Caitlin Press has accepted “-40 ℃” for publication in an anthology edited by Yvonne Blomer which “explores our impact and reliance on the watershed.” The anthology will be book two in the Refugium Trilogy and will be released in Winter 2020.
The vast landscape
“…It’s what he loved
most that still inhabits the house:
his wife, his son, his yellow bathtub
with its view over the year-round
green fields. If you stood outside in the vast
landscape you would see the light
glowing in all the rooms…”
From “Night after night she dreams” in Wavelengths of Your Song
Photos by Eleonore Schönmaier from her visits to photographer Ed van der Elsken’s home on a farm near Edam.
In 2017 Nina Siegal wrote in The New York Times “Even though his cameras were ever-present, van der Elsken’s work didn’t contain the least tinge of solipsism. It didn’t explore his personal identity — he was far more concerned with using his camera for documenting the social culture around him.”
Lust for Life is an exhibit profiling the colour work of photographer Ed van der Elsken and is on until 6 October 2019 in Rotterdam.
Timeline of Ed van der Elsken’s life.
“Poetry gives us…”
“In an age in which we too often desire answers to be black and white, in which we flee from ambiguity and complexity, and in which we find it difficult to see beyond the immediate or to read beyond literal, poetry gives us permission to wonder, permission to find the extraordinary in the mundane, permission to look anew at that which we imagine cannot be seen differently, to wrestle with what may seem unsayable or unimaginable.”
“it didn’t happen here”
This is the postcard image for “it didn’t happen here” created by Megan Fildes for the League of Canadian Poets, and is one of fifteen poems chosen for the Poem in Your Pocket Day Booklet.
Work Matters
Happy Poetry Month
April is National Poetry month in Canada and the Poem in Your Pocket Day brochure is already available online. Plus there are postcard versions of the poems designed by Megan Fildes. The brochure includes 15 poems, 12 recommended nature poetry books, 10 ways to support your favourite poets, along with tips for educators and young readers.
The official 2019 Poem in Your Pocket Day poems are:
Harry Posner – Still be still be still be
Eleonore Schonmaier – “it didn’t happen here”
Fiona Tinwei Lam – Ode to Chopsticks
Yvonne Blomer – Spotted Owl as Desire
Heather Cadsby – Quick Question
Adebe DeRango-Adem – O Sea of Troubles We Did Not Take Arms Against
Lorie Miseck – Jazz (A Variation)
Charlie Petch – Glom Glom Sunraises
When I Reach
“When I Reach” (from Dust Blown Side of the Journey) is featured in the Poetry Pause for March 29 from the League of Canadian Poets .
Additional poems were featured on March 21, World Poetry Day “it didn’t happen here” (winner of the National Broadsheet Contest), on December 17, Conversation (from Treading Fast Rivers) and on November 1, Migrations (from Wavelengths of Your Song) .
Winner National Broadsheet Contest
“it didn’t happen here” is the winner of the League of Canadian Poets National Broadsheet contest, and was selected by judge D.A. Lockhart for its “strong images, and captivating lyric voice.” Lockhart also states, “It’s nature speaks to the sort of experiential empathy that would do much to our world.” – D.A. Lockhart
The artisan broadsheet is created by Briar Craig. You can also read the poem as featured on the Poetry Pause. And you can read an interview with Eleonore Schönmaier here.
Congratulations also to the runner-up Phillip Crymble for his poem “The Country East of Rossville, Indiana” (which you can read by scrolling down here), along with the Honourable mentions: Alone and together by Lenea Grace, You Shall Have Homes, 1928 by Kim Fahner, and Last Words by Katherine Pilon.
Human Touch
“jobs that involve creativity, social interaction, and a human touch are hard to automate”
In global libraries
Eleonore Schönmaier’s books can be found in libraries globally including Poets House Library, New York, USA, Helsinki University in Finland, Bibliographie du Quebec, in Canada, Falvey Memorial Library at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, USA, and Biblioteca Madre Maria Teresa Guevara, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Puerto Rico among others.
