麻豆AV

Mark听Tredinnick听is the author of eighteen books, including听A Gathered Distance,听Almost Everything I Know,听Bluewren Cantos,听Fire Diary,听The Blue Plateau,听and听The Little Red Writing Book. He is a celebrated Australian poet, essayist, and teacher of writing. 鈥淥ne of our great poets of place,鈥� Judy Beveridge calls听him. In 2020,听Mark听was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to literature and education. Other honours include the Cardiff Poetry Prize, the Blake and Newcastle Poetry Prizes, the ACU and Ron Pretty Poetry Prizes, two Premiers鈥� Literature Awards, and the Calibre Essay Prize.听The Blue Plateau, his landscape memoir, was shortlisted for the Prime Minister鈥檚 Prize.

Mark鈥檚 reading of his work will be an occasion to听mark听the migration of the Montreal International Poetry Prize to its new home in the Department of English at 麻豆AV.听

Shane听Neilson听is a poet, physician, and critic from New Brunswick. He is author of several books of poetry, including听Complete Physical听(2010),听On Shaving Off His Face听听(2015),听Dysphoria听(2017), and听New Brunswick听(2019). As a Vanier postdoctoral scholar at McMaster University, he researches the representations of pain in CanLit.听Dysphoria, the final entry in his affect trilogy, was published in 2017 with the Porcupine鈥檚 Quill. He has just launched a collection of essays,听Constructive Negativity,听compiling commentary from different periods of his work. Recipient of the Walrus Poetry Prize and the Hamilton Literary Award for poetry,听Neilson听currently holds a SSHRC Talent Award.

Neilson听focuses on the articulation of pain and disordered affect through poetic form. As poet and editor, he comments on the emergent area of 鈥渄isability poetics鈥�; as a physician, he considers the value of poetry in medical practice.

For this reading, Poetry Matters is delighted to partner with听麻豆AV鈥檚听Osler Library of the History of Medicine听(part of ROAAr, Rare & Special Collections, Osler, Art and Archives)听/library/branches/roaar. Materials from the Osler Collections will be featured at the event. Special thanks to Mary Hague-Yearl, Osler Head Librarian.

How can wellness be imagined for and by survivors of ongoing, intersectional trauma? Addressing trauma as experienced by individual, chronically ill bodies and on an ecological scale, these poems turn to secular ritual and magic as ethical structures that may permit healing to coexist and engage politically with complex harms.

Rebecca Salazar (she/they) is the author of the knife that justifies the wound (Rahila鈥檚 Ghost) and Guzzle (Anstruther Press), a poetry editor for The Fiddlehead and Plenitude magazines, and a PhD candidate living on the unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi鈥檏maq peoples.

You think that because you understand 鈥渙ne鈥� that you must therefore understand 鈥渢wo鈥� because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand 鈥渁nd.鈥濃�擲ufi parable

For far too long we have othered nature; the distinction between humans and the land has only bolstered illusions of authority and hierarchy. If, as Phyllis Webb suggested, poetry cannot change the world, it can change individual consciousness鈥攕tarting with the poet鈥檚鈥攊n efforts to understand the 鈥渁nd鈥� between 鈥渙ne鈥� and 鈥渙ne.鈥� This reading explores ecological grief, the responsibility of connection, and gratitude.

christian favreau is a poet and activist living in Montr茅al (Tiohti谩:ke). His work has appeared in The 麻豆AV Daily Literary Supplement and Vallum. His forthcoming book of poetry with JackPine Press will be available in late 2020.

In 鈥淭alking to Grief,鈥� poet Denise Levertov depicts grief as a stray dog desiring the companionship of the speaker鈥攕uggesting that taking ownership of grief transforms both the emotion and those experiencing it. In dialogue with Levertov, Jaeggle鈥檚 Night of the Crash, a sequence of poems on the death of the narrator鈥檚 son, proposes that wellness is only antithetical to grief when grief is denied its history.

M.W. Jaeggle鈥檚 poetry has appeared in The Antigonish Review, Contemporary Verse 2, The Dalhousie Review, Vallum, The Veg, and elsewhere. He is author of two chapbooks, Janus on the Pacific and The Night of the Crash. While pursuing an MA at 麻豆AV, Mike served as Poetry Editor at Scrivener Creative Review and was awarded the Mona Adilman Prize in poetry. Currently Poetry Editor at Montreal Writes, he lives in Vancouver.

Candour, Or: 鈥淪ometimes I Think The Branches In The Winter Night Are Shaken By Your Hands鈥�

Candour, from the Latin candere, to shine; in English meaning openness, frankness, honesty. This reading proposes to investigate candour as a powerful, luminous source of poetic creativity and also as a potent force for change in individuals and the renovation of human relationships. It also seeks to explore candour鈥檚 errors, the various ways in which that same force can, along with its potential to heal, to brighten, to better, potentially damage, betray and degrade people, or degrade, betray and damage art. The poems to be presented, thus, are all artefacts of candour, or attempts at capturing it. They will take the hearer many places, from antique Carthage to XXth century Hungary, from suburban Quebec to the gates of Stalingrad. Drawing from memory and myth alike, they will seek to present a vision of candour as a revolutionary gesture in an era of constant deception, at once a salve for the bruises of the commonplace and a fiery destroyer of illusions.

James Dunnigan is a poet, scholar and fishmonger from Montreal. His first book of poetry, The Stained Glass Sequence, won the Frog Hollow Press chapbook competition in 2018. Shortlisted for the Gwendolyn MacEwen poetry prize in the same year, his work has also appeared in such places as Maisonneuve Magazine, CV2 and Montreal Writes. A second chapbook, Wine and Fire, is forthcoming with Cactus Press.

Vice Viscera: The Body Gives up What it Cannot Hold

The act of communication is inherently vulnerable for with it comes the risk of misinterpretation. In a worst-case scenario, words are weaponized against the speaker in a process of emotional evisceration. When trust is broken, the body responds. Trauma. Abuse. Heartbreak. Illness. 鈥淭rust your gut,鈥� can serve as a compass to navigate healing or be the source of further symptoms of distress but ultimately, the problem of vulnerability is one that lies at the heart of connecting with others鈥攖hrough poetry and
elsewhere. The poems that comprise this reading investigate the psychosomatic and imagine 鈥渂ody language鈥� as a process of catharsis: the corporeal as a vessel and a portal, bearing the potential to reveal and conceal the self鈥檚 secrets. They attempt to dissect, to explore physical intimacy as means for knowing others and anatomy, as a lexicon for turning things inside out.

Willow Loveday Little is a writer, poet and freelance editor whose work has appeared in places like The Dalhousie Review and On Spec. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from 麻豆AV, teaches ESL, and runs workshops at Sur Place Media. In 2018, she was a finalist for the QWF poetry mentorship. She curates 鈥淧ieces of Process,鈥� an art series that aims to demystify creative process by providing a space for emerging artists to engage in interdisciplinary conversations about art. Willow is currently agonizing over her first chapbook manuscript, Viscera.

Asa Boxer听is a poet and critic based in Montr茅al. Recent books include听Etymologies听(Anstruther Press, 2016),听Friar Biard's Primer to the New World听(Frog Hollow Press, 2013) and听Skullduggery听(Signal, 2011). His debut book,听The Mechanical Bird听(Signal, 2007), received the Canadian Authors Association Prize for Poetry, and his cycle "The Workshop" won the 2004 CBC/enRoute Literary Award. His work has appeared in collections such as听The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry, the听Oxford-Poetry Broadside Series, and听The Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2009 and 2012. His latest chapbook is听Field Notes from the Undead听(Interludes Press, 2018). Boxer is founder of the globally recognized Montreal International Poetry Prize.

Marc di Saverio鈥檚 poems and translations have appeared in such publications as听CNQ,听Maisonneuve,听Hazlitt, and听Partisan. Poet and critic Shane Neilson acknowledged di Saverio's first book,听Sanatorium Songs听(Palimpsest, 2013) as "the greatest poetry debut from the past 25 years." Di Saverio was recognized among the top ten of the world's finest English language haiku poets in 2011 by听Simply Haiku听Magazine, and in 2016, di Saverio was recipient of the City of Hamilton Arts Award For Best Emerging Writer.听In 2017, his poetry was broadcast on BBC Radio 3, his debut became a best seller in both the USA and Canada, and he published听Ship of Gold: the Essential Poems of 脡mile Nelligan, which听appeared in 2017 through Montr茅al鈥檚 V茅hicule Press. His听Crito di Volta: an Epic,听will be appearing in the spring of 2020.

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Please join听Poetry Matters听for a reading with Montreal poets听Stephanie Bolster听and听Susan Elmslie, featuring recent work.

Susan Elmslie鈥檚听second collection is听Museum of Kindness听(2017), shortlisted for听the听Quebec Writers鈥� Federation A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry.听Her first trade collection,听I, Nadja, and Other Poems听(2006) won the Quebec Writers鈥� Federation A.M. Klein Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the McAuslan First Book Prize, the League of Canadian Poets鈥� Pat Lowther Memorial Award and a ReLit Award.听 Her poems have also appeared in several Canadian journals, anthologies, and in a prize-winning chapbook,听When Your Body Takes to Trembling听(Cranberry Tree, 1996).听Elmslie teaches at Dawson College in Montreal.

Stephanie Bolster鈥檚听White Stone: The Alice Poems听won the Governor General's Literary Award听for poetry and the Gerald Lampert听Memorial Award听in 1998, and听Two Bowls of Milk听(1999) received the Archibald Lampman Award.听A Page from the Wonders of Life on Earth听(2012), was a finalist for the Pat Lowther Memorial听Award.听Work from听Long Exposure, her manuscript-in-progress, was a finalist for the听CBC Poetry Prize听in 2012. Bolster teaches creative writing at Concordia University in Montreal.

On some of Elmslie鈥檚 and Bolster鈥檚 work:

[Bolster鈥檚]听听is a book with a coherent vision of nature鈥攃onstructed or framed, both in the present and in the recent past鈥攖hrough zoos, aviaries, formal gardens, menageries鈥� Informed by the author鈥檚 grand tour of 鈥� zoos and gardens, these poems provide a strong lens for considering the many paradoxes of inter-species relations; they open up the possibility of honest, unsentimental elegy. The book is 鈥� a model of what might be called investigative poetry, taking the poet鈥檚 combination of perceptual acuity, craft, music and sensibility into these richly troubled places (prisons of, monuments to, museums for the lost natural world) where 鈥渁rcades sell postcards of old photographs of the arcades,鈥� and where questions of what it means to be human, to be animal, to be other and to be art are tangibly in the air.

,听Montreal poet Susan Elmslie's searching second collection of poetry, is a book that bravely examines "genres" familiar and hard to fathom: the school shooting, PTSD, raising a child who has a disability. It is a collection about thresholds big and small. In poems grounded in the domestic and in workaday life, poems burnished by silence and the weight of the unspoken, poems by turns ironic and sincere, Elmslie asks "What, exactly, is / unthinkable?" Confronted by "the mismatch / between our need for meaning / and our inability to find it," the poet reflects on the possibility of the miraculous in hard-won insights, in "a comparatively / uncomplicated joy."