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July/August 2008
SUMMER BREAK double issue with poems by Carl Dennis, Kathryn Starbuck, Albert Goldbarth, Heather McHugh, Robert Wrigley, Tom Sleigh, Kevin McFadden, Bob Hicok, Glyn Maxwell, and others. More
Harriet

Christian Bök
Five Avant-Garde Canadians of 2007

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I am embarking upon my vacation for the holidays—but before departing, I am going to propose five of the best books of avant-garde poetry published in Canada during this last year. I recommend them all to any interested readership outside my country:

1. Yesno by Dennis Lee
2. The Alphabet Game by bpNichol
3. Thumbscrews by Natalie Zina Walschots
4. Fake Math by Ryan Fitzpatrick
5. Human Resources by Rachel Zolf
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Yesno.jpg

Yesno
by Dennis Lee
House of Anansi
2007

Yesno is the sequel to Un—and like its predecessor, this book continues to speak in the style of Paul Celan about the forthcoming catastrophe of the environment.
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Alphabet%20Game.jpg

The Alphabet Game
by bpNichol
Coach House Books
2007

The Alphabet Game is a compendium of material by bpNichol, the poet who has done more than any other writer to promote the values of linguistic radicalism in Canada.
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Thumbscrews.jpg

Thumbscrews
by Natalie Zina Walschots
Snare Books
2007

Thumbscrews engages with the aesthetics of sadomasochism in order to generate elegant, sensual poetry that writhes inside the shackles of its own linguistic constraint.
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Fake%20Math.jpg

Fake Math
by Ryan Fitzpatrick
Snare Books
2007

Fake Math recombines the results from Internet searches in order to generate poetry that provides an incisive, sardonic critique of contemporary, sociological discourse.
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Human%20Resources.jpg

Human Resources
by Rachel Zolf
Coach House Books
2007

Human Resources uses machines to generate poetry that, likewise, provides a political critique of quotidian language, now debased by the wasteful excesses of capitalism.

12.20.07 | Comments (4)



Comments


Care to post a poem, or sample lines, from any of those? I'm especially interested in the Lee (I have read some of his work before, I believe) and the Walschots (never heard of her).

Posted by: Steve on December 20, 2007 8:41 PM

Hello, Steve:

I will happily do some longer reviews of these books in the New Year.

Posted by: Christian Bök on December 21, 2007 9:36 PM

Where's Donato Mancini? His "Aethel" was clearly the most innovative book published in Canada last year...or does the "avant-garde" (Dennis Lee?) stop at the Rockies?

Posted by: Peter Culley on December 22, 2007 12:04 PM


Looks like more of the same Calgary-Toronto backslapping. When will it end?

Posted by: Sandra on December 27, 2007 9:36 PM

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