Some quarantine content from me to you

The release of three of my promotional efforts for Best Canadian Poetry 2019 have conveniently coincided with the worst pandemic to hit our planet in over a century. So if your quarantine could be spiced up with a little "Rob Taylor yammering on aimlessly," do I have some links for you.

Page Fright Podcast, Episode 26: Rob Taylor

Following up on Page Fright's Best Canadian Poetry special episode, I sat down with the podcast's host, Andrew French, to discuss writing and editing (and grounds-keeping, and Cuban crabs, and former Canucks coaches, and...)

Page Fright is doing a wonderful job of providing an online platform for Vancouver poets, established and "up-and-coming" alike. Do check it out if you haven't yet.

A Different Rhythm: Editing Against the Clock, Literary Review of Canada

I wrote a fun little essay for LRC about editing Best Canadian Poetry 2019. I focused on all the silly ways I made space/time to read 2,133 poems on top of my normal hectic schedule. The essay features my favourite sentence I've ever written: "Joggers rubbernecked."

Elm & Ampersand Podcast, Episode 14: Amanda Jernigan and Rob Taylor

Recorded during my recent trip through the Maritimes, this podcast features Amanda Jernigan, Douglas Walbourne-Gough and me talking with hosts Rebecca Salazar and Jenna Lyn Albert about our experiences with Best Canadian Poetry 2019 and What the Poets Are Doing. Poetry Power Couples, and my tip for young writers re: poetry power couples, make an appearance, too.

Elm & Ampersand is the Maritimes' premiere poetry podcast, so be sure to subscribe and give some of their previous episodes a listen.

Maritimes Readings Report

I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the Maritimes just before the end of the world. We gathered in large rooms and shook hands and even hugged occasionally. It was truly a different world (early March, that is, not the Maritimes, which were basically Vancouver cosplaying as England?).

The trip started with a week-long residency at Saint Mary's University, which included a public reading celebrating both Best Canadian Poetry 2019 and What the Poets Are Doing. Absurdly, this meant my opening acts were art gallery curator Robin Metcalfe, BCP contributor Annick MacAskill, and WTPAD contributor Sue Goyette. And to top it off, the event was hosted by Amanda Jernigan. Needless to say, it was a hell of an honour to be a part of the show.

Robin Metcalfe, Amanda Jernigan, me, Annick MacAskill and Sue Goyette

My reading at the event, in the SMU Art Gallery

Amanda and I then went on a quick blitz of New Brunswick, a blitz which was slowed considerably by a busted gear shift on the outskirts of Petitcodiac, NB:

I think this photo kinda speaks for itself?

Avid readers of the blog will remember that, while racing between What the Poets Are Doing launches in BC, Amanda and I came very close to missing a ferry. (It turned out I couldn't tell Victoria highways apart.) Well, this time it was Amanda's turn (well, her truck's turn) to nearly cost us a reading.

But we were rescued, with minutes to spare, by Petitcodiac's librarian, the poet and essayist Danny Jacobs, who taped a "Back in 10 minutes" sign on the door and drove out to the highway off-ramp to rescue us. We made the reading, which was lovely, and I even managed to match my sweater with the official Petitcodiac Library reading chair!

Danny, Amanda and me

After the reading, Danny taped the sign back on the door (I valiantly assisted) and deposited us back on the highway to await the tow truck:

It arrived soon enough and after a bit of backtracking we secured another vehicle and were on our way to Fredericton, arriving only 13 hours after we left Halifax (which horrified everyone we told in New Brunswick, but honestly, for a BC boy, felt kind of average).

Amanda Jernigan, meet Corey's Towing. Corey's Towing, Amanda Jernigan.

The next day we took part in the "Poetry Pile On," an event whose name I settled on because "Poetry Pile Up" felt too violent (and almost prescient, given how we lurched off the highway on the way there.)

Real posters! On real event boards around the city! For poetry!

Similar to the Halifax event, this one featured BCP 2019 and WTPAD contributors (Douglas Walbourne-Gough and Rebecca Salazar, and Amanda Jernigan, Sue Sinclair and Nick Thran, respectively). 

The event was a hit, with a full room and excellent readings all around. Sue and Nick, in particular, gave some of the most interesting readings from WTPAD that I've heard to date, pulling out select quotes from a wide range of interviews that cohered to particular themes. The Fredericton event marked the last formal "launch" for both anthologies, and I couldn't think of a better group to wrap things up with.

After the reading, Amanda, Douglas, Rebecca and I skidded over to Jenna Lyn Albert's apartment to record an episode of her and Rebecca's Elm & Ampersand podcast. You can listen to that here.

Early the next morning I was on my flight home, utterly unaware that getting in a plane would come to seem reckless in just a week's time. It made me all the more aware of all the connections we're missing out on, as writers and readers, during this self-isolation. Here's hoping we make up for it with gusto once we're released back into the world.

And at least we can still read books! I came home with a bundle. It must be hard to live in Nova Scotia, surrounded by Gaspereau Press temptations every time you walk into a bookstore... 

Here's a photo of some of the books I came home with, which I shared on Twitter with the hashtag #socialdistancereadinglist. Please consider joining in!

Only six of these are Gaspereau books, because I have restraint.

Much thanks to Amanda Jernigan and everyone at Saint Mary's for making the trip possible, and to everyone who helped fund, transport, feed and house me along the way. It was a joyful blur.

Maritimes Mini-Tour

For the first time in my life I'm voyaging to those fabled verdant lands beyond Quebec. I'll be spending a week at Saint Mary's University as Writer-in-Residence, then popping over into New Brunswick with Amanda Jernigan. I'll have three public events, each celebrating the poets in Best Canadian Poetry 2019 and/or What the Poets Are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation (I'll be reading a poem of my own here or there, too). I'd love if any and all in the area could make it!

The details:

SMU Reading Series
Wednesday, March 4th, 7 PM
St. Mary’s University Art Gallery
5865 Gorsebrook Avenue
Loyola Building, 1st Floor
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Featuring: Sue Goyette, Robin Metcalfe, Amanda Jernigan, Annick MacAskill, Rob Taylor

Writers on the River
Saturday, March 7, 3 PM
Petitcodiac Public Library
6 Kay Street, suite 101
Petitcodiac, N.B.
Featuring: Amanda Jernigan and Rob Taylor

Poetry Pile On: A Celebration of Best Canadian Poetry 2019 and What the Poets Are Doing
Sunday, March 8th, 2 PM
Westminster Books
88 York St, Fredericton
Featuring: Amanda Jernigan, Rebecca Salazar, Sue Sinclair, Rob Taylor, Nick Thran, Douglas Walbourne-Gough

What the Poets Are Doing - Ontario Launches and Readings

I'll be racing through Ontario at the end of March and early April, launching What the Poets Are Doing in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and Kingston (yes, in that nonsensical order - what can I say, I love driving up and down the 401).

The book has been getting some lovely reviews of late, and I hope to carry that energy into the launches!

Those events (with links to the Facebook pages in their titles):

What the Poets are Doing Toronto Launch
Thursday, March 28th, 6:30 PM
Queen Books
914 Queen Street E, Toronto
Featuring: Linda Besner, Karen Solie, Phoebe Wang and me!
Poster:

 

What the Poets are Doing Ottawa Launch
Saturday, March 30th, 4:30 PM
Knox Presbyterian Church
120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa
Featuring: Linda Besner, Armand Garnet Ruffo, Phoebe Wang and me!
This event is part of VerseFest Ottawa!

What the Poets are Doing Kingston Launch
Wednesday, April 3rd, 7 PM
Novel Idea Bookstore
156 Princess St, Kingston
Featuring: Ben Ladouceur, Steven Heignton, Armand Garnet Ruffo and me!
Poster:

 

Three Book Poetry Launch (in Hamilton)

Tuesday, 2 April 2019, 7 PM
The Printed Word
69 King St W, Dundas
Featuring: Jaclyn Desforges, Elizabeth Ross, and me. Hosted by Marilyn Gear Pilling!
Poster:

What the Poets Are Doing - Some Responses and Excerpts

It's been just over a month since we launched What the Poets Are Doing in Victoria and Vancouver (photos here!). Since then, the book has been getting some wonderful coverage, including a wonderful review from Tara Henley in the Toronto Star.

“If you think an entire book about the poetic process — chronicled through email interviews, no less — sounds depressing or dull, you are not alone. You are, however, delightfully mistaken. This gem of a book sees several generations open up on writing, loss and life, and is a riveting read, akin to stumbling on private letters between your most literary and intriguing friends.”

WTPAD also made the Writers' Trust's 2018 Books of the Year, thanks to Journey Prize winner Shashi Bhat, who said of the book:

"As a creative writing instructor, I’m finding so much in here that I can share with my students to show the kind of lateral thinking involved in writing poetry, and that poetry isn’t written in a vacuum, but reflects and responds to the world we live in.”

That quote gave me a thrill, in that reaching young writers (or young maybe-I'll-be-a-writer?s) is one of my strongest desires for the book. I'd love to see Creative Writing and English classes take on the text. More generally, I've been pleasantly surprised by how many non-poets have responded very positively to the book - as both a way in to poetry, and a way to look out at the world through the poets' eyes.

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Further coverage for the book has come from Read Local BC and The Source newspaper, which interviewed myself and Raoul Fernandes respectively:

Rob Taylor interview with Monica Miller (Read Local BC)
Raoul Fernandes interview with Brittany Thomson (The Source)

Raoul, on the nature of the book:

“I think it can be a wonderful thing to overhear people who care deeply about what they do, and talk about what it means to them.”

On the same theme, while speaking about Where the Words Come From (for which WTPAD serves as a spiritual sequel) in my interview, I mentioned:

"Where the Words Come From came out when I was 19 and only just starting to find my way to being a poet (a long path which I am still walking). But how does one “find their way to being a poet”? Through poems, of course, but also other means—literary readings, critical essays, social gatherings between writers. I like to think of Where the Words Come From as having been a combination of those last three things in book form, which was vital for me as I didn’t know any writers personally, and didn’t (and don’t) like actual parties. In just being there, in the room of that book with all those writers, I got a sense of what a life in writing might be.

I hope this new book can serve the same role for prospective writers and readers alike: a welcoming into this strange world of writerly concerns, habits, fears, jokes, and acts of faith. And for those already fully committed to poetry, I hope it serves to reinvigorate, to take them back to the source, that first feeling."

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In addition to reviews and interviews, we've had great support from a number of online magazines in hosting short excerpts from the book itself (a couple more are still to come):

Dionne Brand and Souvankham Thommavongsa excerpt at The Puritan
Marilyn Dumont and Katherena Vermette excerpt at PRISM international
Sina Queyras and Canisia Lubrin excerpt at Rabble.ca
Russell Thornton and Phoebe Wang excerpt at EVENT

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If you haven't got a copy of WTPAD yet, and any of the above intrigued you, you can pick one up at the usual places (or, until the end of the month, straight from me). Some of those links:

At Your Local Bookstore!
Harbour Publishing Website
Chapters.ca
Amazon.ca
Amazon Kindle
Kobo Ebook
Nook Ebook

Or, please, request a copy at your local library - few things make me happier than the thought of a reader stumbling upon this book in the stacks and having it worm its way into their life, as Where the Words Come From did with mine.

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Hopefully there will be more updates along these lines in the new year, and the book will only continue to gain momentum. Regardless, it's been a wonderful first month!

Some What The Poets Are Doing Launch Photos

What the Poets Are Doing was officially launched (on the West Coast, at least) on November 17th and 18th, with back-to-back events in Victoria and Vancouver.

The Victoria event was a co-production with Best Canadian Poetry, which had recently released its 2018 edition, while the Vancouver event was partnered up with the Dead Poets Reading Series' November reading, which took place immediately following the launch.

Both events were, well, really quite lovely. Good thought, plenty of laughter, and some damn fine poems.

Here are a few photos from the two day blitz!

Best Canadian Poetry series editor Anita Lahey kicks off the Victoria launch.

waaseyaa'sin christine sy reads her poem from Best Canadian Poetry 2018.

Kayla Czaga reads from What the Poets Are Doing,
and cracks everyone up with her Winona Ryder poem.

Amanda Jernigan reads excerpts from What the Poets Are Doing alongside a poem
from Best Canadian Poetry, for which she serves as Advisory Editor.

After I made a wrong turn on the highway, Amanda and I came within five cars of not making
the ferry back to the mainland (and missing the Vancouver launch!). Here's Amanda
celebrating our crooked end-of-the-ferry parking spot!

Me, opening the Vancouver launch of What the Poets Are Doing.

Arleen Paré, a Victoria-based Best Canadian Poetry 2018 contributor who found herself 
on the wrong side of the Salish Sea that weekend, reads first at the Vancouver event.

Raoul Fernandes reads from What the Poets Are Doing, and adds
an amazing poem by his conversation partner, Tim Bowling.

Russell Thornton discusses his conversation with Phoebe Wang,
while pointing at the skylight for some reason.

My crack team of book sellers (Marta, Lucas and Diane Tucker)
are all business.

Lucas, already in training for the fourth edition in the Poets in Conversation
series (which, at the current rate of one every 16 years, will come out in 2050).

The November 2018 Dead Poets Reading Series Lineup: Phanuel Antwi (June Jordan),
Amanda Jernigan (Richard Outram), Carleigh Baker (Gwendolyn MacEwen),
Bibiana Tomasic (Audre Lorde).

The Dead Poets event was my last as one of the coordinators of the series, which I helped "resurrect" alongside Diane Tucker and Christopher Levenson back in 2011 (you can see more photos from the reading here). It's tough to leave the series behind, but necessary if I want even a sliver of time here or there for writing. The DPRS is in wonderful hands, though - just look at this incredible organizing team!

We'll be heading out east with Where the Words Come From in the new year - if you live west of the Rockies, I hope to see you soon enough!

Interview with Read Local BC

Thank you to Read Local BC for this interview about editing What the Poets Are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation:

WHAT ARE THOSE CANADIAN POETS DOING, ROB TAYLOR?

Monica at Read Local BC asked so many thoughtful questions that this interview covers my thinking behind the book and how it came together more thoroughly than the book's introduction (which includes more jokes about shipping heiresses and ulcers, but less about cat cafes).

If you're interested in the book and you live in Victoria or Vancouver, please do come out to one of our launches this weekend!

Victoria Launch of What the Poets Are Doing

The evening before the Vancouver launch, we will be launching What the Poets Are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation in Victoria! The event will be a co-launch with Best Canadian Poetry 2018.

The launch will feature Yvonne Blomer, Kayla Czaga, Amanda Jernigan, Sonnet L’Abbé, Anita Lahey, waaseyaa’sin christine sy, and me. It will take place at the Bent Mast restaurant.

The event's full details:

Awash in Poetry: Best Canadian Poetry 2018 and What the Poets Are Doing Victoria Co-LaunchSaturday, November 17th, 2018, 7 PM (Doors 6:30 PM)
The Bent Mast Restaurant and Lounge
512 Simcoe Street, Victoria
Featuring: Yvonne Blomer, Kayla Czaga, Amanda Jernigan, Sonnet L’Abbé, Anita Lahey, waaseyaa’sin christine sy, and Rob Taylor.
Free! Books for sale.

You can RSVP for the event via Facebook here.

If you're in Victoria, I'd love to see you on the 17th!

Vancouver Launch of "What The Poets Are Doing"

Come join me in celebrating the release of What the Poets Are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation!

The Vancouver launch will feature readings and discussion with four of the book's contributors: Elizabeth Bachinsky, Raoul Fernandes, Amanda Jernigan and Russell Thornton. Hosted by your truly.

The launch will take place in the brand new Montalbano Family Theatre, which is part of the newly redesigned top floors of the Vancouver Public Library'sCentral Branch (8th Floor). Space will be limited, so come early.

The event's full details:

What the Poets Are Doing Vancouver Launch
Sunday, November 18th, 2018, 1:00 PM
Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
Montalbano Family Theatre, 8th Floor
Featuring: Elizabeth Bachinsky, Raoul Fernandes, Amanda Jernigan and Russell Thornton. Hosted by Rob Taylor.
Free! Books for sale.

And stick around after the reading for the Dead Poets Reading Series' November reading, which will take place in the same venue at 3 PM.

You can RSVP for the event via Facebook here. If you can't make it, you can still participate in the afternoon's events by tweeting your questions for the poets to #WhatThePoets!

And if you're not in Vancouver - we might be coming your way soon. Launches in other parts of the country are being organized as we speak. Stay tuned. For now, you can always pre-order the book via your local book store, or Chapters or Amazon.

I'd love to see you on the 18th!

November Dead Poets Lineup

The next Dead Poets Reading Series event will take place at the Vancouver Public Library's Central Branch on November 18th, 2018, from 3-4:30 PM. The reading will be hosted in the Montalbano Family Theatre, a brand new theatre space on the library's 8th floor (learn more about our venue here).

It will feature:

June Jordan (1936 - 2002), read by Phanuel Antwi
Audre Lorde (1934 - 1992), read by Bibiana Tomasic
Gwendolyn MacEwen (1941 - 1987), read by Carleigh Baker
Richard Outram (1930 - 2005), read by Amanda Jernigan

Attendance is free. For more info visit the DPRS website.

This event will be a double-bill with the Vancouver launch of What the Poets Are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation, which will take place at 1 PM in the same space.

I hope to see you on November 18th!

What the Poets are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation

I'm excited to announce a new book I've been working on (with many co-conspirators): What the Poets are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation will be published this November from Nightwood Editions!

As devoted Roll of Nickels readers will know, I've long been a big fan of the Tim Bowling edited 2002 collection of interviews, Where the Words Come From. I've posted many quotes from the book over the years, and I interviewed Tim, in part about Where the Words Come From, last year.

It was in rereading that book, in preparation for the interview, that I realized it had been sixteen years since it was published, a time in which an entirely new generation of writers had emerged (and another had risen to prominence). I sent a query to Nightwood, and a year-and-a-bit later here we are!

This new book will feature two younger generations of Canadian poets talking craft, politics, community, and all sorts of tangents (poets, you know?).

It will include conversations between:

Elizabeth Bachinsky and Kayla Czaga
Tim Bowling and Raoul Fernandes
Dionne Brand and Souvankham Thammavongsa
Marilyn Dumont and Katherena Vermette
Sue Goyette and Linda Besner
Steven Heighton and Ben Ladouceur
Sina Queyras and Canisia Lubrin
Armand Garnet Ruffo and Liz Howard
Karen Solie and Amanda Jernigan
Russell Thornton and Phoebe Wang
+ an afterword co-written by Nick Thran and Sue Sinclair

The book will also include sample poems from the poets, connected to elements of the conversations.

It will be a fun literary party, but in book form!

My hope is it will inspire writers young and old (as the 2002 book did, and does, for me), while also proving the great generational divide of our moment is not as great and divided as has been previously reported.

I can't wait for you all to see it!