Bizarre Winery Tragedy is a book of lyric poems about country folk, city folk, alcohol and urbanism. These poems continue Neff’s quest to explore the modern-day juxtaposition of urban and rural landscapes, and the lines of power between the countryside and the metropolis-firewood, dams and the WiFi-enabled grid. Deeper insights emerge in this, the author’s third published collection. Bizarre Winery Tragedy is 21st-century poetry that juggles death and technology and finds some nasty laughs in the process. Think of it as a strange and tragic road trip through British Columbia’s wine-consuming regions, with Neff at the wheel.

Praise for Bizarre Winery Tragedy:

“The speakers in Neff’s poems tend to rant, but they do so with intelligence and wit, and the poems sizzle with energy . . . Reading Bizarre Winery Tragedy is a bit like getting caught with that mad yapper in the pub, except Neff has a thousand different stories to tell and nearly as many figures through which to tell them. Although I began to feel a bit too much of a muchness about these poems, their energy and directness will keep a reader engaged.” (Canadian Literature)

“This is a poet who [… ] maintains a sense of wit and skill as he pursues his native landscape. Whether waiting for the warmth of the no. 14 bus, or wandering half-cut down East Hastings, Neff never shies away from the roughest his city has to offer. Here is a poet who knows Vancouver from the sidewalk up, the pull of its streets through the dark.” (Books in Canada)

Praise for Lyle Neff:

“These poems pack a wallop. They’re full of outrage and bravado, tempered by amazing insights and a highly developed musical sensibility. They ‘steam and churn’ with the energy of the city, they burn with this young poet’s ‘hottest fire of sight’.” (Lorna Crozier)