This is a book with a twist on the literary glossa. In this collection of thirty or so poems written as responses to poetic utterances from poets living dead contemporary historical and ancient, Bowering ranges from affection to the obstreperous, from a pat on the back to quibbles in the dark. With characteristic aplomb he mixes the high and the low, the ancient and the modern, the glossa with the tongue-in-cheek. Because Bowering's personality comes through so strongly in these poems they work like conversations that transcend time; and they do so on the shifting tones of mood, this is literature that revolves on the personal. In his offhand way Bowering presents us with poems of dedication written in a complexity of voices that sound out ironic literary stances, arguments, agreements, and conciliations. It takes a poet to find reverence in the irreverent, but these poems are more than rebellious student to mentor, they are artist to joker to friend. Fool and wise man rolled into one. Find out what Bowering has to say to your favourite poet, you may find you really like it, or you may have Some Answers of your own. Literally.
Description:
A nearly square 6.5" by 7.3" inch book cut from 24lb acid free cotton linen paper stapled into cardstock endpapers and wrapped in a glossy white french flap jacket. Limited Edition of 100 dwindling copies. Only $12, shipping included.
Send cheque or cash or barter items to LaurelReedbooks
206 Ellis Ave., Mt Pleasant, ON, NOE 1K0
for another review of "Some Answers" go to:
http://poetryreviews.ca/category/laurel-reed-books/
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Laurel Reed Books is pleased to announce
the release of Ibbity, Rose DeShaw’s first book of
Poetry and Proses. A self styled writer born
in the far North during the war she has
worked her way gradually east over the
decades with stops in Idaho, Washington
and Toronto, where she worked and ran
an out of print bookshop, and Kingston,
where she ran another and now lives with
tons of books and her longtime husband Dick.
Ibbity is only the beginning of her extensive writings.
DeShaw doesn’t subscribe to any school of learning
and her art reflects that; her words, like water,
seek their own path. What this slim collection offers,
aside from anecdote, memoir, and a richly aesthetic response
to the vicissitudes of the modern and its post, is the product of a
writer who has stayed in the current while steering
her own way. Ahoy! Ahoy! There’s one comin’ in. Ibbity
Ibbity. It’s Ibbity comin’ in.
So get yours today. Printed on 24lb cotton linen stapled into
two colours of cardstock and wrapped in a canary yellow
dust jacket printed in colour with a cardstock bookmark
poem thrown in for good measure this thin, enjoyable
little tome is 11 X 5.75 inches in portrait. Limited Edition
82 copies. 10$. Free shipping. Send cash or cheque (or, pssst,
pay in postage) payable to Laurel Reed Books & send to
206 Ellis Ave., Mt. Pleasant ON, N0E 1K0.
The lastest pile of books to be swept from the publishers desk and quickly boxed is "The Geography of the Present" by poet-star rob mclennan. This is a fine suite of 8 poems for rumination. Cover done with antique astroparche coverstock paper and rubberstamp. Stapled. 5$.
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On the newly available list is Brian Babineau's "Murder, Mayhem & Misogyny." Yes, these are poems, and that is what they are about. Babineau's punchy yet sonorous and graphic poems are delivered like an uppercut to the diaphragm of didacticism. Includes a forward by the author and some closing remarks by roving critic Nic Coivert. 20 pages. Stapled. Green cardstock cover, rubberstamped with red ink. Limited Edition, 70 or so copies. 5$.
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Or, there's this. TO Y, by kemenybabineau. A rubberstamped book of short poems featuring the letter Y. Why? Why not? Cover is cottonwood cardstock paper, stapled. Limited Edition, 32 copies. 6$.
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Laurel Reed Books is pleased to announce
the publication of DEMTENED POEMS I-X by Jay Millar.
These are fabulous poems. Millar is fast becoming a leader
in the surge of a new Canadian poetics. With his ear to an organics
of measure he weaves a song you'll want to hear again, in both
understanding and un. As Ron Silliman has previously noted on his
blog Jay Millar is a craftsman above all. These poems neither falter
nor flaw. For any fans of the post- modern Canadian lyric,
Demtened Poems is a must read.
36 pages. Cotton linen paper stapled into a beige cardstock cover
with a canary yellow wrap. Cover art by author. Laurel Reed Books, 2007.
Limited Edition of 100 Copies. 9$.
ISBN 978-0-9684829-9-6
New from Richard Rathwell RENTED SOUL
A sequel is to be named The Dirvish Comes Home, or Taming
the Devil and other Backyard Kicks. This is a literary agent
with several possible futures. Rathwell is the chameleon of the
come-on and the campiest of commanders. Never fear,
Rathwell is here, and there, he goes down that hole
by coming up another. The word world that this collection of poetree
and proses presents is one of magic all leaps plus one. Shifting
from BlackHeath in England, to Africa, then Simon Fraser University
during the '60's and a cottage on the Rideau even
earlier, Richard Rathwell shows up as a writer that's
been around with his eyes wide open. And what he opens
is like an Understand Ding . Quite right.
from the back cover:
Rathwell is Canada’s Beat poet of the world. I am supposed to be writing a book, and if not that, it is Sunday, and I promised my sweetheart that I would take her places on Sundays, but no. What am I doing? I am spending my time reading these neat Rathwell stories. And I mean it--they are really neat to read as, I think, recent critical and theoretical LANGUAGE.
Sometimes I think this is the writing of the ghost of Jack Kerouac that has finally arrived in the eternal now as an ancient world traveler, or maybe this is Rimbaud returning with words from Africa; but in the end, essentially, this is none other than Richard Rathwell a Canadian ex-pat now living in London, England, and telling the truth.
-Nic Coivert
44 pages. Stapled into cardstock cover and wrapped in light
azure blue jacket. Comes with a Bookmark Poem written by
John Barlow. Published by Laurel Reed Books, 2007.
Limited Edition 100 copies. 8$.
ISBN 978-0-9782755-1-8
New from Nelson Ball THREE-LETTER WORDS
This latest book of verse from Nelson Ball is a kind of
consistent departure, what we've grown to respect from his
oeuvre, at once minimalist and expansive, straightforward
and ambiguous, like a line on the water. In THREE-LETTER
WORDS Ball finds uncertainty in the grid, humanity in the
mechanized and non-conformity in the highly conformed.
This is performance poetry at its quietest, improv at its most
scripted, and collaboration at its most independent. THREE-
LETTER WORDS is like a bowl of rice, except funnier.
Twenty-five pages filled with 2100 three-letter words. Stapled
and wrapped in a cream coloured dust jacket. Published by
Laurel Reed Books and Rubblestone Press. A limited Edition
of 75 copies signed by the author.
ISBN # 0-9684829-7-X
$9 + 1$ for shipping
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Also hot off the press is Brian Babineau's 1234 Poems.
These poems show how it is still possible to make it new using
the old forms. Babineau uses a long clear line with direct lyric
intentions but not in a predictable fashion, he fashions
something new in these poems. This is an authentic voice that
understands the craft of verse and perceives as well the
artlessness of the world in which it exists.
8 pages. Limited Edition of 53 copies.
ISBN # 0-9684829-8-8
$4 + $1 for shipping.
bravenet.com