Northern Poetry Review

Alex Boyd was kind enough to interview me recently for Northern Poetry Review. Alex asks some great questions, and I appreciate his close reading of my book. Look out for his Best Canadian Essays (edited with Carmine Starnino) this fall.

Also of note on the Northern Poetry Review site is a review of Elizabeth Bachinsky’s Curio / God of Missed Connections by Alessandro Porco. Porco delves into what he calls Bachinsky’s “Janus-like poetic praxis”, something I greatly admire in her work.

Vagabond Trust

I’ll be reading tomorrow night (Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 8 pm) with a wonderful line-up of writers at the Vagabond Trust Reading Series. Don’t miss a chance to catch Shane Neilson launching his second book, Meniscus (Biblioasis, 2009), or the prose stylings of future MM contributor Matt Leslie. Details below:
 

Coming Soon

The latest Cactus Press chapbook, Matt Rader’s Customs, is officially at the printers. The poem involves the hanging of Louis Sam, a Sto:lo boy, in 1884. I’ll post details on how to get a copy in the coming weeks.
 

Harmonics

I’m geeked to be reading at the Toronto launch for Jesse Ferguson’s first collection of verse, Harmonics, on October 15th at the Cameron House. It’s a terrific debut, but don’t take it from me - Jesse’s been getting great reviews (1 / 2).

So come grab a beer and pick up a copy of Jesse’s new book. 
 

An Invitation…

Anthologized

JMM reviews The Velocity of Escape

Jacob McArthur Mooney, Open Book Toronto’s September Writer-In-Residence, has posted a review of The Velocity of Escape as part of his residency. Jake writes:

The Velocity of Escape works because Johnstone is able to display a personal style without sacrificing diversity of either content of voice. This isn’t a “thematic” collection, per se, but it has enough architecture to stand together as a single work. Jim Johnstone will likely write better books than this, but that’s okay, as Escape offers enough to warrant the read before such future collections appear. It’s a success as both a summation and, to a lesser degree, as an invitation.

Check out the full review at Open Book Toronto.

September Readings

- Plasticine Poetry, September 20, 2009 from 6-9 pm with Phlip Arima, Jasmine
  D’Costa and Marilyn Gear Pilling. 
   
  The Central (603 Markham Street, Toronto) 
 

- Descant 146 Launch, September 30, 2009 at 7:30 pm with Helen Guri, Mark
  Kingwell and Michael Lista. 
   
  Olga Korper Gallery (17 Morrow Avenue, Toronto)

 

Shortlists and Longlists

I’ve been neglecting this blog recently in favor of cottaging; however I’ve returned to two pieces of good news this week.

1. The Velocity of Escape has been longlisted for the 2009 Re-Lit Award. While the Re-Lit longlist should really be called a long-longlist, I love the concept behind this award and am thrilled to have been included.

2. An excerpt from my forthcoming booklength poem Sunday, the locusts was shortlisted in the Matrix Lit-Pop competition. Congrats to the recently announced winner Romana Prokopiw.
 

MM12 Available Now!

Misunderstandings Magazine #12 is hot off the presses, and I’ve finally recovered from the launch last Thursday night at The Central. A big thanks to Edward Nixon for featuring us at his livewords reading series.

Here’s a sneak peak at one of the poems in the issue – Melanie Pierluigi’s Slow Paralysis:
 

I watch you pull  

the ocean from its frame. 

Watch the rise and fall of air 

as it falls from your chest 

like small moths.

Each wing pulls at the pinioned sky 

like stars that blink once and suddenly 

stop moving. A slow paralysis. 

The way you sit in a room 

but are never seen. Or when 

I’m pulled along by the slow velocity 

of your voice. The skeletal presence 

of looking through cracks and finding 

only burnt stones, left-over words, the hollow curve  

in my voice where  

you use to fit.

 

Besides MP, MM12 includes an interview with Patrick Lane as well as new poems from Shane Neilson, Lindsay Tipping, Natalie Zina Walscots etc. Send me an email at misunderstandings.magazine@gmail.com if you’d like a copy!