12/11/2016

Vancouver Sun Review of The News


Friend and Dead Poets Reading Series co-coordinator Christopher Levenson (cue my first awkward all-poets-know-each-other moment of book promotion season) wrote a very thoughtful review of The News for the Vancouver Sun:

Review: The News poems full of casual, offhand profundity

I appreciate so many parts of the review (including the disclaimer "Clearly no baby shower material"), but my favourite part comes at the end:

His charming and insightful blending of life and death, memories and premonitions, often catches the reader off guard with casual offhand profundity.

As a slide-show of the state of mankind it is both endearing and alarming but always chillingly authentic. Thanks to his poetic directness we are emotionally with him and his family all the way.

The Sun being a member of Postmedia, the review also turned up in the Vancouver Province, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Windsor Star, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, whatever Canada.com is, and something called WN.com, which decided to pair the review with this photo of a demon clown:

Sadly, not my worst ever author photo...

Please think about this demon clown the next time someone tells you media conglomeration and a proliferation of fake news sites are destroying the healthy flow of information. There is hope and beauty everywhere, if we only look.

Thank you to Christopher, and to the Sun, for giving space and time to a poetry book. I feel incredibly fortunate.

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