Celeb Poets — Meet three of Toronto's own
By Lisa Young
Dani Couture nearby the Coach House Books’ Spring Launch at The Stones Place.
Paul Vermeersch outside the McClelland & Stewart's Poetry Triple Bill at Mitzi's Sister.
a.rawlings outside the tONguE - a bi-monthly open-mic at The Concord Café.
According to the City of Toronto, there’s a cultural renaissance afoot. If standing room only is any sign of success, then Toronto’s poetry scene is taking centre stage.
Poetry events are bursting with audiences – and not just during poetry month. What’s driving people to attend? Cutting-edge talent. The buzz is palpable. Toronto poets are making a name for themselves and garnering a following of fans.
Meet a.rawlings, Paul Vermeersch and Dani Couture. All three are celebrated poets, who are an integral part of this vibrant poetry community.
a.rawlings is at the top of her game. She’s being asked to read at universities and has cast her net wide, breaking ground outside of Canada. Her first poetry book, Wide slumber for lepidopterists (Coach House Books, 2006), received a nomination for the Gerald Lampert Award and was featured in The Globe and Mail’s top 100 books of 2006. Her work is not only a deconstruction of sound and self, but a rebuilding.
Vermeersch is also a highly visible and quite colourful character. He founded the I.V. Lounge Reading Series (which Alex Boyd now hosts). His first collection, Burn (ECW Press, 2000), was a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award. He’s also the author of The Fat Kid (ECW PRESS, 2002). I’ve just read his latest book, Between the Walls (McClelland & Stewart, 2005). It is a powerhouse, fortified by alienating urban images and startling rural motifs.
Couture is both dynamic and approachable. Her first chapbook, midnight grocery (Believe Your Own Press, 2004), was mentioned in NOW Magazine’s Best of Toronto 2005 edition. Her collection, Good Meat (Pedlar Press, 2006) is exquisite – for the heat of it and for the flesh of it. She has an ability to go beyond the surface into the blood and guts of the matter.
All three of these poets are plugged into a city that is artistically exploding.
a.rawlings weighs in: “Toronto has proven an incredible locus for meeting local and visiting artists. There’s such a serious engagement with poetics, willingness to dig into difficult issues, and a generosity and encouragement with so many people I’ve met…I feel quite fortunate to work here, with access to Toronto’s diverse writing community as well as scenes and artists outside of the city.”
Vermeersch echoes similar sentiments: “Being surrounded by so many intelligent and interesting writers has been a kind of educational boon for me. I learn from my peers, and from my betters, in a number of ways, and I am also inspired by them. In addition to that, the poetry community in Toronto, and in Canada for that matter, can be incredibly supportive. At one time or another, I suspect almost every poet in Canada has been the benefactor of his peers' generosity and encouragement.”
Couture shares her experience: “After I lived in Vancouver for a year, where I was the editorial intern at PRISM, and a few months teaching English (and being sick) in Taiwan, I set my sights on Toronto, the city where I was born, but have no family in.
By the time I arrived in Toronto, I was seeking community, and community was presented to me. Through places like This Ain't the Rosedale Library and the I.V. Lounge, I was introduced to interesting Toronto writers and great books. I considered This Ain't my personal Welcome Wagon to all things literary in Toronto and all of the possibilities.”
Thanks to the outcrop of online social networks, established poets are finding more ways to reach out to the community and bolster it.
As co-facilitator of VOCABLE workshops, a.rawlings is giving back to the community by sharing her expertise. The kind of learning going on in these creative workshops sounds tantalizing. In her words: “VOCABLE allows us an opportunity to work with others interested in sound, text, and movement to see what we can create and puzzle out en masse. Each workshop raises more questions and helps to elucidate for us how and why we create.” This is the kind of exploration that can provide a breeding ground for new and exciting works.
Flourishing poets expose themselves to a variety of voices. They also find creative ways to support and promote each other’s work.
a.rawlings: “I’ve spent the last ten years studying, promoting, reading, and sharing contemporary Canadian literature – through the many activities in which I’ve participated (Scream, Lex, The Mercury Press, Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry, Word, Heart of a Poet, and more recently creative writing workshops). Having access to both texts and literary performances, I’ve been privileged to witness how other writers take on issues of interest to me. It’s been important for me to keep current on colleagues’ activities, and to support work and artists who challenge, excite, incite me. Lately, I’ve spent some time researching contemporary poetry outside Canada (with focus on Nordic countries), which has given me a chance to learn what’s happening elsewhere and share knowledge I have about some aspects of CanLit.”
Couture is stirring up more interest in Canadian poetry as co-editor of the Northern Poetry Review. She describes NPR as “an online home for poems, reviews of poetry books, articles and interviews.” In regard to the future of the magazine Couture is clear: “We hope to continue to promote talented Canadian reviewers and poets on the website for international consumption.”
Couture is also involved with the popular Scream Literary Festival. Her work with Scream has been gratifying, in large part because of the passion of the people involved: “The most rewarding aspect of the festival for me was the sheer dedication of the Scream board and the volunteers. All of the volunteers had no other agenda than to put on an incredible festival – a week of readings and events, new ways to interpret text that was already out in the world.”
Vermeersch shares the best parts of his job at Insomniac: “The most rewarding thing about being the poetry editor for a press is telling a first time author that his or her first book will be published.”
He adds that the “next most rewarding thing is when the authors you work with earn the recognition of their peers: a good review or an award nomination.”
When a poet gets it right, they’re writing poetry that’s relevant to our times. As Vermeersch comments: “Just as journalists record what's happening, and historians record what has happened, it is the job of the poet to record how it feels, how it is significant. Poets are psychological journalists, psychic historians.”
If you haven’t been to a poetry reading, now’s the time to check it out. There’s nothing like a live performance to bring poetry to life. Just ask Vermeersch. He considers readings a crucial component:
“I think oration is as much a part of the art form of poetry as composition is. For me, a poem should work equally well orally (and aurally) as it works on the page. I'm always reminded of Robert Pinky's long essay “The Sounds of Poetry.” In it, he describes the poem as a physical art form, a column of air fluctuating in the poet's airway, shaped by the speech organs. It is as much a physical act as dancing is, no different. I often have that in mind when I am about to give a reading.”
Couture specifically likes that “readings put writers in the company of their readers, or their potential readers. A lovely place to be.”
a.rawlings has one thing she keeps in her mind while performing: “Don’t fuck it up!” Wise words.
There are more than just a few celebrated poets in Toronto. To get in on the scene subscribe to Patchy Squirrel Lit-Serve co-run by Dani Couture and Stuart Ross. You might just discover a poet who makes you see the world differently – who softens up all the hard places and hardens a few soft spots!
The current buzz:
Couture is busy working on two projects. She’s wrapping up a new poetry manuscript, The Handbook, and is working on a novel, tentatively titled, Black Bear on Water.
Vermeersch will be reading at the I.V. Lounge Reading Series’ 10th anniversary night on Friday, May 9, 8PM. 326 Dundas St. W. And on Sunday, May 25, at 4PM, he'll be reading with poet and novelist John Stiles at Type Books, 883 Queen St. W. near Trinity Bellwoods Park.