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More Songs the Radio Won’t Play

By (author): Stan Rogal

Lyrical poetry inspired by popular songs, Rogal sweeps the reader through the journey of creation.

In More Songs the Radio Won’t Play, Stan Rogal takes formerly “popular” tunes (from various genres) and transforms them. Self-referentiality; mashups of the erudite and profane; allusions to other arts and sciences; the insertion and bending of biographical and historical facts; problematic snippets of philosophy and literary theory, quotes, and bastardizations; deploying non- or a-political language to challenge notions of how a poem should work; sampling; and off-kilter humour work together to update Rogal’s playlist for a present-day audience.

While his poems unavoidably serve to comment on the world today, Rogal resists a central message. The true emphasis of this collection is on the process of creation. It’s not the destination but the journey that is of significance. Not mere cover versions, not exactly parodies (though parodic), these poems are redactions, mutations, Frankenstein’s monsters … they resemble the original — somewhat — yet are also grossly different.

AUTHOR

Stan Rogal

Stan Rogal was born in Vancouver where he worked for several years in the bowling business. He moved to Toronto in 1987 to complete an MA English at York University. He ran the popular Idler Pub Reading Series for ten years, was co-creator of Bald Ego Theatre and is now the artistic director of Bulletproof Theatre. He has published thirteen books (eight poetry, two novels, three short story collections) and his work has appeared in several anthologies and in numerous literary magazines in Canada, the US and Europe. He continues to act and direct and several of his plays have been produced across Canada.

Reviews

I think opening More Songs the Radio Wont Play to any page is going to leave readers surprised and smiling which is to say Rogals poetry is a wild thing that makes everything groovy sorry I couldnt help myself It is a poetry collection that is both endearing and fantastical The Woodlot



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Details

Dimensions:

120 Pages
8.5in * 5.5in * 0.285in
0.42lb

Published:

March 25, 2025

Publisher:

ECW Press

ISBN:

9781770418035

Book Subjects:

POETRY / Canadian

Language:

eng

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