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

BCP 2019 + Green Waves Coverage

Best Canadian Poetry 2019 and The Green Waves: Poems from Roblin Lake have both been out in the world for a few months now, and feedback is starting to trickle in.

First off is this lovely review of The Green Waves by Andrew French over at PRISM international:

“The content itself speaking volumes, Taylor’s language employs a musical colloquialism that would have made Purdy proud for its ability to let the events of the poems shine brightest. Taylor’s language allows the things he experiences to speak for themselves, a task much easier described than accomplished, and much more effective than the alternative in this instance. With moments of flourishing descriptive skill, it is the subtlety of Taylor’s voice that is most astounding in this collection.

The Green Waves is a strong, careful consideration of the complex history tied up in the Al Purdy A-frame and the ways in which it intersects with the poet’s personal life within that space. Regardless of one’s knowledge of or interest in Purdy’s life and work, this is a short collection that is certainly worth picking up for its honest consideration of the difficult moments we encounter in our lives. Taylor poses important questions to which nobody has the same answer, though it seems as if all of us ask them. How do we remember the people we have lost? What about those who came before us? How can we move forward in light of the past? Taylor won’t give you his answer in The Green Waves, but the chapbook might help to illuminate your own."

Andrew also provided some coverage of Best Canadian Poetry 2019 via his podcast, Page Fright. He recorded a special episode before and after the anthology's Vancouver launch, featuring readings and (equal parts illuminating and funny) mini-interviews with BCP contributors Ellie Sawatzky, Lauara Matwichuk, Dallas Hunt, Shaun Robinson and Sonnet L'Abbé. You can listen to the whole thing here.

BCP 2019 has also received reviews in both Quill & Quire and The Toronto Star. It's wonderful to see the book consider alongside major anthologies in other genres.

Thank you to everyone above who provided coverage for these little books (especially Andrew French, working double-duty!). It means a great deal to me.

If you're interested in either book, you can learn more about them (including purchasing info) here and here.