In the editor’s introduction, Jennifer Footman makes a distinction between Uncivilizing and other contemporary poetry anthologies that herald the arrival of “new and exciting” writers (usually poets under 30 or those not-yet-known). In contrast, Footman describes the poets contained in this volume as “mature” writers who have already “found their voices.” Because of the dearth of presses interested in publishing anthologies that contain representative works of more established poets, I was very much encouraged by both Footman’s and
Insomniac’s aims.

The book does not live up to its billing, however. Uncivilizing contains the work of five Ontario poets: Caroline H. Davidson and Sonja Dunn (identified as two “newer” voices), Bernice Lever, Roger Nash, and James Reaney, as well as poems by Robert Sward (who, according to biographical information, lives in California). Individual works in the volume cover a range of subject matters – family, immigration, the human body – but rarely do they rise above the obvious or move beyond an unstructured outpouring of emotion. In fact, the amateurishness of many of the poems seriously undermines the “mature” aims of the anthology.

The only works that stand out, and therefore redeem an otherwise unremarkable grouping, are those by Roger Nash and James Reaney. Nash combines humour and quirky images with compelling subject matter to investigate “the everyday.” He doesn’t mock or scorn human failings or hardships; rather, he portrays them with a compassion that reveals the maturity of his poetic vision.

Similarly, Reaney’s deft forays into human relationships are rendered with a sharp focus on rhythm and an intriguing syntax that spotlight his attention to language. His realization that human impulses (both good and bad) often wait years for the appropriate situation to free them also illustrates Reaney’s “mature” understanding of the human condition.

It’s a shame that there are only two fine poets represented here. However, I hope that the publication of Uncivilizing spawns other anthologies of this format, but ones with a more scrupulous regard for poetics.