KUDOS TO PHIL HALL

Canadian poet, Phil Hall, had a banner year this year (and last) with his new book, Killdeer. In 2011 the book won the Governor General's award for poetry and in 2012 it won the Trillium book Award and was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Hall is a very interesting poet. Well worth reading. Google him and find out stuff. Poetry Stratford heard him read at the Griffin Prize readings and he was great. Check Phil out, absolutely.

One of the things I'm hoping to focus on, now that The Blog Is Back Hooray!, is late bloomers in poetry. These are people who, for who knows what complicated set of reasons, don't receive the recognition they deserve for their work until they are deceased or are too advanced in age (if this is possible), to date pro football cheerleaders as a result of poetic glory. So, what good is the award,right? Anyway, I'm hoping to bring some of these people to your attention. There are a lot of good poets out there not just the usual list of greatness, although they are wonderful as well. Canadian poetry, in this blog's opinion, has never been in better shape. We now have enough variety in styles and outlook to create controversy. Poetry fight. Whoa! Check it out.

stratford authors special

Last night, December 5, Stratford Authors blog had their first "Meet The Authors" Night. More than a dozen authors of all kinds, including myself, introduced themselves and talked about their works. This is a great initiative for Stratford and its immediate surrounding area and there will be more! Check out Stratford Authors blog to see what's coming up soon.

Poetry Stratford's 2013 season is now in the planning stage. We are planning to stage a reading called "A Celebration of Women Poets" on April 21, 2013. The reading will be in the Stratford Public Library auditorium. Stay tuned for further details.

Canadian Poet Liz Zetlin will be doing a reading on May 12, 2013. The venue hasn't been set for this one yet. Jeanette Lynes, author of Left Fields, says about Liz's book, The Thing With Feathers, that "After reading these poems you'll never feel quite the same way about certain things - milk, chicken nuggets, colons, crows, badminton, poblano chilis. This is a book of sharp tastes and unflinching attentions." Stay tuned for more details about this as time goes on.


David Ferry has indicated that he will be keynote speaker at our annual James Reaney Memorial Lecture in October. Show up early for this one. We always get a full house. Tentative title for the evening is "Directing Reaney". Lots more details about this as time goes on. Check us out.

These are just some of the events that we have planned for you. Poetry Stratford invites nationally known poets to read and also well-known and emerging poets from the Stratford and Sowesto region.
The readings are free and everyone is welcome.

I'm going to be touring my third book, The Thing On The Comb, in the Spring and Fall of 2013. I'll keep in touch and let you know where I will be reading so that if you are in the area you will be able to come. Remember, poetry readings are one of the few entertainments where you can attend, have a chat and a snack and still have time to get back home and watch your favourite television show. Is that great or what?

the blog is back!

Sorry for the blog break. It's been almost a year since I've posted anything. Part of it was the excitement of finally having my third book, "The Thing On The Comb", come out. Nothing is guaranteed to make a writer forget about everything else for a while better than the appearance in print of new work. The response to the book has been great. As a humourist and a poet, my readers are telling me that the stuff I write is funny (thank God), touching and sad and that I push the envelope of what constitutes poetry. While doing readings of the book my audience has called me an historian of ordinary life, a curator of everyday life or some variation on that. They say that the people I write about could be anybody's next door neighbour and their problems could be yours. All of this has made me very happy about the book and thanks to everybody for sharing their feelings so freely with me. My thanks also to Everett and all my other characters whose lives have provided me with grist for my mill. I hope that his wife comes back to him soon but since she's now married to his cousin that seems unlikely. Still, nothing is impossible. Hal's wife left him too, gone to greater glory in a dry cleaning job in The Soo but he's met Edith, now, and maybe that's a good thing. Life has its ups and downs. No surprise there. The big surprise is how they all continue. But that's what life's all about and we should be thankful that it is.

I should mention, too, that my reading series at the Library, which is a real joy for me, is over for the year. Thanks to Anne Marie for all her help in making it a success and for Sam for being there at all the events. We hope he enjoyed himself. I also want to thank everybody who came to the James Reaney presentation that we have every year and to the Reaney family for helping to make the event a success. One of the great things about being writer-in-residence at the Library is the chance to meet the endless travelling show of writers who criss-cross Canada. Who says that vaudeville is dead? Mark was also a big help this year in building an audience. And, finally, thanks to that audience. We love you all! Come back next season! Bring your relatives and friends with you!

Enough said. Let me know what's going on with you. Who knows, your life could end up in a story or a poem. Suitably disguised, of course.