Strangers in the Wild, pt. 3

 Strangers continues rooting about in the woods, turning up all sorts of delights! (You can read part one here and part two here.)

Kim Fahner published a very thoughtful review of Strangers in Periodicities: A Journal of Poetry and Poetics. Here's how Kim ends the review:

This collection is stunning in its poignant intimacy, in how the poet opens the door to his readers, inviting them to listen to his stories, but also bravely nudging them to consider their own recollections of how memory and story are woven into one another.

You can read the whole review here.

Over at The Ormsby Review, Linda Rogers has provided some coverage of Strangers as part of an eleven (11!) book omnibus review of "pandemic books." An excerpt:

This is the book that reminds us of the steps in finding coherence in fear. “Don’t be a stranger” the poet reminds himself and us as life slips through our fingers, as every one of his fresh and vital poems reminds us of the firm grip of the newborn.

You can read the whole review (which also covers wonderful books by Junie Desil, Patrick Friesen, Stephen Collis and more) here. 

Of all the cultural criticism the book's received, though, nothing has a hope of surpassing this Twitter post by David Ly, from his thread comparing Canadian poetry books and Lady Gaga outfits:

The whole thread is a delight - do check it out. And check out my interview with David about his debut collection, Mythical Man, here.

More generally, I've been very moved by all the poem and cover photos from Strangers that readers are posting to Twitter. I'm not sure if it indicates that the book is getting out there in the world more than my others, or if it's just that this is what people do on Twitter now, but stuff like this and this and this and this and this and this and this: 

brings me such joy.

That said, I like interacting with human beings in real life even more so! So if you're in Vancouver, check out the upcoming "Strangers Summer Series" events (including one in Douglas Park tonight!). I've also received word that I'll be reading at the Vancouver Writers' Fest this year (a first for one of my own books). Stay tuned for more info on that (and also some secret emoji-related nonsense I'm brewing up). 

If you're not in Vancouver, I won't be touring this book around, but the recording of my book launch (with Luke Hathaway, Sadiqa de Meijer and Sue Sinclair!) is now available online:

It's a weird experience, launching a book entirely from your home town (and mostly from your home office, which doubles as your family's living room), but looking back over all this goodness, it's hard to say it's a bad one.