of humour in his work and in person. Winnipeg lost a special poet.

Anonymous said...

Sweet!

Hey, did you see Silliman's latest entry?

http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/2005/08/its-been-some-34-years-since-al-purdys.html

Anonymous said...

Whoops, that's long.

It's at: Silliman's Blog.

J said...

I have seen that. I think it's the first time he's applied the term SoQ to Canadian poetry. Interesting that my friend Chandra Mayor is the culprit. I've edited Chandra's book of poems and her novel and I think she's a fine writer. She's also a lyric poet, often writing in a confessional mode. I don't think of her as traditionalist or conservative. But like I said before I don't think SoQ north necessarily means bad writing either.

Chris Hutchinson said...

Boo!

Yeah, I’m looking forward to this one for sure. I think it’s especially cool that there’s some generational overlap here in terms of both the contributors and editors.

Regarding Ron’s take on BF2, I’m always amazed at how much the guy READS. As if there weren’t enough American poets to deal with, so he’s keeping tabs on us too.

Most reviews I’ve read written by Canadian avant-garde (experimental/ post-language/ post-avant ... pick a card) enthusiasts (and don’t get me wrong, I’m enthusiastic too) never seem to get any further than quibbling pedantically on about the intro and the whole issue of editors’ objectives and intentions — a valid issue yes, but how about getting into some of the actual work? So I was happy that Ron at least sited some of his favourites, and talked a bit about them.

By the way, Jon, I met Chandra in Winnipeg and she happened to mention that you were a stand-up kind of guy, and because I also really liked Hello Serotonin, I linked to your blog.

And so hello.

J said...

hullo.

nice to see you.

Kate S. said...

This sounds like a fantastic book. The cover is beautiful as well (I had a peek at it over at amazon.ca). I recognize most of the names of the contributors but I didn't recognize them all as prairie poets. I'm a praire expatriate myself and I always thought you just knew somehow. Apparently not. I'm looking forward to reading the book.

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