The Porcupinity of the Stars

by Gary Barwin

Winner of the 2011 Hamilton Literary Award for Poetry!

In this much-anticipated new collection, poet and musician Gary Barwin both continues and extends the alchemical collision of language, imaginative flight and quiet beauty that have made him unique among contemporary poets. As the Utne Reader has noted, what makes this work 'so compelling is Barwin’s balance of melancholy with wide-eyed wonder.' The Porcupinity of the Stars sees the always bemused and wistful poet reaching into new and deeper territory, addressing the joys and vagaries of perception in poems touching on family, loss, wonder, and the shifting, often perplexing nature of consciousness. His Heisenbergian sensibility honed to a fine edge, the poems in this bright, bold and intensely visual book add a surreptitious intensity and wry maturity to Barwin’s trademark gifts for subtle humour, solemn delight, compassion, and invention.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2006

About the author

GARY BARWIN is a writer, composer, and multidisciplinary artist and the author of 21 books of poetry, fiction and books for children. His bestselling novel [Book: Yiddish for Pirates] won the 2017 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and was a Governor General’s Award and Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist and has recently been longlisted for the Leacock Medal. His latest poetry collection is No TV for Woodpeckers His work has appeared widely in journals, including Poetry (Chicago), The Walrus and the Paris Review blog. A finalist for the National Magazine Awards (Poetry), he is a three-time recipient of Hamilton Poetry Book of the Year, and has also received the Hamilton Arts Award for Literature. He is was Writer-in-Residence at Western University and the London Public Library and is currently Art Forms Writer-in-residence for at-risk youth and will be Writer-in Residence at McMaster University and the Hamilton Public Library in 2017-2018. Barwin lives in Hamilton, Ontario and at garybarwin.com

Reviews

[J.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the deer bits the most. And how the family was so often forested. Clever.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were poems in this collection that I absolutely loved. Barwin can turn a clever, original phrase, and his playful nature is infectious. Sometimes, though, I felt he relied to much on that playfulness, always searching for something in the connection between unrelated concepts instead of searching for logical flow. I'm also not always the best, most careful reader of poetry, so some of this last comment may reveal a shortcoming on my part. In the end, I think this book is worth reading for the outstanding title alone.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this collection overall. There were pieces that felt a bit throwaway or flat to me in comparison to others. However, there is so much in this collection to love. I was thinking as I read it that, had the book been split into two chapbooks, I might give one three stars while the other would receive five. Did I just give away my super secret star rating formula? The long answer is “no.”

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barwin's poetry is unlike the contemporary poetry with which you might be familiar. Barwin is very much a writer of non-Milk and Honey-style poetry and it makes for surreal and disturbing images that are irresistible.

Weird and I love it.

[M.W.P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I carried my TV down the stars
buried it on a hill
with a beautiful view

by spring a small antenna
sprouted in that place

somewhere under the earth
wispy clouds and the wingbeats of birds

- Planting Consent, pg. 10

* * *

'you're a know-nothing'
sky says to me

'sky's right'
ground says

I make it rain
I boil the trees
and the giraffes
loud as knives

I raise babies
pink between the slats of cribs
I make boats run through the sea
I make the boll weevils cry

I'm a know-nothing baby
stuck between
ground and sky

I put my foot in the river
and I move on

- History Notebook, pg. 25

* * *

My daughter gave me Ireland
I put it in my pocket

out of my other pocket I gave her France

O things with shape and no shape
keep it up!

- O, pg. 30

* * *

the horizon darkening
a semaphore man drops his flags
opens his lunchbox
has a thermos of tea
and a white sandwich

when he is done
he picks up his flags
holds out his arms
and waits

the road, ever faithful
waits with him

- Fido, pg. 46

* * *

I dig a hole in the grass
my son takes the spade

digs the hole deeper
big enough for his sister

then she makes the hole
big enough for him

we gather around
unsure of what to say

the hole says nothing
it listens

- Grief, pg. 50

* * *

I will take care of the brick
because it came through my window

it is a damaged bird
unable to fly

I will make a safe bed for it
as I would help any broken thing

the truncated dove of a hand
the message that told me run

- Brick, pg. 61

* * *

run into a brick wall
if you believe
you can go through

bones ring like bells

- Realism, pg. 76

* * *

I scoop out the inside of my face
spit the seeds
at the Welcome Wagon

children, enter my empty head
I have dangerous zits and a porcupine
also a hammock of great ideas

some kind of emotion whirrs like cards
stuck between the spokes of my teeth
or the library

they ask me
what will we see
through your one blind eye?

and I say, the childless stars which spangle
the dark thong of the faceless sky
the pole-dancing god who made me

- The Porcupinity of the Stars, pg. 88

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I could not coax the meaning of most of these poems out. But they were beautifully written with great enjambment. It was a pleasure to read, particularly the first half the book, even if I was a bit baffled by what Barwin was saying.

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky, funny, surreal, strange. Another author I am absurdly happy to have discovered this year. Thanks to Stuart Ross for leading me here. This is my introduction into the work of Barwin and I can’t wait to read more hallucinatory poems.

[silas denver melvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

just not for me

[Ariel Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

HAMILTON writer Gary Barwin's latest collection, The Porcupinity of the Stars (Coach House Books, 96 pages, $17), is firmly in the experimental tradition.

Even though Barwin has supplemented what he calls his "old-school English language technology" (i.e. writing) with poetry-generating software, it is important to note that this is not a dispassionate surrealism.

There's a real depth of feeling and a surprising lyricism in these poems, such as "Inside H":

"we mist the sky with our blue plum lungs / make heaven heron-dark with our breathing / fog the limits with spirit and blue exhalation."

Those who enjoy playing connect-the-dots can follow this poem back to Vancouver's bpNichol, who grew up in the H section of Winnipeg's Wildwood Park.

Literary sleuthing aside, this is a collection for both the heart and the head. Highly recommended.

[Mark Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Barwin's Porcupinity of the Stars is magnificent, the product of many years working the poetry mines. These are poignant and perfectly balanced poems that lean toward the surreal. The collection is held together by a deep compassion for the human and nonhuman animal experience. The title itself reveals the work's interplay of perception and being.
Plus, it's just a heck of a lot of fun and a beautifully crafted book, nice to hold. Barwin is one of Canada's finest, and most overlooked, poets. Love this book!

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Barwin's best book of poetry so far.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun read.

[Margaryta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite the surrealistic and thought-provoking collection. Some of the poems, like "Fish", "Comedy", and the titular "The Porcupinity of Stars", were fantastic - moving, equally hilarious and sad in a dark kind of way. This was a general trend for the collection. However, others felt more like random assemblages of clever imagery mixed in with some outlandish and slightly ridiculous images. The formatting of some of the poems was also not really to my liking, as if they someone woke up one morning and decided to scribble down some lines. It's a great collection to read one a couple of sittings - I myself read in on the subway to and from lecture today. There's certainly some interesting thoughts and images in here, particularly the recurring deer and the motif of inversion, which I thought echoes the current social and political situation in some ways.