Interview by Doyali Islam Heartfelt congratulations on your debut poetry book, Still Point! Immediately, from the first few lines of the first poem, the voice of the poet-speaker pulls me in. How long did this collection take to write...
Former PRISM poetry editor Rob Taylor sat down with poet, author and former journey carpenter Kate Braid to discuss her newly released poetry collection “Elemental” (Caitlin Press, 2018).
I spoke with you briefly for PRISM international back in 2014, and at that point you noted: “Looking over my recent poems, I’m a bit alarmed to find I’m writing more personally, neither behind the mask of another or out of my experience as a carpenter – which also became a sort of persona.” True to that statement, Elemental, though certainly structured around “elemental” themes, feels in other ways like your first “general” collection (your past collections having channeled Glenn Gould and Emily Carr, among others). In that sense it feels almost like you’re living the traditional poet’s trajectory in reverse (the early, more personal/general collection, followed by themed “projects”).
Do you think of this book in those terms (“general” and personal), and do you think it represents a larger shift in your preoccupations/energies as a writer? Did “removing the masks” allow you to access some more “elemental” part of yourself?
Continue reading I Keep Coming Back to What Gives Me Courage: An Interview with Kate Braid
Interview by Molly Cross-Blanchard, questions by Kyla Jamieson Samantha is a Cree/Métis writer and poet from Northeastern BC. Her family originally comes from Ile-a-la-Crosse (Sakitawak), Saskatchewan. She has been published in Red Rising Magazine, Shameless Magazine, SAD Mag, GUTs Magazine, and others....
Interview by Matthew Kok
Beni Xiao is a nanny and writer based in Vancouver, BC. They are tired all the time, so they would appreciate if you’d let them sleep. Bad Egg, Beni’s new chapbook, is full of quiet, important things. There is a garden of variety in these poems, and the chapbook is drawn together by the strength of Beni’s voice. The effect is a lot like having a small bug perched in your ear, joking, encouraging, asking. They are willing to go with you into storms. They will not lie and tell you your impact on the world is going to be anything other than what it is. They will tell you about the hard, strong thing we all need to be sometimes, and as they describe it you may believe it is you—it may depend on the day, or whose limbs you’ve found crossed over your own, but the bug will say it for you if you can’t. There is a whole world of people who will speak around the important things rather than to them, or ignore the strange and the wonderful, but none of them are in this chapbook. You should start listening to Beni Xiao—I promise it will be worth it.
Buying books looked a lot different thirty years ago. If you wanted to know how good a book was, you read a newspaper, or asked your friends for recommendations. Then you had to find the physical copy on a...
Interview by Kyla Jamieson Andrea Gibson is a highly quotable and influential poet at the forefront of the spoken-word movement who has headlined prestigious performance venues across the United States and abroad. Born in Calais, Maine, Gibson now resides...
Interview by Matthew Walsh
Over last summer, during Toronto Pride season, I got to have a conversation over Twitter with poet and lawyer Marcus McCann about his new collection of poetry, Shut Up Slow Down Let Go Breathe published with Invisible Publishing. McCann’s collection focuses on gay relationships, dating, homophobia, but it doesn’t stop there, moving from very serious material to tender and funny anecdotes about dating and acceptance of one’s identity. We got to talk about the poetry scene in Toronto, the Naked Heart reading series, and Glad Day Bookstore and Café, where Marcus is part-owner.
Continue reading Shut Up Slow Down Let Go Breathe: An Interview with Marcus McCann
We received so many amazing poems for this year’s contest. We’re excited and honoured to announce the winners of this year’s Pacific Spirit Poetry Prize, as selected by Aisha Sasha John! You can read all three pieces in our Spring issue 56.3, so make sure to order a copy!
Congratulations to the writers shortlisted for the 2017 Pacific Spirit Poetry Prize contest! Check back soon for the winners announcement, chosen by this year’s contest judge, Aisha Sasha John!
Continue reading 2017 Pacific Spirit Poetry Prize Shortlist!