lit luv

I picked up radiant danse uv being: a poetic portrait of bill bissett today to begin reviewing it for the summer edition of The Link. I've only read a few poems by Bissett before but I'm already impressed by the diverse group of artists who pay tribute to the prolific Nova Scotian poet. What intrigues me most is how Bill Bissett - known for his anti-conventional poetry, often using phonetic spelling in his work - has been able to attract admirers from various poetic schools; not just from the avant-garde. Contributors for radiant danse uv being include Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen, George Bowering, P.K. Page, bp Nichol, Jay MillAr, Lorna Crozier, and the list goes on. Once again, stay tuned for my complete review of the book in the upcoming summer issue of The Link.

I finally got my mitts on issue #3 Black Heart, which includes two poems of mine. The magazine has gone back to having its beautiful red cover and I also really dig this issues layout and design. Great job BH crew!

Have you read the summer issue (#77) of Brick: A Literary Journal? I received it in the mail yesterday and it has Shelagh Rogers conducting an interview with Leonard Cohen the day before five of Cohen's songs were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. It's a very insightful read. For those of you who enjoy verse, this issue also contains a number of poems by Karen Solie, Ken Babstock, and Mark Strand. Brick usually doesn't normally publish much poetry so enjoy it while you have the chance.