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Poetry Cure: Book of Annotations by Cameron Anstee
In Cameron Anstee’s Book of Annotations (Invisible Publishing), he packs years of minimalist poetry practice into a collection of tight, jewel-like poems (like “Triptych”, below). We chat with Cameron about his influences, his writing habits, and what he’s reading now.
An Interview with Cameron
All Lit Up: Tell us about your collection.Cameron Anstee:Â Book of Annotations is my first trade collection of poetry. It is the culmination of a decade or so of trying to write small and smaller and minimalist poems, and is an attempt to write a book composed solely of short works. It uses many different minimalist strategies of composition, and was written in conversation with my reading of 20The Poem
Triptych i.we can sit
without knowing
and it’s ok
sometimes
against your heart:
happiness, a little pressure
ii.we bought a feeder,
the nuthatch comes
each morning,
and now I want
only to write birds
and flight and birds
iii.we can sit
and it’s ok
and now, against
your heart
happiness and birds
and clean, sound pressure
–From Book of Annotations, Cameron Anstee (Invisible Publishing, 2018)
Cameron Anstee lives and writes in Ottawa, where he runs Apt. 9 Press and holds a Ph.D. in Canadian Literature from the University of Ottawa. He is the editor of The Collected Poems of William Hawkins (Chaudiere Books, 2015). Book of Annotations is his first collection.
During the month of April, you can buy Book of Annotations as well as any of our featured Poetry Cure books for 15% off (+ get a free notebook to jot down your moments of reflection).Keep up with us all month on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the hashtag #ALUpoetrycure.