Celebrating Canadian Poetry

April is National Poetry Month, and what better way to celebrate than by curling up with the UOP’s new volume of poetry, coming out later this month.

Ricochet, by Seymour Mayne, is a collection of word sonnets – fourteen line poems with only one word per line. Though the poems are short and sweet, including a single sentence (sometimes two,) these sonnets create a world of meaning with their depth and complexity. Seymour Mayne is the author, editor or translator of more than fifty books including Les pluies de septembre (Éditions du Noroît, 2008), and Light Industry (Mosaic Press, 2000).

This bilingual edition includes a version of each poem in both French and English, which presented the additional challenge of translating the sonnets. The brave and capable translator is Sabine Huynh, a novelist, short story writer and a poet in her own right.

Here’s a look at the word sonnet Calendar and its translation. Enjoy!

Calendar

She
awoke
Monday,
it
was
April
on
the
calendar,
December
on
the
snowcovered
ground.

Le calendrier

Elle
se
réveilla
lundi,
le calendrier
indiquait
avril,
la
neige
recouvrant
le
sol,
décembre.

If you would like more information on Ricochet, check out the UOP website: http://www.press.uottawa.ca/book/ricochet

Celebrating Al Purdy

Today is the 10th anniversary of the day that Al Purdy, one of Canada's most celebrated poets, succumbed to cancer and died in North Saanich, B.C, at the age of 81.

We feel it is only appropriate, particularly since it is National Poetry Month, to highlight his life and accomplishments on a day that has since been named "Al Purdy Day" in Canada.

Purdy published his first poem when he was 13 years old, and learned right away that poetry was not going to be a lucrative career -- he earned a dollar.

Unlike many poets, Purdy didn’t hit his stride until his 40s. It wasn't until 1965, at the age of 47, that Purdy won his first Governor General's Award for his book of poetry The Cariboo Horses. But throughout his life he was driven to write, and write he did. All told he published 33 books of poetry, several essays, a novel, and a two-volume memoir.

As a tribute, here's an adaptation of one of Purdy's most famous poems, At the Quinte Hotel. The short film stars The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie, and is narrated by the poet himself.



To learn more about Al Purdy, or the Purdy A-frame project, which is raising funds to purchase Purdy’s former property and establish a poet-in-residence program, please visit the following website: http://www.harbourpublishing.com/PurdyAFrame/index.html

You may also want to check out The Ivory Thought: Essays on Al Purdy from the University of Ottawa Press.

Poetry to tap your feet to

Some poems get stuck in your head, like cheesy pop songs. Their rhythms enchant you, their alliterations seduce you and you find yourself saying them over and over in your head.

I recently had the pleasure of rediscovering some of my favorite childhood poems by Dennis Lee from Alligator Pie, Garbage Delight and Jelly Belly with a young friend of mine. Reading the poems out loud to her, I quickly realized how familiar the rhythms felt and the words and phrases of the poems welled up from my memory.

Here’s one of my favorites from Garbage Delight:

(Read it out loud to get the full effect.)

Suzy grew a moustache,
A moustache,
A moustache,
Suzy grew a moustache,
And Polly grew a beard.

Suzy looked peculiar,
Peculiar,
Peculiar,
Suzy looked peculiar,
And Polly looked weird.

Suzy got the garden-shears,
Garden-shears,
The garden-shears,
Suzy got the garden-shears,
And Polly got a bomb.

Now Suzy’s face is smooth again,
Smooth again,
Smooth again,
Suzy’s face is smooth again,
And Polly’s face is gone.

This is a great example of the brilliance of Dennis Lee’s children’s poems. Sound is the first and foremost component, even if it results in nonsense and the absurd. (Maybe especially if it results in nonsense and the absurd!) And it’s kind of weird too. I don’t know if this poem would find its way into a collection of children’s poetry today. And that would be a shame. Because my young friend giggled and giggled when I read her this one and it would be very sad to lose that.

Poetry Events in Ottawa

As promised, here are some poetry events going on in Ottawa in the next little while!



Canadian Author’s Association Poetry Circle
Time: Thursday April 22, 6:00 pm.
Place: Collected Works, 1242 Wellington Street
More information: www.canauthors-ottawa.org/writerscircles.shtml

Café Nostalgica Music & Poetry Open Mic
Time: every Thursday at 8pm
Place: 603 Cumberland, University of Ottawa Campus
More information: gsaed@uottawa.ca

Urban Legends Poetry Slam
Time: Friday April 23, 6:30pm
Place: Rooster's Cafe, Carleton University
More information: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Legends-Poetry-Slam/101529778283

Poetry Cabaret: Spotlight on Talon Books
Time: Saturday, April 24, 2010; 6:30pm
Place: Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street
More information: http://www.writersfestival.org/events.html

Poetry Cabaret: Pan-Canadian Poetics
Time: Monday, April 26, 2010; 8:00pm
Place: Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street
More information: http://www.writersfestival.org/events.html

Did you know that National Poetry Month begins today?

National Poetry Month began in Canada in April 1999 by the League of Canadian Poets. The event aims to bring together schools, publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, and poets all across the country to celebrate the wonderful world of poetry and its important place in Canadian culture.

In the spirit of the celebration, we will be stretching our imaginations and flexing our poetry muscles to bring you what we consider the best of poetry. Check back to read about poems and poets that we love, poetry that we’ve published, and perhaps even some that we’ve written. We’ll also keep you up to date on readings, poetry slams, and other poetry-based events going on in the Ottawa region.

Feel free to let us know what you like or don’t like, or let us know if you’ve got something poetry-related going on!

If you want more information on National Poetry Month, or would like to request a free poster, check out the League’s website: http://www.poets.ca/linktext/npm.htm