Books·Spring Preview

46 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in spring 2022

If you love poetry, watch for these books coming out in the first half of 2022.

If you love poetry, watch for these books coming out in the first half of 2022.

Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton

Standing in a River of Time is a book by Jónína Kirton. (Talonbooks)

Standing in a River of Time combines poetry and memoir to expose the intergenerational effects of colonization. Jónína Kirton reflects on painful memories, her journey of spiritual healing and the guiding power of her ancestors. 

When you can read it: Jan. 26, 2022

Jónína Kirton is a Métis author and poet from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Her 2018 poetry collection, An Honest Woman, was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Kirton currently lives in the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Sḵwxwú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples, where she teaches at The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University.

Lot by Sarah de Leeuw

Lot is a poetry collection by Sarah de Leeuw. (Caitlin Press)

Sarah de Leeuw reflects on her early girlhood and the racial complexities of colonial violence. Written in a time where the government has voiced support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples while continuing to arrest Indigenous people on unceded lands, de Leeuw draws a line between past and present violence. Lot uses lyric traditions and interrogates the role of language in centering stories of white supremacy on the islands of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia.

When you can read it: Feb. 11, 2022

Sarah de Leeuw is a poet and writer who melds social criticism with literary nonfiction. Her book Where It Hurts, a collection of personal essays, was a finalist for the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction. De Leeuw won the 2009 CBC Creative Nonfiction Prize.

I Wish I Could be Peter Falk by Paul Zits

I Wish I Could be Peter Falk is a book by Paul Zits. (University of Calgary Press/CBC)

I Wish I Could be Peter Falk challenges the standards and restrictive expectations tied to masculinity. From telling men how to think, dress, feel and identify to the damage resulting from ignoring mental health, these poems provide a critique and nuanced exploration of modern masculinity.

When you can read it: Feb. 15, 2022

Paul Zits is a Calgary-based poet and teacher. He is the author of Massacre Street, which won the 2014 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry, Leap-Seconds, winner of the 2016 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry, and Exhibit.

Time Out of Time by Arleen Paré

Time Out of Time is a poetry collection by Arleen Paré. (Caitlin Press, Chris Fox)

Time Out of Time is inspired by the poems in the collection Time by Syrian American poet Etel Adnan. In her own collection, Paré mirrors the form, rhythm and shape of Adnan's poetry and reflects on lesbian identity in the 21st century. 

When you can read it: Feb. 18, 2022

Arleen Paré is a poet originally from Montreal. Her ​​first book, Paper Trail, was nominated for the Dorothy Livesay BC Book Award for Poetry and won the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize in 2008. Paré won the 2014 Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry for her collection, Lake of Two Mountains. She lives in Victoria, B.C.

From the Shoreline by Steffi Tad-y

From the Shoreline is a book by Steffi Tad-y. (Gordon Hill Press)

In her debut collection, Steffi Tad-y explores the intersection of mental illness and the diasporic experience. Her poems reflect tenderly on challenging and dangerous circumstances, finding beauty in detail and repetitive acts of love.  

When you can read it: Feb. 20, 2022

Steffi Tad-y is a poet and writer from Manila. Her work includes the chapbooks I Did Not Want to Be Read, I Wanted to Be Believed In and Merienda. Tad-y lives in Vancouver.

How Beautiful People Are by Ayaz Pirani

How Beautiful People Are is a book by Ayaz Pirani. (Gordon Hill Press)

In his latest collection, Ayaz Pirani writes trans-national, intergenerational poetry born of a post-colonial world and inspired by the diwan of ginan and granth literature.  

When you can read it: Feb. 20, 2022

Ayaz Pirani is a poet from Tanzania, who studied writing in Toronto and Montreal. His books include Happy You Are Here, Kabir's Jacket Has a Thousand Pockets and Bachelor of Art.

its th sailors life / still in treetment by bill bissett

its th sailors life / still in treetmen is a book by bill bissett. (Talonbooks)

bill bisset describes his latest collection as "an epik poetik novel uv langwage n speech" that explores "acceptans uv loss greef separaysyuns charaktrs in serch uv self liberaysyun n societal equalitee n all th forces against that path." The poems in its th sailors life / still in treetment are paired with illustrations by the author.

When you can read it: Feb. 22, 2022

bill bissett is a poet and artist born in Halifax and based in Toronto. Known for his unconventional writing style, bissett has written more than 60 books of poetry. His awards include the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award and the BC Book Prizes' Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.

Arborophobia by Nancy Holmes

Arborophobia is a book by Nancy Holmes. (University of Alberta Press, nancyholmes.ca)

Arborophobia reflects on the journey of human life and the state of the natural world. This collection takes a hard look at what we've done to our planet and ponders whether spiritual and emotional solace is possible or even desirable in this time of crisis.  

When you can read it: March 1, 2022

Nancy Holmes is a poet, educator and essayist. She has published five collections of poetry and is the editor of Open Wide a Wilderness: Canadian Nature Poems. Holmes is a professor in creative writing at the University of British Columbia.

You May Not Take The Sad and Angry Consolations by Shane Neilson

You May Not Take The Sad and Angry Consolations is a book by Shane Neilsen. (Goose Lane Editions/CBC)

You May Not Take the Sad and Angry Consolations archives a disabled father's experience of living in an ableist society. Weaving together reflections on fatherhood, art and lingering past trauma, this collection explores shame and its effects.

When you can read it: March 15, 2022

Shane Neilson is a disabled poet, physician and critic from New Brunswick. He is the author of four books of nonfiction about medicine and literary criticism. His poetry collections include Dysphoria, which won the Hamilton Literary Award for Poetry and Complete Physical, a finalist for the Trillium Award. Neilson now lives in Oakville, Ontario.

Cane | Fire by Shani Mootoo

Cane | Fire is a poetry collection by Shani Mootoo (Quinte Studios, Book*Hug Press)

Similar to a poetic memoir, Cane | Fire travels between past and present as the narrator moves from Ireland to San Fernando, and eventually to Canada. Through deeply personal poems and artwork, Shani Mootoo reimagines life. 

When you can read it: March 15, 2022

Shani Mootoo is a writer and visual artist who currently lives in Toronto. Her debut novel was 1997's Cereus Blooms at Night. Her novel Polar Vortex was shortlisted for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her other books include the novels Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab and Valmiki's Daughter.

Land of the Rock: Talamh an Carraig by Heather Nolan

Land of the Rock: Talamh an Carraig is a poetry collection by Heather Nolan. (Breakwater Books, Graham Cox)

Land of the Rock: Talamh an Carraig is an exploration of belonging in a lost ancestral culture. Moving through Newfoundland and Ireland, these poems look for meaning in words, places and behaviour. Whether the subject is tourists on Fogo Island or the landscape of the Burren, Gaelic Ireland is reimagined and displaced across the Atlantic.

When you can read it: March 16, 2022

Heather Nolan is a writer and photographer from St. John's, Newfoundland. She is the author of the novella This is Agatha Falling, which was shortlisted for the ReLit Award. 

Each One a Furnace by Tolu Oloruntoba

Each One a Furnace is a collection of poems by Tolu Oloruntoba. (Franctal Studio, McClelland & Stewart)

Tolu Oloruntoba explores the behaviour of finches and finds themes of migration, diaspora and restlessness in his poetry. The migrations of these diverse birds — traversing urban and rural landscapes, historical and contemporary contexts — add layers to the experience of what it means to live within, outside and between cultures.

Oloruntoba is a writer from Nigeria who now lives in B.C. His first full-length poetry collection, The Junta of Happenstancewon the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry. He is the founder of the literary magazine Klorofyl and author of the chapbook Manubrium, which was shortlisted for the 2020 bpNichol Chapbook Award. Oloruntoba was named a "writer to watch" by CBC Books.

Beast at Every Threshold by Natalie Wee

Beast at Every Threshold is a book by Natalie Wee. (May Truong Photography, Arsenal Pulp Press)

In Beast at Every Threshold, Natalie Wee unravels the constructs of otherness and reflects on the intersection of queerness, diaspora and loss. These poems explore thresholds of marginality, immigration, nationhood and reinvention of the self through myth. 

When you can read it: March 22, 2022

Natalie Wee is a queer author who was born in Singapore to Malaysian parents and currently lives in Toronto (Tkaronto). Her other work includes the chapbook Our Bodies & Other Fine Machines. Her work was named first runner-up for the 2020 Pacific Spirit Poetry Prize, winner of the 2019 Blue Mesa Review Summer Contest for poetry and a Best of the Net finalist.

Almost Beauty by Sue Sinclair

Almost Beauty is a book by Sue Sinclair. (Goose Lane Editions)

Almost Beauty contains over 100 poems from Sue Sinclair's 20-year career, as well as new poems, reflecting on her relationship with the idea of beauty.

When you can read it: March 22, 2022

Sue Sinclair is a poet and writer from Newfoundland. Her debut collection, Secrets of Weather and Hope, was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award. Sinclair lives and works in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Waking Occupations by Phoebe Wang

Waking Occupations is a book by Phoebe Wang. (Guillaume Morissette, McClelland & Stewart)

Waking Occupations is a four-part mediation on what it means to live on occupied land. These poems reflect on what we carry from previous generations, the difficult truths we often forget and the art that holds us accountable. 

When you can read it: March 22, 2022

Phoebe Wang is an Ottawa-born poet and author. Her debut poetry collection Admission Requirements, which explores stories of the land and searches for a secure sense of belonging, was shortlisted for the 2018 League of Canadian Poets Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Wang also made the CBC Poetry Prize longlist in 2016.

Swollening by Jason Purcell

Swollening is a book by Jason Purcell. (Zachary Ayotte, Arsenal Pulp Press)

In Swollening, Jason Purcell contemplates the intersection of queerness and illness. Part memoir, these poems explore what it's like to live in a homophobic world as a queer person. From heteronormativity to anxiety around desire and internalized homophobia, Purcell wonders how a sick, queer body living in a sick world moves toward hope.

When you can read it: March 22, 2022

Jason Purcell is a writer and musician currently living in Edmonton, where they are also the co-owner of Glass Bookshop. Swollening is their first full-length collection.

Fast Commute by Laurie D. Graham

Fast Commute is a book by Laurie D. Graham. (Mark Jull, McClelland & Stewart)

Fast Commute is a lament for places that are invaded by industrial, commercial or suburban developments. This long poem calls out the structures that support ecological injustice and wrestles with the impossibility of speaking ethically about the environment as a settler on stolen land.

When you can read it: March 22, 2022

Laurie D. Graham is a writer currently based in Nogojiwanong, the territory of the Mississauga Anishinaabeg. Her debut book, Rove, was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best first book of poetry in Canada. Her second book, Settler Education, was a finalist for Ontario's Trillium Award for Poetry. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize and won the Thomas Morton Poetry Prize.

Parasitic Oscillations by Madhur Anand

Parasitic Oscillations is a book by Madhur Anand. (Ian Willms, McClelland & Stewart)

Parasitic Oscillations examines a variety of philosophical and ethical dilemmas to inform and question. Set against the backdrop of ecological collapse, these poems draw on Madhur Anand's work in the arts and sciences and experience living between North American and Indian culture.

When you can read it: March 22, 2022

Madhur Anand is a poet and professor of ecology at the University of Guelph. She is the author of the A New Index for Predicting Catastrophes and This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart, which won the 2020 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction.

Mother Muse by Lorna Goodison

Mother Muse by Lorna Goodison. Illustrated book cover of the profile of a Black woman in shadows and colourful flowers below.
Mother Muse is a book by Lorna Goodison. (Véhicule Press, Hugh Wright)

In her first poetry collection in over nine years, Lorna Goodison highlights two "mothers" in Jamaican music in Mother Muse. Sister Mary Ignatius, who nurtured many of Jamaica's most gifted musicians, and dancer Anita "Margarita" Mahfood are the figures at the centre of this collection.

When you can read it: April 1, 2022

Lorna Goodison is one of Canada's most renowned writers. She was Jamaica's poet laureate from 2017 to 2020. Over the past 40 years, Goodison has written 14 books of poetry, including Collected Poems, and an award-winning memoir From Harvey River, which won the 2008 B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and was a finalist for both the Trillium Book Award and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. She was awarded the 2019 Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry for her body of work.

Grappling Hook by Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang

Grappling Hook is a poetry collection by Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang. (Palimpsest Press)

In Grappling Hook, Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang explores identity, desire and the everyday struggles of motherhood. From the joys and perils of marriage to the evolving fight for social justice in a world divided by inequity, these poems are dedicated to those making meaningful change in unprecedented times.

When you can read it: April 1, 2022

Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang is a poet and children's book author. Her poetry collections include Sweet Devilry, which won the 2012 Gerald Lampert award, and Status Update, which was nominated for the Pat Lowther Award. Tsiang was shortlisted for the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize.

Allodynia by Nisa Malli

Allodynia is a poetry collection by Nisa Malli. (Palimpsest Press)

Allodynia reflects on themes of alienness, artificial intelligence, danger, intimacy and war. These poems look outward to space and the future of humankind, as well as inward to the body, and are rooted in the indescribability of pain.

When you can read it: April 1, 2022

Nisa Malli is a researcher and writer from Winnipeg. Her chapbook, Remitting, won the bpNichol Prize and her work has been nominated for a Rhysling Award. Allodynia is her first book. 

Orion Sweeping by Anne Marie Todkill

Orion Sweeping is a book by Anne Marie Todkill. (Brick Books)

From a radioactive souvenir to a wolf who disputes a rumour, nothing can be taken at face value in Orion Sweeping. These poems bring beauty and tenderness into view.

When you can read it: April 1, 2022

Anne Marie Todkill is an editor and poet from Ottawa. She has won Arc Poetry Magazine's Poem of the Year contest, was a recipient of Arc's Diana Brebner Prize and is a past winner of The Malahat Review's Creative Nonfiction Prize. Orion Sweeping is her first book.

The Quiet in Me by Patrick Lane

Patrick Lane was a Canadian poet. (Gary McKinstry)

In this final collection, Patrick Lane contemplates the quiet of living in a body amongst so many other bodies. From the trout in the lake to geese arriving with the wind and a raccoon fishing in a river, Lane reveals a web of life filled with beauty and pain. 

When you can read it: April 2, 2022

Patrick Lane was an award-winning poet and novelist. He was the author of several books of poetry, along with works of fiction and nonfiction. Lane won many awards including the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry, the Canadian Authors Association Award and three National Magazine Awards. In 2014, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada. Lane died at the age of 79 in March 2019.

Quiet Night Think by Gillian Sze

Quiet Night Think is a book by Gillian Sze. (ECW Press, Nadia Zheng)

Composed of personal essays and poems, Gillian Sze reflects on her familial and artistic origins in Quiet Night Think. This collection takes its name from a direct translation of an eighth-century Chinese poem by Li Bai, the subject of the opening essay. As Sze moves between poetry and prose, mother and writer, she meditates on ideas of emergence and transformation.

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Gillian Sze is a poet from Winnipeg. She is the author of multiple poetry collections, as well as the 2021 children's book The Night is Deep and Wide. Sze lives in Montreal. 

My Grief, the Sun by Sanna Wani

My Grief, the Sun is a book by Sanna Wani. (House of Anansi Press)

My Grief, the Sun is a collection of magical poems filled with love and grief. They touch on everything from filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke to German Orientalist scholarship on early Islam. Moving from the Missinnihe River in Canada to the Zabarwan Mountains in Kashmir, Sanna Wani explores the world from a poet's perspective.

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Sanna Wani is a poet who lives in Mississauga, Ontario and Srinagar, Kashmir. Her work has appeared in Brick, Poem-a-Day and Best Canadian Poetry 2020. My Grief, the Sun is her first collection of poetry.

Harbour Grids by Zane Koss

Harbour Grids is a book by Zane Koss. (Kate McKenna, Invisible Publishing)

Harbour Grids is a long poem in four parts that investigates ideas of community and belonging. The poem explores issues of labour, location, history, belonging, subjectivity and how we experience the world we live in. It draws on the work of poets Daphne Marlatt, Fred Wah, Nasser Hussain and Jordan Abel.

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Zane Koss is a poet, translator and scholar. He has published several chapbooks. Koss teaches and researches Canadian, Mexican and American poetry of the 1960s and 1970s at New York University.

Nothing Will Save Your Life by Nancy Jo Cullen

Nothing Will Save Your Life is a book by Nancy Jo Cullen. (Wolsak & Wynn)

From kitten videos to confirmation bias and vintage Vivienne Westwood, these poems are an explosion of pop culture, femininity, sex, religion and motherhood. Nothing Will Save Your Life tackles topics like body image, aging, climate change, capitalism and death, revealing what it's like to be alive in this moment.

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Nancy Jo Cullen is a poet and writer. She is the author of three critically acclaimed books of poetry. Her short story collection, Canary, was winner of 2012 Metcalf-Rooke Award. In 2010, Cullen won the Dayne Ogilvie Prize, which recognizes emerging LGBTQ writers. She lives in Kingston, Ontario. 

Hail, the Invisible Watchman by Alexandra Oliver

Hail, the Invisible Watchman is a book by Alexandra Oliver. (Biblioasis, Gavrilo Basekic)

In Hail, The Invisible Watchman, Alexandra Oliver paints pictures of chilling social dilemmas. From a schoolgirl who befriends an older divorcee to an upper-middle class family grappling with addiction and abuse, unseen forces are felt amidst an eerie atmosphere. 

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Alexandra Oliver is a poet, translator, editor and essayist from Vancouver. Her poetry collection, Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway, won the 2014 Pat Lowther Memorial Award. 

The Day-Breakers by Michael Fraser

To the left is an image of the book "The Day-Breakers," with the text "Michael Fraser, The Day-Breakers." To the right is an image of Michael Fraser.
The Day-Breakers is a book by Michael Fraser. (Biblioasis)

The Day-Breakers is an homage to the sacrifice of the Black Canadian soldiers who fought for the Union during the American Civil War. These poems capture their voices and the era in which they lived, providing a new perspective on Black history.

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Michael Fraser is an award-winning poet and writer. He has been published in several anthologies and his books include To Greet Yourself Arriving and The Serenity of Stone. His poem African Canadian in Union Blue won the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize. 

Fugue with Bedbug by Anne-Marie Turza

Fugue with Bedbug is a book by Anne-Marie Turza. (House of Anansi Press)

In her second collection, Anne-Marie Turza uses the fugue form to weave a series of poems about time and mortality. It is part musical reference, part portraiture, part essay and a musical score. 

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Anne-Marie Turza is a poet and author who lives on Vancouver Island. Her other poetry collection, The Quiet, was a finalist for both the Gerald Lampert Memorial and Bronwen Wallace awards.

Heady Bloom by Andrew Faulkner

Heady Bloom is by Andrew Faulkner (Coach House Books, Tiffany Pope)

Andrew Faulkner reflects on his experience suffering from an unending, low-grade headache that can only be resolved by Advil. Heady Bloom is a meditation on dealing with pain, struggle and the uncertainty of life. These poems grapple with what it means to overcome a condition, when living is part of the condition itself.

When you can read it: April 5, 2022

Andrew Faulkner is a Canadian author based in Picton, Ont. His other books include Need Machine, which won a 2014 Bookie Award in Canadian poetry, and several chapbooks.

Plenitude by Daniel Sarah Karasik

Plenitude is a poetry collection by Daniel Sarah Karasik. (Daniel Sarah Karasik, Book*Hug Press)

Drawing on their personal experience in social and political advocacy, Daniel Sarah Karasik imagines a world that might be in Plenitude. Karasik contemplates how we might dream of and build a more humane future without cops, bosses, prisons and the oppressive regulation of gender and desire.

When you can read it: April 7, 2022

Daniel Sarah Karasik is a writer, playwright and poet from Toronto. They are the author of five books of drama, poetry and fiction. Karasik won the 2012 CBC Short Story Prize.

Hsin by Nanci Lee

Hsin is a book by Nanci Lee. (Brick Books)

Born to a Syrian father and a Chinese mother who gave her up for adoption, Nanci Lee reflects on her origins. Hsin arises from an ancient Chinese ethical philosophy and explores fourth-century poet Su Hui's palindrome of longing.

When you can read it: April 15, 2022

Nanci Lee is a Chinese Syrian poet based in Nova Scotia. Her writing has appeared in publications like The Malahat Review, Matrix Magazine, The Antigonish Review and The Literary Review of Canada. Hsin is her first book.

Sun Compass by Brigette DePape

Sun Compass is a poetry collection by Brigette DePape. (At Bay Press)

Sun Compass explores the power of resilience and finding one's way through past trauma. Bridgette DePape moves from shadows to light to create new directions and perspectives.

When you can read it: April 21, 2022

Brigette DePape is an activist, writer and artist from Winnipeg. Sun Compass is her first book. 

Occasionally Petty by Michelle Lietz

Occasionally Petty is a poetry collection by Michelle Lietz. (At Bay Press)

When Michelle Lietz heard that Tom Petty died, she felt a piece of her past break away. Using lyrics from Petty's songs, Lietz launches an exploration on nostalgia, adolescence and her mixed Yaqui, European and Middle Eastern identity.

When you can read it: April 21, 2022

Michelle Lietz is an Indigenous American author of mixed Yaqui, European and Middle Eastern descent. Her writing has been published in Prairie Fire's NDN City issue. Occasionally Petty is Lietz's first collection of poetry. 

Catastrophe Theories by Mari-Lou Rowley

Catastrophe Theories is a book by Mari-Lou Rowley. (Anvil Press)

Catastrophe Theories captures an unstable, surreal and catastrophic world, where human folly and frailty compete with corpocracy and technological determinism. These poems explore the concepts of mathematicians such as Euclid, Hypatia, Alan Turing and René Thom, along with dream imagery, science and nature, revealing everyday moments of truth and joy.

When you can read it: April 29, 2022

Mari-Lou Rowley has published several collections of poetry including Suicide Psalms, which was shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award. She is pursuing a PhD at the University of Saskatchewan in new media, neuroplasticity and empathy.

Horrible Dance by Avery Lake 

Horrible Dance is a book by Avery Lake. (Brick Books)

Horrible Dance is about gender-based violence that dismantles the received definitions of both gender and violence. These poems navigate personal and political terrain in search of love and show how such a search can be catastrophically derailed. Horrible Dance explores the complexity of harm and points the reader towards compassion, tenderness and solidarity. 

When you can read it: April 30, 2022

Avery Lake is a writer living in Montreal. 

Cut to Fortress by Tawahum Bige

Tawahum Bige is a Canadian poet. (Megan Naito)

In Cut to Fortress, Tawahum Bige considers the possibility of decolonization through a personal lens. From familial conflicts to the death of his older brother, Bige examines his own origins and reconnects with the land and his Dene and Cree cultures.   

When you can read it: April 30, 2022

Tawahum Bige is Łutselkʼe Dene, Plains Cree poet and spoken word artist from unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-waututh territory. Their poems explore growth and resistance as a Two Spirit nonbinary artist. Bige's work can be found in publications like Red Rising Magazine, Prairie Fire, CV2 and Arc Poetry Magazine.

In the Bowl of My Eye by Keith Garebian

In the Bowl of My Eye is a poetry collection by Keith Garebian. (Mawenzi House Publishers, Elisabeth Feryn)

In his ninth collection of poetry, Keith Garebian focuses on the Lakeshore Road area between Etobicoke and Mississauga in Ontario. He explores the world of lake, park and road, combining it with the vibrant suburban world of apartment, shopping mall and immigrant life. In the Bowl of My Eye creates a space where inner and outer landscapes connect.

When you can read it: May 1, 2022

Keith Garebian is a poet and writer. His poetry can be found in publications like Impulse, The Antigonish Review, The Literary Review of Canada, The Malahat Review and in various anthologies. His recent work includes a collection of short essays titled Mini Musings: Miniature Thoughts on Theatre and Poetry.

You Still Look the Same by Farzana Doctor

You Still Look the Same is a poetry collection by Farzana Doctor. (Freehand Books)

In her debut poetry collection, Farzana Doctor dives into the tumultuous decade of her forties. She explores mid-life breakups and dating, female genital cutting, racism, misogyny, sex, love and the ways in which human relationships are never how we expect them to be.

When you can read it: May 1, 2022

Farzana Doctor is an author and social worker. Her books include the novels Seven, All Inclusive, Six Metres of Pavement and Stealing Nasreen. She won the 2011 Dayne Ogilvie Prize from the Writers' Trust of Canada for an emerging lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender writer.

the book of smaller by rob mclennan

the book of smaller is a book by rob mclennan. (University of Calgary Press, Matthew Holmes)

the book of smaller is a collection of short, sharp and dense prose poems grounded in personal, domestic space. They express jumps in sense and mood, the collapse of time and duration and the joy and fears of full-time parenthood.

An excerpt from the book of smaller was longlisted for the 2017 CBC Poetry Prize.

When you can read it: May 15, 2022

rob mclennan is a writer from Ottawa. He is the author of several books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. His writing has appeared in publications like the Puritan, Numero Cinq, The Windsor Review, Grain magazine, Atlas Review and Reader's Digest Canada.

Shimmers of Light by Robert Currie

Shimmers of Light is a book by Robert Currie. (Thistledown Press)

In this collection of poetry dating from the 1970s to the present day, Robert Currie evokes the reality of prairie life, focusing on the hard exteriors men and boys are expected to present to the world. The characters in these poems face difficult weather and internal conflicts, but sometimes they find a deeper understanding of self that brings light to dark and painful times.

When you can read it: May 30, 2022

Robert Currie is a poet and fiction writer. He is a founding board member of the Saskatchewan Festival of Words, a former chairman of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild, a recipient of the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts and a former Saskatchewan Poet Laureate. Currie lives in Moose Jaw.

Sensorial by Carolyne Van der Meer

Sensorial is a book by Carolyne Van der Meer. (Guernica Editions)

Sensorial is a journey in sensory perception, guiding us through urban landscapes, animal connections and familial bonds. It reflects on aging, illness, what really matters and who we are both physically and metaphysically.

When you can read it: May 31, 2022

Carolyne Van der Meer is a journalist, public relations professional and university lecturer. Her books include Motherlode: A Mosaic of Dutch Wartime Experience and a collection of poetry entitled Journeywoman. Van der Meer lives in Montreal, Quebec.

de book of Joseph by Pamela Mordecai

de book of Joseph is a poetry collection by Pamela Mordecai. (Mawenzi House Publishers, David Mordecai)

de book of Joseph is the third book in Pamela Mordecai's trilogy about the lives of Jesus, his mother, Mary and his foster father, the tekton of Nazareth. It is a retelling, in Jamaican Creole, of the story of Joseph's early life, his marriage to his first wife, his meeting with Mary and his role in the birth and raising of Jesus.

When you can read it: June 1, 2022

Pamela Mordecai is an author, poet and children's book writer. Her novel, Red Jacket, was shortlisted for the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2015. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Mordecai now lives in Kitchener, Ontario.

The Hands by Marty Gervais

The Hands is a poetry collection by Marty Gervais. (Guernica Editions)

The Hands is about the people Marty Gervais came across during his career as a poet and journalist. From folks like Muhammad Ali, Mother Teresa, Benjamin Spock, Norman Mailer, Karen Kain and Thomas Merton, each poem focuses on one little detail about these characters.

When you can read it: June 1, 2022

Marty Gervais is an award-winning journalist, poet, playwright, historian, photographer and editor. In 2011, he was nominated as the City of Windsor's first Poet Laureate. He is founder of Black Moss Press, one of Canada's oldest literary publishing firms, and is managing editor of The Windsor Review. 

An Orchid Astronomy by Tasnuva Hayden

A book cover featuring drawings of an orchid and a stag constellations and the book's author, a woman with long brown hair and a striped sweater.
An Orchid Astronomy is a book by Tasnuva Hayden. (University of Calgary Press, banffcentre.ca)

An Orchid Astronomy follows Sophie, who is living in the Norwegian north as climate change takes hold. The ice is melting, the animals are dying and Sophie's mother is dead. The experimental poetry of An Orchid Astronomy wrestles with the grief we feel for the loss of loved ones and the changing world.

When you can read it: July 15, 2022

Tasnuva Hayden is a writer of Bengali descent based in Calgary, Alberta. She is the fiction editor for filling Station, an experimental literary magazine in Canada. Her work has appeared in Nōd Magazine, J'aipur Journal, Anti-Lang, carte blanche, Qwerty and more.

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