Another great issue of Broken Pencil, of course. Especially the feature on the rise of books about punk rock. For so long no one felt they were marketable, now we have an explosion of them, and it’s wonderful.

In this issue I reviewed Mark Hazelbower’s You Can’t Get There from Here,⁽¹⁾ Cordelia Strube’s Milosz, Emma Healey’s Begin with the End in Mind, and last but not least, Nicole Markotic’s collection with the gorgeous cover, Bent at the Spine.

Some of BP‘s stories may end up on their new app, the Nub, so check that out too.⁽²⁾

Footnotes:

1. The image above my review of You Can’t Get There from Here isn’t the same as the cover of the zine I reviewed. It’s a little awkward as I go into detail about how much I liked the cover. I don’t know if the author sent another edition, or how it appeared there, but these things happen. [↩]
2. The front page looks a little funky on my Android, but it’s brand new, and I’m sure the kinks will be worked out as it goes along. [↩]

“Domestic Secrets,” a poem about my mother’s (horrendous) cooking, appears in the latest issue of Carousel Magazine. I love that my Mom wants a copy to frame. I hope she hangs it in her kitchen.

The launch party was on Saturday at O’Born Contemporary, an art gallery on Ossington, a lovely space.

I love Carousel‘s tag line, “hybrid literature for mutant readers” and their new logo looks fantastic. I had a subscription years ago, but had to let it lapse.⁽¹⁾ I’ve since remedied that.

It’s such a gorgeous magazine, I’m honoured to be included among its contributors.

Footnotes:

1. Subscribing to every literary and arts journal in Canada is kind of expensive, so each year I rotate journals. [↩]

My copy of Caesura came in yesterday, a little late and a little chewed, in a large plastic envelope from Canada Post claiming they weren’t to blame for its condition.

While the envelope was damaged, the journal was intact. Even more fitting, then, the note on the reverse, congratulating me for surviving the end of the world (again).

Inside, the end of the world issue of Caesura, the journal of the Poetry Center of San Jose, which contains my poem “A sonnet for my love on the eve of the zombie apocalypse” and the “sexy” bio I wrote about a few months ago.

It’s a neat journal, and this is a great issue to pick up. Check it out.