44 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in fall 2024

Here are the Canadian poetry collections we are taking note of in the second half of 2024.

Signal Infinities by Melanie Siebert

Signal Infinities is a long poem following a therapist who observes the personal and collective traumas of young people while at a lakeside apprenticeship. Remarking on the glaciers melting and forests depleting, the poet uses the sensations of the body to describe our connection and relationship to the land and its untenable weather.

Signal Infinitiesis out now.

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Melanie Siebert is the Victoria-based author ofDeepwater Veewhich was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry in 2010. Her nonfiction bookHeads Up: Changing Minds on Mental Healthwon the Lane Anderson Award for best science writing for young readers in Canada and was a finalist for the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.

Chambersonic by Oana Avasilichioaei

Through poetry, essays, scores and an ensemble of sound, Chambersonic is a work that transforms the book into an "acoustic chamber". Every aspect of the process of music-making is explored from the conductor to the orchestra as they rehearse and perform. This collection experiments with techniques both musical and poetic.

Chambersonicis out now.

• How Oana Avasilichioaei translated Readopolis and won a Governor General's Literary Award

Oana Avasilichioaei is a Montreal poet, performance artist and translator. She has written several poetry collections, including We, Beasts, Limbinal, Operatorand Eight Trackwhich wasa finalistfor the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for poetry.Shewon the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award for translationfor the bookReadopolis, originally written in French by Bertrand Laverdure.

The Sky Above by Marty Gervais

The Sky Above is a selection of poems from the perspective of a writer who crafts a story in many forms, be it journalism, photography or poetry. Canadian poet Marty Gervais's book tells everyday stories of being a father, weathering storms and occasionally talking to people like Mother Teresa in a Detroit church basement.

The Sky Aboveis out now.

• Marty Gervais named Windsor's Poet Laureate Emeritus

Gervais is an Ontario journalist, poet, playwright, historian, photographer and editor. In 2018, he was nominated as the City of Windsor's Poet Laureate Emeritus. He is founder of Black Moss Press, one of Canada's oldest literary publishing firms, and is managing editor of The Windsor Review.

The Liturgy of Savage No. 82 by Maya Cousineau Mollen, translated byAdam Haiun

As an Innu woman Maya Cousineau-Mollen grew up outside of the Ekuanitshit (Mingan) community she was born in. In her poetry collection The Liturgy of Savage No. 82, Cousineau-Mollen reflects on connecting with her biological family and culture after being adopted into another family as part of the Sixties Scoop. From childhood and onwards, Cousineau-Mollen's poems bring attention to the complex realities of Indigenous women in Canada and the Indigenous homeless population in Montreal as she draws on her own relationships to identity and systemic racism.

The Liturgy of Savage No. 82is out now.

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Cousineau-Mollen is an Innu poet based in Quebec. Her poetry collectionBrviaire du matricule 082won the Indigenous Voices Award for French Poetry.Cousineau Mollen also served as an executive assistant to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Adam Haiun is a Montreal-based writer and poet. His work has been published inFilling Station, Carte Blanche, The Headlight Anthologyand Bad Nudes.No-Place Grid,his first poetry book, will be published in 2025.

The Double Feature of the Murdered Woman by Carole David, translated by Donald Winkler

As the poet wanders Rome in a 21st century heat-stricken summer, they are faced withthe haunted historical streets of Italy. The poet, an Italian once exiled to America, sits watching the titular film of this poetry collection, The Double Feature of the Murdered Woman, meditating on a story of women and violence.

The Double Feature of the Murdered Womanis out now.

Carole Davidreceived the Prix Alain-Grandbois in 2011 for her collectionManuel de potique l'intention des jeunes filles; the same collection was also included on the shortlist for the Governor General's poetry award. In 2020, she was named the recipient of Quebec's Prix Athanase-David for lifetime achievement in literature.

Donald Winkler is a Montreal-based translator. He has won the Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English translation forThe Lyric Generation: The Life and Times of the Baby-BoomersbyFranois Ricard, Partitia for Glenn Gouldby Georges Leroux andThe Major VerbsbyPierre Nepveu. Two books translated by him have been shortlistedfor the Scotiabank Giller Prize:A Secret Between UsbyDaniel Poliquin in 2007 andArvidabySamuel Archibald.

South Side of a Kinless River by Marilyn Dumont

Tackling the way Mtis identity has been ignored and suppressed by the nation through poetry, South Side of a Kinless Riveris a collection focused on the voice of Marilyn Dumont. Closely looking at history, topics such as land loss, midwifery of Indigenous women and the relationships between Indigenous women and European men, the poems of this collection give voice to Mtis women, the violence they are subjected to and the knowledge they hold.

South Side of a Kinless Riveris out now.

Marilyn Dumont is an Edmonton-based poet of Cree Mtis descent.Dumont's otherworks includeGreen Girl Dreams Mountains,The Pemmican EatersandA Really Good Brown Girl, is about Dumont coming to understand and embrace herMtis heritage.A Really Good Brown Girlwonthe 1997 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award.

Breaking Up with the Cobalt Blues by Lindsay Soberano Wilson

Breaking Up with the Cobalt Blues is a collection of poems about recovery from addiction, trauma and domestic violence centred within Toronto's 90s rave culture. Through vulnerable reflections, the poet describes moving through grief and pain and ultimately growing into lightness.

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Lindsay Soberano Wilson is a writer, poet and teacher born in Toronto. She is also the author of the poetry collection Hoods of Motherhood.

cop city swagger by Mercedes Eng

In cop city swagger,Mercedes Eng draws on the experiences of racialized and unhoused people in Vancouver, particularly in communities like Chinatown. Through short poems, Eng examines the threat to public safety the Vancouver police posed by assessing cases from 2019 to 2023, highlighting institutional violence and the purpose of community self-preservation.

When you can read it:Sept. 10, 2024

Eng is a Vancovuer prairie-born poet of Chinese and settler descent. She is also the author ofMercenary English. Engis an assistant professor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

The Sky is a Sky in the Sky by Stuart Ross

The Sky is a Sky in the Sky is a collection of miscellaneous poems including one-line poems, prose and a remix of poetry by Stuart Ross's friend Nelson Ball. Infused with humour, this collection imagines the poet's many lives and the grief he endures.

When you can read it:Sept. 10, 2024

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Stuart Ross is an Ontariowriter, editor and teacher. He is the author of several books of poetry, fiction and essays includingYou Exist,PocketsandA Sparrow Came Down Resplendent.Hewon the 2023 Trillium Book Awardfor his memoirThe Book of Grief and Hamburgers.

Interrobang by Mary Dalton

In this collection of exploratory poems, the poet embodies the meaning of Interrobang, a punctuation mark that combines a question mark and an exclamation. Through riddles and playing with form, the poet writes of community, identity and explores what it means to be a "lost soul."

When you can read it: Sept. 12,2024

St. John's-based Mary Dalton's poetry collections includeMerrybegot,Red Ledger,HookingandEdge. Dalton has wonthe E.J. Pratt Poetry Awardand been shortlisted for various others, among them the Pat Lowther Award, the Atlantic Poetry Award, and the Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry.

One River: New and Selected Poems by Ricardo Sternberg

Combining the selected poems of four previous collections in addition to new writings, One River is a collection of exploratory poems in both theme and form. A myriad of otherworldly characters are featured throughout, like a grasshopper or a millionaire entering heaven as a camel and a pilot flying by scent.

When you can read it:Sept. 12, 2024

Ricardo Sternberg is a Toronto-based author and poet. Hisprevious books includeThe Invention of Honey,Map of Dreams,Bamboo Church, andSome Dance. He is also the author of a book on the Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade.

The Flesh of Ice by Garry Gottfriedson

Dedicated to survivors of Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) and all residential schools in Canada The Flesh of Ice is a collection of poems and personal narratives of writer Garry Gottfriedson of the Secwpemc (Shuswap) First Nation. Where Gottfriedson's last collection Bent Back Tongue discussed the history of Indigenous people in Canada as affected by the government of Canada and the Catholic Church, this book describes the lived realities of those who attended KIRS, citing their pain, their resilience and their necessary voices.

When you can read it:Sept. 13, 2024

• Secwpemc poet, residential school survivor Garry Gottfriedson says poetry was his 'saviour'

Gottfriedsonis from Kamloops, B.C. He is strongly rooted in his Secwpemc (Shuswap) cultural teachings. In the late 1980s, Gottfriedson studied under Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Faithfull and others at the Naropa Institute in Colorado. He is the author of 13books, includingSkin Like MineandClinging to Bone. Gottfriedsonreceivedan honorary Doctor of Laws degreefrom the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) in 2023.

Gottfriedson is a juror for the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize.

I Hate Parties by Jes Battis

I Hate Parties is a collection of 50 poems on Jes Battis' experiences of being queer, autistic and nonbinary. Focusing on the feelings of intense anxiety that come with growing up in the nineties in Canada as a marginalized person, Battis writes of adolescence, queer parties and panic attacks through metaphor and honest verse.

When you can read it:Sept. 14, 2024

Battis is a queer autistic writer and teacher at the University of Regina, splitting their time between the prairies and the west coast. They wrote the Occult Special Investigator series and Parallel Parks series. Battis' first novel,Night Child, was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award. Their novelThe Winter Knightwas onthe Canada Reads 2024 longlist.

I Feel That Way Too by jaz papadopoulos

I Feel That Way Too is a reflection on the #MeToo movement and how survivors of sexual assault are further effected by sensationalized trials. Drawing on their own childhood and events like the Jian Ghomeshi trial, the poet turns a critical lens at the sexist structures the media and other social powers uphold. Through these confrontations, this collection of poems meditates on how the bodies of survivors move through these trials and towards healing.

When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2024

jaz papadopoulos is an interdisciplinary writer andeducator from B.C. They hold an MFA from the University of British Columbia and are a Lambda Literary Fellow.I Feel That Way Toois their debut poetry collection.

First Here and then Far by David Zieroth

Reflecting on over 50 years of writing First Here and then Far is a collection of David Zieroth's particular poetic voice and identity. From his upbringing in the Prairies to worldwide travels to his current existence in North Vancouver, Zieroth writes of the curiosity that accompanies the every day.

When you can read it: Sept. 14,2024

David Zieroth is a Vancouver writer. His poetry collectionThe Fly in Autumnwon the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award and was nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the Acorn-Plantos Award for People's Poetry in 2010. Zieroth also won The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Award forHow I Joined Humanity atLast.His other works includethe trick of staying and leaving,watching for life,the bridge from day to nightandZoo and Crowbar.

Post-Mortem of the Event by Klara du Plessis

Post-Mortem of the Event is a collection of poems and "wave form visualization" composed from recordings of the poet's live readings and digital archives. Hinting at an unwritten manuscript, this collection experiments with form and sound, echoing themes of death and inclusion.

When you can read it:Sept. 15, 2024

Klara du Plessis is a poet, academic and curator living between Montreal and Cape Town. Her other poetry collections includeEkkewhich won the Pat Lowther Memorial Award in 2019, andHell Light Fleshwhich was adapted into a mono-opera at the 2023 International Festival of Films on Art.

Bad Weather Mammals: Poemsby Ashley-Elizabeth Best

The poems inBad Weather Mammalsreflect Ashley-Elizabeth Best's own experiences with disability. The poems look back at her childhood, but also her adulthood and even her relationships in her community. The poet explores in a variety of formal constraints both the joys and devastation of living with a disabled body.

When you can read it:Sept. 17, 2024

Ashley-Elizabeth Best is a disabled poet and essayist from Kingston, Ont. Her debut collection of poetry,Slow States of Collapse, was published in 2016. Best's chapbookAlignmentwas published in 2021. That same year, Best was also a contributor forResistance, a collection of poems curated and edited by Sue Goyette.

Best was on thelonglist for the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize.

Death of Persephone: A Murderby Yvonne Blomer

The poems inDeath of Persephoneexplore the myth of Persephone through the character of Stephanie who lives in a more modern setting than her Greek inspiration. With many displacements to the myth, one question remains: who will survive this altered version of the ancient story?

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When you can read it:Sept. 17, 2024

Yvonne Blomer is a poet and author. She is the author of the travel memoirSugar Ride: Cycling from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpurand the poetry collectionAs if a Raven.She edited the anthologiesRefugium: Poems for the PacificandSweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds. Blomer served as Victoria's poet laureate from 2015 to 2018.

Blomer waslonglisted for the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize.

Without Beginning or End by Jacqueline Bourque

Inspired by the scenery of her childhood in New Brunswick, Jacqueline Bourque's posthumous poetry collection meditates on life and death after Bourque received a terminal cancer diagnosis. Without Beginning or End offers a series of connections to family, art, friendship and the human condition through short emotional poems.

When you can read it:Sept. 17, 2024

Bourquewas an Ottawa-based poet. Her poems appeared in The Antigonish Review, The Dalhousie Review, The Fiddleheadand the Queen's Quarterly. Her first bookRepointing the Brickswasshortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award. She died in 2023.

Total Party Kill by Craig Francis Power

Referring to the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) term, Total Party Kill is a scenario within a game of D&D where all of the characters die together. Mapping the poet's personal story of addiction and sobriety alongside a dark fantasy game of monsters and underworlds, this collection combines poetic verse and short monologues. Told through the poet's own voice and other D&D characters, Total Party Kill parallels the roleplaying game and one's path to healing.

When you can read it:Sept. 17, 2024

Craig Francis Power is an artist and writer from St. John's. His first novel,Blood Relatives, won the Percy Janes First Novel Award, the Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers, the ReLit Award, and was shortlisted for the BMO Winterset Award. His other books includeThe HopeandSkeet Love. His visual art has been shown at galleries across Canada.

Water Quality by Cynthia Woodman Kerkham

Water Quality is a book of lamentations, monologues and haibun: a Japanese form of both prose and haiku. Focusing on water as a central force that covers a swimmer's body, the poet follows the movement and purpose of water across lakes, seas and oceans. From Hong Kong to the Pacific Northwest, the poet questions what water wants and how we can best steward it.

When you can read it:Sept. 17, 2024

Cynthia Woodman Kerkham is the Victoria-based author ofGood Holding Groundand with feathers and the co-editor ofPoems from Planet Earth.Woodman Kerkham wasshortlisted for the 2014 CBC Poetry Prize.

Great Silent Ballad by A.F. Moritz

From A.F. Moritz, Great Silent Ballad is a book of seven sections of lyrical poetry ruminating on civilization today and poetry's role within it as a creative medium. The short sections include themes of childhood, how we age and mature and poetry as it relates to feelings of hope, love and freedom.

When you can read it:Sept. 24, 2024

Moritz is the author of 20 poetry collections, includingThe Garden,As Far As You KnowandThe Sparrow: Selected Poems.For over a decade he has been the Goldring Professor of the Arts and Society at Victoria University at the University of Toronto, where he continues to teach creative writing. He served as the sixth poet laureate for the City of Toronto from March 2019 to May 2023.

He was a three-time finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award forpoetry: forRest on the Flight into Egyptin 1999,The Sentinelin 2008 andThe New Measuresin 2012.As Far As You Knowwas a finalist for the 2020 Ontario Trillium Award.The Sentinelwas also the winner of the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Some Lines of Poetry: From the Notebooks of bpNichol, edited by Derek Beaulieu & Gregory Betts

For what would have been the 80th birthday of Canadian poet bpNichol, Some Lines of Poetry is an offering of 80 pieces of poetry and writing from the late poet's journals. Written in the 1980s, Nichol's notebooks reveal insights to his writing process, on his life and unseen sound and visual poems.

When you can read it:Sept. 24, 2024

bpNichol, who died in 1988, wrote more than 22 books of poetry and prose and won the Governor General's Award for poetry in 1971 and the Three-Day Novel Award in 1982 forStill.

Derek Beaulieu is the author or editor of more than 25 books of poetry, prose and criticism. He has exhibited his visual work across Canada, the United States and Europe. Heis currently the director of literary arts at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Banff'spoet laureate.

Gregory Betts is the author of 10books of poetry. He is a professor at Brock University and curator of the bpNichol.ca Digital Archive.His most recent book is The Fabulous Op, a collection of poetry co-written with Gary Barwin.

No Signal No Noise by A Jamali Rad

The first book of poetry in The Self-Inscribing Machine series follows Zero the hero after they find a manuscript and are sent on an epic journey across the Muslim world in Sumeria, India and Baghdad. No Signal No Noise experiments with lyric and narrative, drawing on the philosophical, cultural and historical implications of the Self and the Other through one hero's journey.

When you can read it:Sept. 25, 2024

A Jamali Radis a writer from Iran who now lives in Ottawa. They are also the author of the poetry collectionfor love and autonomyandstill.Jamali Rad also co-founded thesmall poetry publisher House House Press.

Mondegreen Riffs by Angeline Schellenberg

Informed by the poet's Ignatian spirituality, neurodivergence and trauma, Mondegreen Riffs is a collection that explores the senses. Combining prose poetry, sound poems and answers to "odd online inquiries" this book situates the poet as the listener to the wonders of the world around them.

When you can read it:Sept. 26, 2024

Angeline Schellenberg is the Winnipeg-based author ofTell Them It Was Mozart, winner of the Lansdowne Prize for Poetry and Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book. Her poetry collection,Fields of Light and Stonewasshortlisted for the 2022 KobzarBook Award. Schellenbergwas the recipient of the 2017 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer.

This Report is Strictly Confidential by Elizabeth Ruth

This Report is Strictly Confidential is a poetic memoir of writer Elizabeth Ruth's inner life and family dynamics. Within four sections the poet details the life of her aunt who lived in a government residential hospital and reflects on a father she never met. Through the irony and intimacy of the poet's life, secrets come forward and leave lasting effects.

When you can read it:Sept. 27, 2024

Elizabeth Ruth is an author, poet and professor living in Toronto. She is also the author of the novelsSemi-Detached,Ten Good Seconds of Silence, SmokeandMatadora.This Report Is Strictly Confidentialis her debut poetry collection.

Hard Electricby Michael Blouin

Michael Blouin's poems inHard Electricare a collection of reflections with a decided slant toward disaster. They are unsettling, not for the faint of heart, but ultimately also life-affirming for the lonely hearted or those who know them well.

When you can read it:Sept. 30, 2024

Michael Blouin is a writer from Ontario. Blouinwon the 2020 ReLit Awardfor his novelSkin House. He previously won the ReLit Award in 2009 for his debut novelChase and Haven.Hard Electricis his third poetry collection.

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Blouin was a finalist for the 2009CBC Poetry Prizefor his poemfidelitywhichis included inHard Electric.

Permission to Settle by Holly Flauto

In a collection of autobiographical poems Permission to Settle highlights the often impersonal and nerve-wracking experiences of immigration processes from applying to moving and then feeling a lack of belonging in your new home. The poet confronts what it means to be a settler in Canada and the colonial structures at work through playful and telling verse.

When you can read it:Sept. 30, 2024

Originally from the USA, Holly Flauto currently lives in Vancouver.Flauto isa writer and poet who teaches English and Creative Writing at Capilano University.Their writing has previously been published in The ex-Puritan, Joylandand The Rusty Toque.

She Falls Again by Rosanna Deerchild

She Falls Again follows the voice of a poet attempting to survive as an Indigenous person in Winnipeg when so many are disappearing. Riddled with uncertainties, like if the crow she speaks to is a trickster, the poet hears the message of the Sky Woman who is set on dismantling the patriarchy. Through short poems and prose this collection calls for reclamation and matriarchal power.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

Rosanna Deerchild has been storytelling for more than 20 years, currently as host of CBC'sUnreserved. Deerchildalso developed and hostedThis Place, a podcast series for CBC Books around the Indigenous anthologyThis Place: 150 Years Retold.Her book,calling down the sky, is her mother's residentialschool survivor story. Deerchild is currently based in Winnipeg.

Conversations with the Kagawong Riverby sophie anne edwards

sophie anne edwards, who is of English and French settler heritage, spent several years with a river on Mnidoo Mnising or Manitoulin Island. edwards immersed herself in the ecosystem, specifically listening to Gaagigewang Ziibi (Kagawong River) and the rhythms of the water, the flora and the fauna. In her poetry collectionConversations with the Kagawong River, sheinvites the elements of the ecosystem to speak through poetry and exploresMnidoo Mnising | Manitoulin Island Treaty history.This collection reflects on the natural world and settler'scolonial relationships to it.edwards' work wassupported andreviewed by Anishinaabeg elders and historians on Manitoulin Island.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

edwards is based on Manitoulin Island in Northeastern Ontario. Her writing has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. edwards holds a Certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College.

Like a Trophy from the Sun by Jason Heroux

Through moments of joy, nostalgia and surrealism Like a Trophy from the Sun is a collection of prose poems. The poet weaves in the dream world with reality, describing ghost towns and broken sunsets a book filled with nostalgic humour and poetic fragments.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

Jason Heroux was the Poet Laureate for the City of Kingston from 2019 to 2022. He is the author of four books of poetry:Memoirs of an Alias,Emergency Hallelujah,Natural CapitalandHard Work Cheering Up Sad Machines.

Toxemia by Christine McNair

In this hybrid collection of poems, essays and photographs Christine McNair describes the complexities of living with preeclampsia diagnoses and chronic illness. Toxemia works through the toxicities of the body, physical, mental and societal ultimately revealing how illness permeates every aspect of one's life from endless appointments, sleepless nights and constant fear of death.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

McNair is the Ottawa-based author ofCharm, which wonthe 2018 Archibald Lampman Award,andConflictthat was a finalist for the City of Ottawa Book Award, the Archibald Lampman Award, and the ReLit Award for Poetry. McNair was also nominated for the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry.

Baby Cerberus by Natasha Ramoutar

Baby Cerberusis a collection of poems switching between classical myth, imagined futures and video games. Exploring fantasy adventures and live realities, the poet invites the reader to consider care and connection in our everyday lives.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

Natasha Ramoutar is a writer of Indo-Guyanese descent from Toronto. Her debut collection of poetry,Bittersweetwasshortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. She is a senior editor with Augur Magazine and serves on the editorial board at Wolsak & Wynn.

echolalia echolalia by Jane Shi

Inecholalia echolaliaa collection of poems focus on the body politic and the experiences of being queer, disabled and in the diaspora. Reflecting on her own identities, author Jane Shiwrites about chosen family and resisting colonial projects and ideologies that seek to dehumanize.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

Jane Shi is a writer and poet based in B.C. Her writing has appeared in the Disability Visibility Blog andQueer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry.Shi graduatedfrom the Writer's Studio Online program at Simon Fraser Universityand StoryStudio Chicago. She is the winner of The Capilano Review's 2022 In(ter)ventions in the Archive Contest.

10:10 by Michael Trussler

In 10:10, the poet juxtaposes the lush beauty of the natural world with the violence and evil realities of the human world today. As a birdwatcher, the poet describes the wonders of animal life through short poems and fragments questioning why and how such destruction can exist in society alongside such beauty.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

Michael Trussler'sprevious works include theshort fiction collectionEncountersand the poetry collectionAccidental Animals. His bookThe History Forestwon the Saskatchewan Book Award for Poetry. Trussler's memoirThe Sunday Bookwon the Saskatchewan Book Award in both the Non-Fiction. He is a professor of English at the University of Regina.

Island by Douglas Walbourne-Gough

Following the controversy surrounding the Qalipu First Nation enrolment process, Island speaks to the subjective ways Newfoundland Mi'kmaq cultivate their identities in the wake of colonialism. In fragments, the poet describes the memories, lineages and spiritual ways of reckoning with one's Indigenous identities that go beyond a status card. Memories like resting in nan's sealskin snowsuit or learning the language all contribute to the on-going work of Indigenous people to reclaim the identities and cultures that were once taken from them.

When you can read it:Oct. 1,2024

Douglas Walbourne-Gough is a poet and mixed/adopted Mi'kmaq from Newfoundland. His debut collectionCrow Gulchwon the E.J. Pratt Poetry Award and was a finalist for NL Reads, the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetryand the Raymond Souster Award.

Paper Boat:New and Selected Poems: 1961-2023by Margaret Atwood

Selections from over six decades of legacy of writing, Paper Boatis a volume of Margaret Atwood's quintessential poems from 1961 to 2023. Centring the joys and fears of the poet through mythic and mundane figures alike, this collection remarks on the strangeness of being alive in our complex world.

When you can read it:Oct. 8,2024

Atwood is a celebrated writer who has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry and comics. She began her writing career with poetry, publishingThe Circle Gameand winning the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry in the late 1960s. She's since published more than a dozen poetrycollections, includingThe Journalsof Susanna Moodiein 1970,Power Politicsin 1971andDearlyin 2020.

She has won several awards for her work including the Governor General's Literary Award, theScotiabank Giller Prizeand the Man Booker Prize.Atwood is also a founder of the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Writers' Trust of Canada.She was named a companion to the Order of Canada in 1981. In 2024, she was therecipient of theWriter in the World Prizefor her impact on literature, art and culture.

The Middle by Stephen Collis

A collection of poems that disperse words like plants blown and scattered in fields, The Middle is the second book in a trilogy, beginning with A History of the Theories of Rain. The poet confronts the realities of our climate and the displacement that comes with present and on-going disasters like wildfires. Through the concept of "poetic commons" this book meditates on the connections between humans and their environment.

When you can read it:Oct. 15,2024

StephenCollis is the author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, includingThe Commons,On the Material,Once inBlockadiaandAlmost Islands: Phyllis Webb and the Pursuit of the Unwritten. In 2019,he was awarded the Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize, which honours a poet for theirbody of work. He lives near Vancouverand teaches poetry and poetics at Simon Fraser University.

Walking & Stealing by Stephen Cain

Walking and Stealing is a threefold collection of poems about baseball, Toronto and immersing oneself in deep thoughts. The first section of the book was written in the moments between innings of Stephen Cain's son's little league games. This is followed by two sections: "Intentional walks", or 99 poems walking through Toronto, and "Tag & Run", nine cantos that form a poetic puzzle. In this experimental collection, Cain reflects on culture and space.

When you can read it:Oct. 22,2024

Stephen Cainis a Toronto-based author of six full-length collections of poetry and a dozen chapbooks, includingFalse Friends,I Can Say Interpellation,Torontology, anddyslexicon. He also publisheda critical edition of bpNichol's early long poems:bp: beginnings.Cain teaches avant-garde and Canadian literature at York University.

Inside Every Dream a Raging Sea by Liz Worth

Drawing on Liz Worth's experience reading tarot, Inside Every Dream a Raging Sea connects the ritual with the individual. A collection of personal stories of the occult, the poet focuses on our perceptions of self and how to stay connected and open to our lives as we change and grow.

When you can read it:Oct. 22,2024

Liz Worthis a Hamilton, Ont.-based poet, novelist and nonfiction writer. She is a two-time nominee for theReLit Award for Poetryfor her booksThe Truth is Told Better This WayandNo Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol. Her other works also includeTreat Me Like Dirt,an in-depth history of southern Ontario's first wave punk movement,Amphetamine Heart,PostApocandThe Mouth is a Coven.

Ox Lost, Snow Deep by Alice Burdick

Ox Lost, Snow Deep includes 14 long poems: part narrative, part surrealism. This collection speaks to the experiences of living in poverty and somewhat in rural communities. Drawing on themes of loss, humour, embarrassment and popular culture, the poet reflects on the public and the personal aspects of life.

When you can read it:Oct. 30,2024

Alice Burdick is the Nova Scotia author of five books of poetry. Her poems and essays have appeared in multiple anthologies.

In a Tension of Leaves and Binding by Rene M. Sgroi

Speaking through both the poet and the voices of a garden, In a Tension of Leaves and Binding is a collection of nature poems and conversations. Concluding with an essay on the author's process of exploring this garden, this book imagines the characters of the plants and animals as realized voices exploring language and grief.

When you can read it: Nov. 1,2024

Rene M. Sgroi holds a PhD in Education from the University of Toronto, an M.Sc. in Creativity and Change Leadership from SUNY Buffalo State, and works as a post-secondary educator. She was a runner up in the U.K.'s 2020 erbacce poetry prize and herpoetry has been published in numerous journals and anthologies. Sgroiis also a contributing editor to Arc Poetry Magazine.

Dreams of the Epoch & the Rock by Jaspreet Singh

Through dreamscapes and perceptions of our world today,Dream of the Epoch & the Rockis a collection of meditative and urgent poems. Centred on themes of climate, decolonization and language, this book intermingles personal histories and the abstract dreams of ancient gods and ancestors.

When you can read it: Nov. 15,2024

Jaspreet Singh is the author ofthe poetry collectionsNovemberandHow to Hold a Pebble,the novelsHelium, ChefandFace,the story collectionSeventeen Tomatoes,and the memoirMy Mother, My Translator. He lives in Calgary.

The Loom by Andy Weaver

The Loom is a collection of lyric poems about the author's experiences after becoming a father of two young boys at age 42. Andy Weaver's life now is filled with restlessness, noise and stickiness with two small children and so this book reflects on his unique journey to parenthood with humour and hard truths.

When you can read it: Nov. 15,2024

Andy Weaver'spoetry collections includeWere the Bees,GangsonandThis. Weaveris an associate professor of creative writing, contemporary poetry, and poetics at York University in Toronto.