15 Canadian Poets x 2

by Gary Geddes

This is the fourth edition of Gary Geddes' highly successful anthology of Canadian poetry. All of the poets included in the previous editions have been retained, although their selections have been carefully reconsidered. Among new poets added to this edition are Anne Carson, Dionne Brand, Daphne Marlatt, and Fred Wah.

Genres: Poetry, Canada, Anthologies, Collections

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

None of the poets mentioned in the blurb are included in the anthology!

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always eschewed Canadian writers until recently. This book and the Fifth Business changed my mind.

Quickly coming down to be my fav poem, "The Cariboo Horses" by Al Purdy is in this book.

Also, it introduced me to Gwendolyn MacEwen who wrote a whole book of poetry based on The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

It was also interesting to see some really young pictures of Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje.

And Raymond Souster. Ever since reading this book, I've been trying to imitate him over and over.

[Jordan Sandrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly? This book was a bit of a disappointment. The book was published in 2001 but most of the authors were born between the 1930s to the 1950s, with the youngest born in 1955. It's more like a compilation of one generation of Canadian poets rather than a compilation of Canadian poets. It kind of gives the impression that the editor thought there weren't any worthy poets among gen x or millennials (we'll give him a pass on Gen z because the oldest would have been about 4 when this was published), or that for some reason he thought people under the age of 46 couldn't write poetry.

[Cat's Bookery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my Favourites (list to be completely uploaded at a later time):
Pg 278 - breaking
For Claudine pd 318
Elegy pg 326
As the mist 330
Albertasaurus 349
Bones 358
Touch home 361
The dig 373
Atwood 368
Elephants 416
Gwendoyl 443
The woman 474
Uneasy spring 475
Common magic 483
Crystal 493
Xenophanes 495
Fugue 506