Author: ALU Editor
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Short and Sweet: Short Stories for All Tastes
May is Short Story Month, and this year All Lit Up celebrates this under-appreciated form with Short and Sweet, a little series featuring 12 short story collections and their authors, who share brief thoughts on the short form.
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Short and Sweet: Chih-Ying Lay + Home Sickness
Taipei-born author Chih-Ying Lay’s collection Home Sickness (published by Linda Leith Publishing and translated by Darryl Sterk) hearkens back to his youth. Says Jade Colbert in the Globe & Mail of the collection: “Psychologically, this is as high stakes as you can get. These stories can be hard to look at sometimes, but it is also hard…
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Poetry Muse: Adrian De Leon + barangay: an offshore poem
Adrian De Leon talks about the other poets that inspire him, and how with his latest collection barangay (Wolsak & Wynn), he was urged to “write in the broken language of diaspora,” all in this instalment of Poetry Muse. Learn more and read the poem “dung-aw” from the collection below.
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Poetry Muse: Carlie Blume + Gigglepuss
Carlie Blume lists her poetry muse(s) behind her collection Gigglepuss (Guernica Editions) as “a collective of all the empathetic, hard working women in my life”: most notably her grandmother, who made the incredibly difficult, incredibly brave decision to pursue MAID. Carlie shares a poem from the collection inspired by her grandmother: “Waiting for Palliative Care.”
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Poetry Muse: Gillian Sze + Quiet Night Think
In today’s Poetry Muse, Gillian Sze discusses how motherhood, or, “becoming a point of origin for someone else”, was the start of an interrogation of her own beginnings, and in turn, the start of her collection Quiet Night Think (ECW Press). Learn more about Gillian’s muse(s) for the book and hear “Instructions,” a poem from the collection.
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Poetry Muse: Keith Garebian + In the Bowl of My Eye
In today’s instalment of Poetry Muse, multi-award-winning poet Keith Garebian shares the natural and human-made world outside his condominium window in his latest collection In the Bowl of My Eye (Mawenzi House), as well as the poems “Study of Lake 1 & 2” from the book.
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Poetry Muse: Meredith Quartermain + Lullabies in the Real World
Meredith Quartermain and her collection Lullabies in the Real World (NeWest Press) make up today’s Poetry Muse feature. Read how the collection is in part a conversation with other poets like bp Nichol and hear Meredith read “Styx” from the book.
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Poetry Muse: Lori Cayer + Searching for Signal
Today’s Poetry Muse featured poet is Lori Cayer, discussing her latest collection, Searching for Signal (Signature Editions). She shares a gripping poem from the collection inspired by her late father, and tells us why poetry wasn’t so much a choice of form as it “never occurred to me to write anything other than poetry.”
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Poetry Muse: Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch + The Good Arabs
Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch shares their second collection The Good Arabs (Metonymy Press) in this latest instalment of Poetry Muse. They discuss working amidst other artists and creators, exploring the tensions and linkages between the micro and macro, and share their poem “The Cycle.”
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Poetry Muse: Andrew Faulkner + Heady Bloom
Our next Poetry Muse featured poet is Andrew Faulkner and his collection Heady Bloom (Coach House Books). He tells us how the book’s muse is the big-size bottle of Advil Liqui-gels, inspired by a persistent headache, shares the “nostalgic millennial” music found amongst his poems, and advises aspiring poets to “spend as much time as you can in…
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Poetry Muse: Salimah Valiani + 29 leads to Love
Today’s Poetry Muse’s featured poet is Salimah Valiani: activist, researcher, and author of29 leads to Love (Inanna Publications). In our Q&A, Salimah shares how in her new collection she traces love in 29 different ways, and how her muse for this collection is al-jinn, which can take either a human, animal, or other natural forms.
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Poetry Muse: Michelle Lietz + Occasionally Petty
Today’s featured poet is debut author Michelle Lietz, who releases her first poetry collectionOccasionally Petty (At Bay Press). This poetry collection is perfect for all music lovers, as each of Michelle’s poems begin with song lyrics. In our Q&A, she shares how her muse is Tom Petty and how she was inspired by his music when writing…
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Poetry Muse: Kelsey Andrews + Big Sky Falling
Today’s Poetry Muse featured poet is Kelsey Andrews, author of Big Sky Falling (Ronsdale Press). She discusses why “chanty” (note – not “chantey”) music inspires her to write, some of her favourite collections, and how setting expectations for your muse can make them – in her case, a woman with dark hair – come to you.
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Poetry Muse: Andrea Thompson, Evelyn C. White and A. Gregory Frankson + AfriCANthology
Today’s Poetry Muse feature is a triple-header of poets from Renaissance Press’ AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets. We’re joined by Andrea Thompson, reading “After the Storm;” Evelyn C. White, reading “One Rock;” and the anthology’s editor and poet himself, A. Gregory Frankson, reading “The Blackened Room.” Read on to learn about their muses, like those…
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Poetry Muse: Nanci Lee + Hsin
Today on Poetry Muse, we are joined by Nanci Lee — author of Hsin (Brick Books). Born to a Syrian father and a Chinese mother, who gave her up for adoption, Nanci explores her origins in a compendium of poem fragments where form embraces the process of its unfolding. In our Q&A with Nanci, she shares when…