Kevin Spenst’s much-anticipated debut collection of poetry opens as a coming-of-age narrative of lower-middle class life in Vancouver’s suburb of Surrey, embroidered within a myriad of pop- and “post-Mennonite” culture.

Language is at play with sit-com sonnets, soundscapes of noise, videogame goombas, an Old-Testament God, teenage longing within the power chords of heavy metal, and the complicated loss of a father to schizophrenia. Jabbering with Bing Bong chronicles the heartbreaking and slapstick pursuit of truth in the realms of religion, mental health, and poetic form itself.

Praise for Jabbering with Bing Bong:

“Each of these powerful poems is a facet of the surreal. It’s not bad either that they’re witty, tough and funny. Surrey and its many locales has arrived as literary territory. Fleetwood. Cloverdale. Guildford Mall. Surrey Place. Johnston Heights. The Port Mann. Coast Meridian Road … The work here is in a variety of forms, including a few prose poems. The tone varies but the situation is the same. Here are 24 more reasons for jabbering with Kevin Spenst.” (The Vancouver Sun)

“Spenst offers up a heaping serving of variety running the gamut of scenarios through religious zeal and impropriety, mental instability, teenage angst and comedic sonnets splashed haphazardly against a backdrop of stereo soundscapes, tender whispers, and heavy metal noise injected through the needle of poetry at its diverse and disgruntled best.” (Candice James, author, Poet Laureate of the City of New Westminster)

“Belief and disbelief rub up against each other in this startling and flawless debut collection. … These important poems do not redeem so much as allow the possibility of redemption.” (Jen Currin)

Most Anticipated Poetry selection, 49th Shelf (Spring 2015)