Prompted by Stephen Cain’s list, and just in time for the new year, I offer two lists of the poetry books from the past decade I thought most about:
Canadian

Lack Lyrics, Jay MillAr
Ligatures, Donato Mancini
Human Resources, Rachel Zolf
A Penny Dreadful, Gustave Morin
The Commons, Stephen Collis
Apostrophe, Bill Kennedy and Darren Wershler-Henry
The Men, Lisa Robertson
Flatland, derek beaulieu
Blert, Jordan [...]

It’s good for you. It’s bad for you too.
(Open post for link.)

I’ll be reading with Ken Belford, who will be making a rare Toronto appearance. I figure this might be a good chance to get my head around my new manuscript, which is pretty much done I think.
Very much looking forward to hearing Belford read.
938 Bathurst Street (2 Blocks North of Bloor)
For more info: jay@bookthug.com [...]

All this, I realize, means nothing to you. Your principle (sic) value is your lack of reason which might permit you to jump the track in time to prevent you from going over the precipice. It’s a great virtue. I admire it but I could never follow you. I can only say that occasionally you [...]

“a slight collectivisation of ideas and material” (Simon Cutts)

Peter Culley has been posting some interesting photographs of trees lately.

Elizabeth Bachinsky, Jonathan Ball, Ken Belford, Gregory Betts, Ryan Bird, Rob Budde (on Ken Belford), Stephen Collis, Jesse Ferguson, Janis Butler Holm, Jake Kennedy, Alana Madison, Joseph Massey, Chuck Stebelton, Hugh Thomas.

Available here.

Chris Piuma’s response to Daniel f. Bradley’s complaint about the “cute and silly” tendency in Canadian poetry begins as follows:

I’ve certainly read Eunoia more than once (or, at least, some sections). But I hardly see what that has to do with anything; you never step in the same river twice, as they say, and the [...]

Some quotes:

The aim of such study is to develop—through experience—by trial and error—an eye for color.This means, specifically, seeing color actionas well as feeling color relatedness.
•

This way of searching will lead from a visual realizationof the interaction between color and colorto an awareness of the interdependence of color with form and placement;with quantity (which measures [...]

Today Sam tore up about half the pile of drawings that sits on a table in his playroom. He didn’t seem at all upset. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit. It also seemed that he stopped primarily out of boredom. I think this may turn out to have been an [...]