Arc 55 Winter 2005
Web Archive—Poetry, Reviews, Audio Podcasts, Press Releases, and other Arcana
Tanis MacDonald
Fruitflies ricochet off imaginary light
Feature Review
Fruitflies ricochet off imaginary light: Nominees for the 2004
Archibald Lampman Award
Stephen Brockwell. Fruitfly Geographic.
Toronto: ECW Press, 2004.Cyril Dabydeen. Imaginary Origins: Selected Poems 1970-2002.
Leeds: Peepal Tree Press, 2004.Seymour Mayne. Ricochet.
Oakville: Mosaic Press, 2004.Susan McMaster. Until the Light Bends.
Windsor (ON): Black Moss Press, 2004.
To begin this review of the four books that were nominated for the 2004 Archibald Lampman Award for Poetry, given each year to a poet living in the National Capital Region, I will strip my sleeve, show my scars, and declare that poetry prizes ought to be encouraged. Every year, shortly after nominees are announced for literary awards all across the country, I hear talk about how such prizes mean nothing. Hmmm, yes; nothing but publicity, prize money, reviews, and a significant line on a c.v. Such talk usually issues from a young fox for whom the poetry grapes are never quite ripe, though occasionally a well-established poet will suggest that the proliferation of prizes diminishes the receipt of one. (Incidentally, I have never heard this complaint from the lips of any recent awardee, s/he who sports a cheque and perhaps an engraved plaque.) Complaint number two contends that poetry prizes depend on the tastes and education of that year’s jury. This is true, but in matters of arts and culture, I can think of few undertakings that do not rely upon the taste and education of a few people for its start-up energy. This is why juries are chosen afresh each year. This process is not perfect, nor is it unbiased; however, neither is publishing, reproductive technology or the electoral system. We persevere, and live on to read the nominated books.
Anita Lahey
Suzanne Buffam's Past Imperfect
Brief Review
Suzanne Buffam. Past Imperfect.
Toronto: House of Anansi, 2005.
I would like to call on Suzanne Buffam to act as an ambassador of poetry to the non-poetic world, the mainstream world, the world that steers politely away from poetry while holding fast to the notion that its practitioners are soft-hearted, doe-eyed people who have somehow managed to sidestep the harsh realities of life. They don’t really mind that poetry exists, but they doubt that any flower-stem-chewing poet would cut it in the gritty day-to-day. Next time you meet one of these people slide them a copy of Buffam’s Past Imperfect. Let the book sit there with its white cover and that hunched line-drawing trudging toward the spine, leaving a trail of debris more solid than itself, while your hard-working companion sips that hard-earned beer…
Anita Lahey
Editor's Note: Couplets in bowler hats
If you have been obsessed with poetry long enough—say, I don’t know, 27 years and counting—you have seen the Arc of the line-drawing cover, the Arc of the stenciled logo, various mustardy Arcs, square-faced Arc, the Arc of dramatic artwork embedded in solid colour—and the early, the first, the one-and-only Arc of the Stapled Spine….
Diana Brebner Prize Reading and Arc 55 launch
Come toast Arc’s New ‘smoking’ design with the launch of Arc 55. Featuring this year’s winner of the Diana Brebner Prize for poetry:
Sylvia Adams
with runner up Dilys Leman
When? Thursday December 8th, 2005, 7:30pm
Where? Collected Works Bookstore 1242 Wellington St. (at the corner of Holland and Wellington)
And door prizes! With real live poets reading their real poems from Arc. ‘Smoking’ accessories are included (really). cha… cha… cha… Changes!
Press Release: October 20, 2005
Diana Brebner Prize Winners announced
Ottawa poet Sylvia Adams has won the 4th annual Diana Brebner Prize for her poem “Water.” The prize, sponsored by Arc: Canada’s National Poetry Magazine, carries a cash award of $500.
This year’s judge, Michelle Desbarats, author of Last Child to Come Inside, chose the winning poem because of its “unique use of images,” and its exploration “of things other than the obvious.”
Sylvia Adams is an Ottawa poet, novelist and editor. Her first full poetry collection, Sleeping on the Moon, will be published in 2006 by Hagios Press, Regina. An excerpt from that manuscript was shortlisted for the 2005 Malahat Long Poem Award.
Arc 55 Winter 2005
- Arc 55 Winter 2005
- Fruitflies ricochet off imaginary light
by Tanis MacDonald - Suzanne Buffam's Past Imperfect
by Anita Lahey - Editor's Note: Couplets in bowler hats
by Anita Lahey - Water
by Sylvia Adams - Motherless
by Dilys Leman - Old Men, Smoking
by Sandra Kasturi - Open My Drawers
by Irene Livingston - Cock Pheasant
by Karen Hofmann - Diana Brebner Prize Reading and Arc 55 launch
- Diana Brebner Prize Winners announced
- 2005 Poem of the Year finalists
- Toronto poet wins Arc's 10th annual top prize
- Fruitflies ricochet off imaginary light
- by Form:
- Arc Dozens (2)
- Arcana (35)
- Audio (25)
- Essays (2)
- News (35)
- Poetry (84)
- Press Releases (80)
- Reviews (59)
- All Log Entries Archives (242)
- by Contest:
- Archibald Lampman Award (16)
- Confederation Poets Prize (12)
- Critic's Desk Award (16)
- Diana Brebner Prize (29)
- Poem of the Year Contest (41)
- Readers’ Choice Award (5)
- by Issue:
- Arc 63 Winter 2010 (9)
- Arc 62 Summer 2009 (7)
- Arc 61 Winter 2009 (10)
- Arc 60 Summer 2008 (7)
- Arc 59 Winter 2008 (16)
- Arc 58 Summer 2007 (39)
- Arc 57 Winter 2006 (17)
- Arc 56 Summer 2006 (13)
- Arc 55 Winter 2005 (12)
- Arc 54 Summer 2005 (12)
- Arc 53 Winter 2004 (14)
- Arc 52 Summer 2004 (16)
- Arc 51 Winter 2003 (21)
- Arc 50 Summer 2003 (16)
- Arc 49 Winter 2002 (9)
- Arc 48 Summer 2002 (4)
- Arc 47 Winter 2001 (2)
- Arc 45 Winter 2000 (1)
- Arc Annual 2010 (7)
- by Month:
- December 2009 (9)
- November 2009 (3)
- September 2009 (1)
- August 2009 (7)
- June 2009 (6)
- May 2009 (1)
- April 2009 (1)
- February 2009 (1)
- January 2009 (1)
- December 2008 (10)
- October 2008 (2)
- August 2008 (2)
- Recent Entries:
- Arc launches Issue #63 (the three-legged issue)
- The Night of the Apocalypse Yahweh Tinkles the Ivories
by Patricia Young - Canadian Gothic
by Jim Johnstone - Crow, of the family Corvidae
by Gillian Wallace - Advisory
by Steve McOrmond - Fidelities
by Chris Jennings - Excerpt from essay "On ending a poem"
by Barbara Myers - Katia Grubisic on Matthew Tierney's The Hayflick Limit
by Katia Grubisic - Poet in Residence, October 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 - Call for Proposals
- November 2009: Three calls for entry, and one new way to get Arc
- Calls for Entry coming up early in 2010
- Arc Digital Edition Now Available
- Lampman-Scott Award 2008 Winner
- Reactions to selections from Arc Annual 2010
- Frederick Ward’s blistering blues - Excerpt
by George Elliott Clarke
- Last Commented:
- PM reads Arc (1)
- more
-
Log Entries Archives
- Recent Entries:
- Arc launches Issue #63 (the three-legged issue)
- The Night of the Apocalypse Yahweh Tinkles the Ivories
by Patricia Young - Canadian Gothic
by Jim Johnstone - Crow, of the family Corvidae
by Gillian Wallace - Advisory
by Steve McOrmond - Fidelities
by Chris Jennings - Excerpt from essay "On ending a poem"
by Barbara Myers - Katia Grubisic on Matthew Tierney's The Hayflick Limit
by Katia Grubisic - Poet in Residence, October 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 - Call for Proposals
- November 2009: Three calls for entry, and one new way to get Arc
- Calls for Entry coming up early in 2010
- Arc Digital Edition Now Available
- Lampman-Scott Award 2008 Winner
- Reactions to selections from Arc Annual 2010
- Frederick Ward’s blistering blues - Excerpt
by George Elliott Clarke
- Last Commented:
- PM reads Arc (1)
Log Entries is powered by Movable Type 3.2
arcpoetry.ca
- Log Entries:
- How Poems Work:
- Transpoetry:
- Great Scots:
Arc: Canada’s National Poetry Magazine
is published by the Arc Poetry Society
with help from our sponsors.