Evergreen: Six New Poets

by Rob Mclennan (Editor), Laurie Fuhr (Contributor), Joh Paul Fiorentino (Contributor)

With the onslaught of new writers appearing almost constantly, it becomes harder to search out the cream from the dross. Six New Poets highlights half a dozen young poets from across of the country who have already started to make noise, much the way Al Purdy did in his Storm Warning anthologies of the 1970s. Each poet is given a generous section to allow a strong sense of each writer to come through. Ottawa-based but variously everywhere, former army brat Laurie Fuhr is the baby of the group, feeling her way through the emotionally charged lyric. Jon Paul Fiorentino , originally from Winnipeg and now in Montreal, and Calgary's Ryan Fitzpatrick have much in common -- both working different sides of the Canadian Prairie long poem, entering as myth making; each from their individual origins in working-class suburbs. Meghan Lynch , from Hamilton, Ontario, writes in short, serial bursts that break through everything else, and hang beautifully, the sheer essence of the poem lingering like the smile of a Cheshire cat. Andy Weaver , currently in Edmonton but also variously-based, works through a clarity that could cut glass, carving lines of hope and hopelessness that any bird would trust to land upon. And finally, Montreal-based Susan Elmslie 's poems are slow and contemplative, filled with beauty and searches for understanding, sometimes where there is none, but provide a sense of secure wisdom, even through her questioning.

Genres: Poetry

186 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2002

About the author

Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan currently lives in Ottawa. The author of nearly thirty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he won the John Newlove Poetry Award in 2010, the Council for the Arts in Ottawa Mid-Career Award in 2014, and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2012.

In Canadian Literature, Gordon Bölling praised his novel Missing Persons as “a welcome addition to the body of Canadian prairie fiction.” His collection of short fiction, The Uncertainty Principle has been described as: “Little flash fictions, some quirky, some funny, some touching. A fun read.” (Pearl Pirie). In a review on the ottawa poetry newsletter, Ryan Pratt wrote that “Thanks to mclennan’s discipline, our experience reading The Uncertainty Principle requires none. Organized to accommodate brief interactions (which, like the psychology behind bite-sized chocolate bars, results here in complete overindulgence), the book proves incessantly fresh, taken as a whole or in cursory, page-flipping handfuls.”

An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Chaudiere Books, The Garneau Review (ottawater.com/garneaureview), seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics (ottawater.com/seventeenseconds), Touch the Donkey (touchthedonkey.blogspot.com) and the Ottawa poetry pdf annual ottawater (ottawater.com), as well as organizes the semi-annual ottawa small press book fair, which he co-founded in 1994. He spent the 2007-8 academic year in Edmonton as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta, and regularly posts reviews, essays, interviews and other notices at robmclennan.blogspot.com