Review of Rabbit Punch! & Interview in Poetry Matters

"Greg Santos' second book Rabbit Punch! is filled with lithe poems, quick on their feet, poems that are witty, whimsical, serious, sarcastic, celebratory, bittersweet. Some are entertaining, while others are deceptively so—poems layered with meaning that reward upon repeated readings." 
- Nancy Chen Long, Poetry Matters

Rabbit Punch! is reviewed in Poetry Matters. Please check out the entire review HERE.

I was also interviewed for Poetry Matters, where I discuss pop culture, found poetry, revision, books I'm reading, and more!

Please check out the entire interview HERE.

Many thanks to Nancy Chen Long for taking the time to interview me and for such a generous and detailed look at my book.

G

December 2014 Roundup of Rabbit Punch! Stuff

(illustration by Bob Schofield)

So Rabbit Punch!, has been out in the world for a little more than half a year. That's absolute bananas!

Since we're almost at the end of 2014, here's my second roundup of Rabbit Punch! related stuff, including reviews, interviews, and other ephemera. (For the first roundup of Rabbit Punch! press, please click HERE.)

Reviews

Klara du Plessis for the Resonance Café blog, écho!.

Ben Tanzer for This Blog Will Change Your Life.

Interviews

Concordia University's The Link newspaper.

Extras

Rabbit Punch! makes an appearance at the Scrivener Creative Review November 2014 web issue launch and another recap HERE, courtesy of Matthew Rettino

Rabbit Punch! invades Toronto and another recap HERE.

Rabbit Punch! at Expozine 2014.

"We Were Startled by the Sound of Fog", from Rabbit Punch! was the November Poem of the Month in Montreal Review of Books.

Rabbit Punch! is a featured book at Montreal's Drawn & Quarterly bookstore for carte blanche magazine's 10th anniversary celebration and issue 22 launch.

Rabbit Punch! featured at Concordia University's Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery's "Just Watch Me" exhibition.

Excerpts from Rabbit Punch! featured for #2PageTuesday on Nine Day Wonder.

Mentioned in Coldfront's special celebration on the life and work of Paul Violi.

*

Thanks to all who have supported this little book of mine. 

You can order copies of Rabbit Punch! through DC Books, my publisher, HERE.

In Canada it's also available through Amazon.ca, Indigo, and All Lit Up.

American friends, yup, it's on Amazon.

Like it on Facebook, follow it on tumblr, and add it to Goodreads. 

If you've read the book, don't forget to vote for it and  review it on places like Goodreads and Amazon. It's through your support and word of mouth, dear reader, that helps every little bit. 

Thanks, Happy Holidays and #FollowTheRabbit!

If you're interested in reviewing Rabbit Punch!, drop me a line at gspoet[at]gmail[dot]com.

G

Roundup of Rabbit Punch! Stuff

So my second full-length poetry collection Rabbit Punch! has been out for a few months. It still feels very surreal. I've been quite pleased with the book's coverage and how it's been received so far.

Here's a roundup of Rabbit Punch! related stuff, including reviews and interviews:

Reviews

Beyza Ozer for Probably Crying Review.

Erik Noonan for The Small Press Book Review.

Zachary Cosby.

Megan Lent for Arbitrary News and Review.

Beach Sloth.

Bert Almon for Montreal Review of Books.

Interviews

Black Heart Magazine.

NDG Free Press.

Nine Day Wonder.

The Literary Report with Jeffrey Mackie, CKUT 90.3 FM.

*

Well there you go. Many thanks to everyone who's taken a chance on my book so far. 

You can order a copy of Rabbit Punch! through DC Books, my publisher, HERE.  

Like it on Facebook, follow it on tumblr, and add it to Goodreads.

Thanks and #FollowTheRabbit!

G

RABBIT PUNCH! reviewed by The Small Press Book Review

"Help is on the way for the Anglophone reader in a global poetry world.  Rabbit Punch!, the second collection by Greg Santos, offers an admirable finesse to the reader who craves good verse."

-- Erik Noonan reviews Rabbit Punch! in The Small Press Book Review

Read the entire review HERE.

carte blanche #15

"For years, Carte Blanche, one of Montreal's best-known literary magazines, has been cranking out issue after issue of interesting, provocative, and funny issues chock full of some excellent poetry, stories and creative non-fiction in addition to artwork. In the spring, they began printing paper issues on demand and the latest (#15), too, is available in print..."

Over at the Blue Metropolis' blog, they've written a brief but nice review of our print version of carte blanche #15.

Please check out the entire write-up HERE.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy print or digital copy of both issues #14 and/or #15 for yourself, pleases click HERE.

Happy reading!

G

Roundup of Reviews for The Emperor's Sofa

The Emperor's Sofa @ The Poetry Foundation, Chicago

In honour of my upcoming reading at Argo Bookshop in Montreal with the amazing Stuart Ross on Saturday, October 13th, I've rounded up some of the reviews and nice words people have said about my debut poetry collection, The Emperor's Sofa, which I'll be reading from.

REVIEWS

Pauline Burton for Cha: An Asian Literary Journal.

Diana Salier for Banango Lit.

Ben Tanzer for This Blog Will Change Your Life.

Jason Behrends for What To Wear During An Orange Alert.

Beach Sloth.

John Stiles for How Yah Doon?.

Many thanks again to all these lovely folks. If you haven't checked out my book, hopefully these words will give y'all an idea about my l'il collection of mine.

Thanks fer reading.

G

TWEET TWEET TWEET reviewed by Sabotage Reviews

Okay, so it's kinda obvious Christopher Crawford didn't like my book in his review of Tweet Tweet Tweet (Corrupt Press, 2011) for Sabotage Reviews. Haters gonna hate. But it's all good.


Check out the review HERE.


I want to find out what YOU think. Message me and I'll send you a PDF copy of T3 to review and you can make up your own mind.


Thanks! 


Big luv,


G

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA reviewed by Cha

"Wow!" is my reaction to Greg Santos' three-part collection, The Emperor's Sofa. Originality raises its ornery head in every piece, and yet somehow the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Santos pays tribute to various modern North American poets and shares several traits with members of that illustrious tribe: snapping wit, irony, urban angst, the rhythms of everyday speech (with a slight Canadian accent) and a mordant relish in the trappings of consumerism...


The Emperor's Sofa gets some love all the way from Hong Kong with a new review from the newest issue of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal (#16). The Emperor is pleased.

Please check out the review HERE.

Thank you, Tammy Ho Lai-Ming, Eddie Tay, Pauline Burton, and the rest of the Cha gang.

G

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA reviewed by Banango

Diana Salier has done a roundup of books over at Banango and wrote a nice review of The Emperor's Sofa.

Salier also plugs some other rad books, including Ben Mirov's ebook, the awesomely titled, My Hologram Chamber is Surrounded by Miles of Snow.

Thanks, Diana.

Please check out the reviews HERE.

Ya ya, banana.

G

Moondoggy Recommends: Pretty Flowers by Gabby Gabby

Want some reading material for Valentine's Day? Please check out Pretty Flowers by Gabby Gabby.

Gabby Gabby is an enthusiastic young writer from Virginia that I recently discovered.

Her piece actually has little to do with flowers and more to do with musings on place, identity, and love.  

It's sad and optimistic at the same time. It is lovely, indeed.

It makes me want to eat corndogs at a state fair with my beloved in a bad way.

Thank you, Gabby Gabby, for writing this.

Read the PDF for Pretty Flowers HERE.

Thanks for reading.

G

TWEET TWEET TWEET reviewed by Orange Alert

"This collection is small in size, but enormous in scope."
- Jason Behrends

Tweet Tweet Tweet is reviewed in Chicago's What to Wear During An Orange Alert.

You can read the full review HERE.

Thank you, Jason Behrends.

G

Beach Sloth Review Tweet Tweet Tweet

The coolest mammal in town, Beach Sloth, has written a super nice review of my chapbook, Tweet Tweet Tweet.

Please check out the review HERE.

Thank you, Mr. Sloth. Stay slothy, forevs.

G

Greg Santos on Greg Santos

I was asked to write about my 2009 Pangur Ban Party e-book, Thinking Things Through, for We Who Are About To Die's self-review series.

It was fun revisiting those poems, and I hope you enjoy them, too.

Please check out my self-review HERE.

Thanks.

G

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA reviewed by Ben Tanzer

"With Santos, we get an ongoing commentary about how this may be what poems are supposed to look like, love, mysteries and real life, but with a dose of humor, a dash of pop culture, and a wink, riffing on love, but using the Hulk to communicate it, because he can, and because you will dig it." - Ben Tanzer

Chicago-based writer and overall cool guy, Ben Tanzer, dishes out some blog love for The Emperor's Sofa.

Please check it out HERE.

Thank you, Mr. Tanzer.

G

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA reviewed by Beach Sloth

"Greg Santos has written a book which speaks volumes about our current isolation and how to overcome it. It's fantastic."

-Beach Sloth

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA has been reviewed by New York's infamous Beach Sloth.

Please check out the complete review HERE.

Big thanks for the very thoughtful review, Beach Sloth. May you always be slothy.

G

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA reviewed by John Stiles

"I appreciate this book, especially the idea of the slightly awkward, at odds with the world, Emperor soul rattling around in his castle, proclaiming his love, his heart for the world, from his iron prison." - John Stiles

John Stiles (pictured above), the Nova Scotia-born poet, novelist, and filmmaker, who now calls London, England home, kindly attended my June 4th reading at Goodenough College in London.

He has written a mighty generous and lovely write up of the reading and of my book The Emperor's Sofa on his website, How Yah Doon?.

He also posted two newer poems of mine.

Please check it all out HERE.

Thank you so much, John.

G

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA reviewed by Orange Alert

"This collection is filled with quality commentaries on pop culture and life in general. Santos uses both humor and earnestness to convey the world as he sees it in a way that is almost universal, but still a little off. It is charming and brilliant at the same time."

- Jason Behrends

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA is reviewed in What To Wear During An Orange Alert.

You can read the complete review HERE.

Big thanks to Jason Behrends!

Unhipsterishly yours,

G

THE EMPEROR'S SOFA reviewed by the Saint John Telegraph Journal

Allen Bentley has written a review of THE EMPEROR'S SOFA for the Saint John Telegraph Journal.

I actually found out about it from one of my wife's relatives in New Brunswick since it is their local newspaper. What a nice surprise!

I also think it's the book's first review! I was not expecting such a warm and thoughtful review. Thank you, Allen Bentley.

You can read the review HERE.

G

Moondoggy Recommends: I Is To Vorticism by Ben Mirov

I Is To Vorticism (New Michigan Press, 2010) by Ben Mirov

I have finished reading Ben Mirov’s book I Is To Vorticism.

I henceforth promise to re-read I Is To Vorticism. I encourage you to do so, too.

Oh, and you do not need to know about the Vorticism art movement to enjoy I Is To Vorticism.

Ben Mirov appears as a frequent character in I Is To Vorticism. This speaker plays emotional bumper cars with your thoughts and emotions.

Ben Mirov goes from wry and hilarious in one line to earnest and tragic in the next. Or from intimate and self-effacing to brash and mischievous. Bold associative leaps and vivid images are also hallmarks of these fine poems.

After reading I Is To Vorticism, I feel like I have been given access to the magical labyrinthine head of Ben Mirov. The universe in his head reminds me of the movie, Pan’s Labyrinth. This universe is both enchanting and haunting.

Thank you, Ben Mirov. Thank you for giving us access to your brain. It is a fine-looking brain.

Here is a small sampling of some of my favorite lines from I Is To Vorticism:

“I stare out of my window with a flashlight behind each eye.”

from The Braille Of Evenings Is Written In Poem

“Smell her ear, part of a star

that exploded when you were negative

10,000 years old. It smells like vanilla.

In a few hours she is gone.

In four years, even goner”

from Hider Roser

“I love my fucking life.

Even my secrets

and the terrible things I’ve done.

They’re like small smooth stones

in a green plastic bottle

with no label.”

from Monkey Heart

“I look into the aquarium. My Ben Mirov looks ok. I feed him tasteless whole-grains and leafy greens like the manual tells me. He types like two hours a day. He looks pretty good.”

from Lifetime Achievement

“Now open your eyes.

Not those eyes.

The ones inside you.”

from Candles

“You feel like a scorpion

beautiful, deadly

made of black glass.”

from Symptoms

Visit Ben Mirov's blog.

Review of McGimpsey's Sitcom

Here's a thorough and insightful review by Alessandro Porco of David Mcgimpsey's great poetry collection, Sitcom.

From Eyewear:

David McGimpsey’s Sitcom (Coach House, 2007) marks the writer’s much-anticipated return to poetry (it’s been six year since the release of his Hamburger Valley, California [ECW Press, 2001]). As expected, Sitcom is sometimes uproariously funny, always pop-acculturated, and intimidatingly literate. Of course, McGimpsey’s humour has always been thoroughly noted by critics, while the formal, thematic, and philosophic scope of his work (i.e. the more literate elements)— omnipresent in Sitcom— often willfully ignored. Critics will grant that McGimpsey’s humour succeeds; however, that very humour is also used by those same laudatory critics to dismiss McGimpsey’s efforts as trivial or light. An even greater problematic: because McGimpsey has shown repeatedly he possesses a capacity to access and effect a comic mode with ease, it’s wrongly assumed that McGimpsey’s always only working within that mode. Thus, those poems that seemingly challenge such a purview of his work are either misread as exercises in hip postmodern irony or damned to be, in the end, utterly heteroclitic works in his oeuvre.

Read the complete review of Sitcom here.