Monty Reid read new poems from his wonderful parasite poem series which describe the lives of some of these thousands of species of the microcosms inside our bodies.
He also read from what he never reads from because he says the poems are too short, Sweetheart of Mine (BookThug) [spun from Bluegrass songs] and from Dog Sleeps (NeWest Press) because the poems are too long. (He excerpted the life of vignettes with the house dog.)
After one fun expansive intro by Rod of Monty, Monty gave a comparable one of Lisa.
Lisa Robertson read from the accumulation of The Men (BookThug) and then a couple long poems from Magenta Soulwhip (Coach House) and a shortie to finish off before the discussion. She talked in aside about how in Vancouver, the houses aren’t insulated so you can put your ear to the underside of the roof and it is as if the rain falls directly on your ear.
This was the first in the new Tree format where a reader gets to choose who to invite to read with and their readings are followed by a onstage chat with an open Q&A.
Since it was filmed, in a week or two, the video will be put online. For now, for me, some things stood out. One thing was Robertson putting her finger on this: “the longer I write, the more inexperienced I feel as a writer.” Well-put I thought, of that humbling process. It seems to be a common by-product of doing this craft. Many people write the same poem repeatedly. She wants instead to reinvent.
They were asked why both of them seem to constrain themselves to the real? Neither felt they did. Debbie: An Epic was a spoofed lark of the epic. Robertson said she was working with what is known and “tilting the frame of everything”.
Once one is writing from the perspective of the microscopic scale, it can’t exactly be direct perception. Or as Monty put it, “there is not much difference between the radically speculative and the radically empirical”.
They spoke of Stacy Doris’ concept of delusional space, both social and aesthetic, in which we write.
Robertson mentioned she has returned to reading Shelley and how he saw imagination as tool for political transformation.
Rod Pederson asked about her being an academic writer. Reid pointed out how philosophy happens in academic circles but there is not a monopoly only there. She said although she writes about concepts, exploring ideas she doesn’t come from Academia. She worked from grass roots, learning of feminist and anti-racism discourses and this led to thinking and reading of philosophy, such as the ideas of Lucretius‘ On the Nature of Things and questions surrounding intentions. Poetry was made as a product of thinking and playing. Her books were made for herself and her immediate peers such as Christine Stewart, Catriona Strang and The Gig of print came as a separate thing.
Some book buying after the readings. In this case Cameron Anstee gets a signature from Lisa Robertson.
Anstee had on hand and was selling chapbooks from his Apt. 9 press of Monty Reid’s newest ‘A Poem that Ends with Murder’. Other titles of his Apt. 9 include:
Guzzles / Justin Million
Rest Cure / Sandra Ridley
The Argossey / Ben Ladouceur
[and upcoming, in time for the Ottawa fall small press fair] TWO BOYS carrying a box through a field .going somewhere / Michael Blouin
Facebook claims that this is a link to the album of about 20 photos of the reading.