My new book — a Canadian first!

My new book is at the printer right now. Our Days in Vaudeville is coming out under my own imprint at Mansfield Press. Why not?

I believe it is the first book of its kind by a Canadian poet: a collection in which one poet collaborates with a big bunch of other poets. A few years back, I published New York poet Ron Padgett's If I Were You, a collection of collaborations by Ron with the likes of Larry Fagin, Alice Notley, and Allen Ginsberg. As the years passed, and I found myself collaborating with more and more poets, I decided that a similar book by me would be in order.

So here it is. There are collaborations here with long-time collaborators Mark Laba and Gary Barwin, as well as 27 others, some of whom I have known for decades but had never before collaborated with, and other, newer colleagues with whom I have written just a single poem.

When it came to the final cut, I had to arbitrarily hold back works with another dozen collaborators for what I hope will be a follow-up volume. There was just too much great stuff!

I also decided to limit this particular book to collaborations with Canadian poets, which, again, made it a bit easier to choose what to include.

The brilliant cover was created by my old friend Gary Clement, an award-winning illustrator and writer who also did the covers for two of my previous books, I Cut My Finger and You Exist. Details Follow. (both from Anvil Press), and the anthology I edited with Stephen Brockwell, Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament (Mansfield Press). Having a cover-creator like Gary makes me just about the luckiest writer in the world.

And collaborating with these fabulous writers just ups the luckiness ante.

I'm excited in so many ways about this profoundly demented book, and grateful to Mansfield publisher Denis De Klerck for bringing it into the world.

The Mansfield Press fall 2013 lineup also includes new books by Stephen Brockwell, Jason Camlot, Glen Downie and Sara Heinonen. Details of our launches in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal coming up soon!

Over and out.