Blogs

This spring, students from Malvern Collegiate Institute's Writer's Craft class conducted interviews with Canadian poets as part of a class project. The interviews will be posted on The Great Canadian Writer's Craft page on Open Book throughout June. In this interview, Malvern Collegiate student Katya Vukovic speak with poet Mark Truscott (Nature, BookThug 2010).

Katya Vukovic:

It seems to me that the focus of literary prizes tends to be on the money lavished on writers — look how rich we’re making authors! — or on speaking of compromise candidates in absolute sentences – this is the best book (the jurors could all agree they didn’t dislike).

There is also the claim, most often deployed by the Gillers, of how popular books become after they are shortlisted (a sort of literary Buffett effect).* But in the rush to crown King/Queen Book For The Year or to sell skidloads of titles, what seems so oddly minimized at times is that literary shortlists are simply presenting books that juries think we should read.

We are now entering the heart of literary award season — the League of Canadian Poets just announced the winners of its set of awards, the Griffin Poetry Prize will be awarded this week and the Trilliums next week — which means we’re also entering the season of complaining about literary awards.

The general arc of complaints tend to go something like this: “That person shouldn’t have won because his/her book is [adjective]. This book should have won instead because it’s much more [different adjective].”

These reactions aren’t surprising, and we cannot reasonably expect a three-person jury’s choice to line up with our own aesthetic most (or even some) of the time.

This spring, students from Malvern Collegiate Institute's Writer's Craft class conducted interviews with Canadian poets as part of a class project. The interviews will be posted on The Great Canadian Writer's Craft page on Open Book throughout June. In this interview, Malvern Collegiate student Claire speaks with artist and poet Nikki Reimer ([sic], Frontenac House 2010).

Claire:

A WEEKLY ROUNDUP OF INTERNET CURIOSITIES FROM THE BOOK WORLD

Herbarium
Here are Emily Dickinson's pressed flowers. I don't know why.

Dominoes
Seattle public library breaks book-domino record (video).

Sign 'o the Times
Venerable antiquarian David Mason says that after being in business for 50 years, his store will be gone in two years.

Odd

It is Friday and like the city, I am under a very particular and dreary weather. Among other things, my throat is rather scratchy so today I'm going to mail it in and let others do the talking for me.

First, are you 23 or under? Do you want to write poems? If so, you need to read Kent Johnson's "33 Rules of Poetry for Poets 23 and Under". It is also worth reading for those of you who have at one time been 23 or under and/or have wanted at some point to write poems.

This spring, students from Malvern Collegiate Institute's Writer's Craft class conducted interviews with Canadian poets as part of a class project. The interviews will be posted on The Great Canadian Writer's Craft page on Open Book throughout June. In this interview, Sonnet L’Abbé answers student Alysha Anderson's questions while on the road for an unusual project: to prepare commemoration of Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017. She sets the scene where the interview will take place through this video.

It’s already come to this! Only the second post in my tenure as Open Book: Toronto’s Writer in Residence and I’m already writing about things I’m doing. So, to get it out of the way: I’m reading at Pivot at the Press Club tomorrow evening.

This is notable in that it is the first reading I will give in which I’m determined to have Fun.*

*I generally have a sweaty-palmed approach to reading. The first time I read a poem out loud I was pulled aside by a few audience members afterwards and they kindly (and correctly) suggested that I needed to get better because I was, basically, the worst ever. I like to think that I’ve gotten better since then.

This spring, students from Malvern Collegiate Institute's Writer's Craft class conducted interviews with Canadian poets as part of a class project. The interviews will be posted on The Great Canadian Writer's Craft page on Open Book throughout June. In this interview, students Nigel Feor and Nick speak with artist and writer Steve Venright (Floors of Enduring Beauty, Mansfield Press, 2007).

Nick:

Hello, dear Open Book readers!

My name’s Andrew Faulkner. You might remember me from that time I almost recycled a Troy McLure joke in the first paragraph of my introductory post. I co-curate the chapbook press The Emergency Response Unit and Coach House Books recently published Need Machine, my first book of poetry. More than you could ever want to know about me can be found in two Open Book interviews.