Quill and Quire

Poetry

Holding Pattern

By Shane Rhodes

This second poetry collection from Shane Rhodes takes a good long look at dualities. A selective list of the themes covered (and uncovered) in Holding Pattern might include memory and experience, science and religion, heterosexual ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

Salvage

By Michael Crummey

In his poetry, short stories, and his novel, River Thieves, Michael Crummey makes effortless music on the page. Like a sculptor giving equal attention to the immediate carved surface and the overall shape he has ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

The Wife’s Account

By Esta Spalding

The Wife’s Account is Esta Spalding’s fourth book of poetry in just over seven years. In the vividly imagistic style that has established her reputation, the collection (we are told on the dust jacket) encapsulates ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

Pavilion

By Stephanie Bolster

Poetry collections that include long lists of books that “shaped the development” of the work often suffer from one of two problems: either the poems are so bloated with information that they plod along like ... Read More »

January 21, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

Killing Things

By John Degen

John Degen’s 2000 poetry debut, The Animal Life of Budapest, was a slim, strong evocation of a very particular city and its discontents. Killing Things pursues his fascination with place, stopping in London, New York, ... Read More »

January 21, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

The Fat Kid

By Paul Vermeersch

For his second collection of poetry, Toronto poet and editor Paul Vermeersch writes, in a linear series of narrative poems, the life story of a fat kid’s battle with anorexia. The kid of the title ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

Simple Master

By Alice Burdick

Don’t let the title fool you: this debut collection by Toronto poet Alice Burdick is anything but simple. The book is quartered into segments that seem to lend a menu-like efficiency to its consumption. The ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

Helsinki Drift

By Douglas Burnet Smith

Anyone who has ever traveled, especially into a country with a vastly different culture, knows that an exploration of their native poetry is essential. The next best approach is to read a book like Douglas ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

Small Arguments

By Souvankham Thammavongsa

The short poems in Small Arguments are tender snapshots of nature’s often overlooked bounty. No verbal flab invades the images as the poetry magically explores the essence and personality of objects we rarely equate with ... Read More »

January 15, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry