Hell yes. Some of the city's best short story writers are getting together for an event, May 19th at the VPL Central Branch.

RSVP here:

vpl.bibliocommons.com/events/69b1d...

AI theft is the icebox plums of our time.

A rare Vancouver reading from Phoebe Wang! Phoebe will be joining Joanne Leow in launching their @pressassembly.bsky.social and @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social books at Iron Dog Books.

April 30th, 6:30 PM, details here:

irondogbooks.com/events/48383...

3 haiku

Cover of Applause for a cloud by Sayumi Kamakura

First page of Applause for a Cloud by Sayumi Kamakura (trans. by James Shea) #shortpoemsunday

It's here! I've got four poems in this gorgeous anthology on the big occasions of life and the small ones in between, edited by Sina Queyras and published by @coachhousebooks.bsky.social.

Featuring Kaveh Akbar, Michael Ondaatje, Diane Seuss, Karen Solie, and many more:

chbooks.com/Books/O/On-O...

Poetry In Transit Now celebrating its 30th year, Poetry in Transit showcases BC poets on TransLink and BC Transit vehicles. In partnership with TransLink and BC Transit, Books BC produces a collection of poetry car...

A reminder to all BC poets with books out between September 1st, 2023 and September 1st, 2026: submissions to have a poem included in the Poetry in Transit program are due by April 19th!

Submissions must be made by your publisher. All the details are here:

Another, with Rahat Kurd, is forthcoming. Stay tuned!

An Utterance Overhears Itself and Doubles Back: An Interview with Joseph Kidney The two poets talk about perceptions of time, playing with the units of language, and things beyond oneself.

And here's an interview with @josephkidney.bsky.social:

The Lifelong Process of Knowing Our Minds Can Be Beautiful: An Interview with Amber Dawn The two authors talk about perverting pain, literary influences, and cultivating one's awareness of body and mind.

If you want to learn more about some of these books, I have interviews with two of the authors up online, both for @readlocalbc.bsky.social. Here's one with @amberdawnwrites.bsky.social:

Congratulations to Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize finalists (@bcyukonbookprizes.bsky.social):

Amber Dawn, Buzzkill Clamshell
Lorna Goodison, The Inferno
Joseph Kidney, Devotional Forensics
Rahat Kurd, The Book of Z
Bruce McRae, Boxing in the Bone Orchard

A4. I like that folks use poetry to learn to improve other writing, but it's unproductive to come to an art with an extractive mindset. You have to write poems because you're compelled to write poems! Cross-genre learning comes along the way, but that has to be secondary to loving the art itself.

A5. Concision, precision, repetition and return, musicality, juxtaposition, surprise...

A3. I write poems! In my prose, I use poetry to inspire the shape of short stories and essays.

A2. Reading is more important than workshopping, by a wide margin. This doesn't mean workshopping isn't helpful, though. I don't think it's true that you only learn about writing poetry from poems, though - reading great prose can teach you a lot about writing poetry, too.

A1. You can learn from poetry that it is the superior art and you should have been writing poems all along 😜.

Boycott success

Huge BDS win on cultural front

Giller Prize is no longer partnered w Indigo Books, Azrieli Foundation & Scotiabank

In 2023, comrades were arrested protesting the Giller. Then, thousands of writers & book workers refused participation.

Giller has now separated from all genocide-invested sponsors.

🌹 OUT NOW 🌹

Happy pub day to New-Fangled Rose by Sue Sinclair!

Like a rose blooming out of season, the poems in this collection are unexpected, unforgettably beautiful, and an unwavering gesture toward the slow emergency of climate crisis.

gooselane.com/NewFangledRose

Lucky friend!

I am a true Canadian patriot. (Saluting, with tears in my eyes, as the credits roll on Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie in the Cineplex Odeon at the abandoned mall.)

Stephen Lewis, Canadian politician, diplomat and journalist, dead at 88 | CBC News Former politician, diplomat and activist Stephen Lewis has died at age 88.

Stephen Lewis was one of those moral centres our country has far too few of these days. A life well lived.

If true, then all hope for our nation is lost...

I'm really looking forward to this book. Doubly-so now, with your enthusiasm for it!

Padlocking this one to my bookshelf just in case anyone gets any ideas.

Poetry people, the new issue of @fiddlehd.bsky.social is bonkers.

Carl Phillips, Alexandra Oliver, Emily Davidson, Julie Bruck, an interview with Mary Dalton, and so much more. Check it out!

(The first poem is by Carl Phillips, the second by Julie Bruck.)

“A Vehicle for Seeing Through and Beyond”: The Life and Poetry of Sandy Shreve BC poets and friends honour her legacy.

We remember Sandy through the words of the poets and friends on whom she left a lasting impact. Building on a Vancouver Centennial project from a decade before, she started the annual Poetry in Transit campaign which celebrates its 30th year in 2026.

www.readlocalbc.ca/2026/03/13/a...

Just arrived! If you need me in the next few months, you'll know where to find me.

So cool!

“A Vehicle for Seeing Through and Beyond”: The Life and Poetry of Sandy Shreve BC poets and friends honour her legacy.

Thank you to @readlocalbc.bsky.social for this really lovely article on Sandy Shreve's life and legacy.

Sending and Receiving Letters: An Interview With Nadia Ragbar - EVENT Nadia Ragbar lives in Toronto with her partner and son. She has previously published her flash fiction work in This Magazine, as well as Broken Pencil. The Pugilist and the Sailor is her debut novel. ...

Melissa McDonald interviews Nadia Ragbar about her debut @invisibooks.bsky.social novel, "The Pugilist and the Sailor," for @eventmags.bsky.social: