12 or 20 (second series) questions with Paul Moorehead / @breakwaterbooks.bsky.social @paulmoorehead.bsky.social ; robmclennan.blogspot.com/2026/02/12-o...

Just announced: Michael Ondaatje, the only winner in history of the Golden Man Booker, joins us on March 12 in conversation with fellow icon of Canadian letters, Madeleine Thien. 🗓️ Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 PM 📍 Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island writersfest.bc.ca/event/michae...

This looks a great event.

Fuck these fucking thieves

Maggie O’Farrell on Grief, Her History with Shakespeare, and Adapting Her Novel to the Screen lithub.com/maggie-ofarr...

Skater Alex Colville 1964

Farewell to the mass market paperback (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...

Hard to interpret this as anything other than a rich man buying, for what is to him essentially chump change, something that is inconvenient to him just so that he can destroy it.

Great article, cited in the NYT piece I posted earlier.

There is zero reason for a billionaire to own an adversarial news outlet in a kleptocracy. And so billionaires are gutting the media companies they own, reorienting them to better align with the regime, and spending money on bribes rather than journalists www.404media.co/the-washingt...

What’s With That Voice People Use When Reciting Poetry? Good question. So many poets — even really good ones — are not good at reading their work aloud.

“To watch KPop Demon Hunters,” writes Kevin Power, “is to recognize that the corporate entertainment industries and the fandoms that they solicit and serve have now entered into a sort of closed loop.”

CBC Nonfiction Prize initial readers announced #CanLit www.cbc.ca/books/litera...

What do these corporations have in common? -Amazon -AT&T -Home Depot -Microsoft -Palantir They all reaped billions in tax breaks from Trump's Big Ugly Bill — and are actively collaborating with ICE's deportation machine. Always follow the money.

Reporters! Every time a politician talks about Heated Rivalry, please follow-up with a question about declining arts and media funding in Canada.

Interesting New Yorker piece. Whatever happened to acerbic music criticism? In part, perhaps, it’s been slain by internet mobs. Too bad. Nobody should have a career ruined by a review, but neither should negative reviews be, in effect, forbidden. And good spicy reviews can be a lot of fun to read.

Imagine: a contemporary right wing party doesn’t want reporters at a policy* convention. *In this instance, “policy” means a discussion on the topic of “How crazy can we get here?”

Mark Bourrie’s Ripper takes Poilievre seriously. Instead of focusing on his smarm and snark, his thin skin and casual cruelty, Bourrie composed an urgent narrative about creeping right-wing authoritarianism. albertaviews.ca/ripper-pierre-poilievre @biblioasis.bsky.social #ABpoli #BookSky

Interesting take. I once got to tell a group of non-Canadians - most Americans - about “The Friendly Giant”. The response, mostly in response to Rusty living in a bag on the wall, was a giant “what the fuck are you talking about?” Not sure I agree entirely with this piece. But I don’t not agree.

@writersfest.bc.ca The Vancouver Writers Festival, unsurprisingly, abbreviates itself as VWF. Which is confusing for a hematologist. #iykyk

If you are still on Facebook, you might be interested in the shortlists for the Newfoundland & Labrador Book Awards. This year it's poetry and non-fiction. A tough year for juries. www.facebook.com/WritersNL/po...

So much to learn from Heaney. Not that everyone should write about rural life in Ireland, but he gave people license to write what’s real to them. So much of today’s poetry - environmental poetry, confessional poetry, etc - owes itself to Heaney. #tinybookreviews #poetry #booksky

The best children’s fantasy series you’ve never heard of. The story of Assistant Pig Keeper Taran and his friends spans 5 wonderful books, which are exciting, funny, touching, and ultimately epic. #tinybookreviews #booksky #Prydain #LloydAlexander

A poem from Green. What do you think of this? Reading it today, in the mood I’m in, it strikes me that it’s more about resistance than I realized… breakwaterbooks.com/products/green #poetry #canlit

While accurate, this is a nonsense distinction. Authorizing the military to act domestically against people who have broken no laws is, functionally, exactly the same as martial law.

If you see federal agents pulling into your driveway, reporters, power down your electronic devices ASAP. That's the advice from @runasand.bsky.social, via @columjournreview.bsky.social www.cjr.org/news/hannah-...

The plan to invoke the Insurrection Act, which will be the pretext for canceling midterm elections or for using the military tactically to prevent voting, has been clear for a while. Useful for us in Canada to know about. For when the Quislings here really get going. #QuislingCarney #resist

another ringette practice, leading up to this weekend’s tournament in Montreal; attempting first notes on new poetry titles by Paul Moorehead and Asha Futterman, // @paulmoorehead.bsky.social @breakwaterbooks.bsky.social @coloradoreview.bsky.social

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Don't ever let anyone tell you that your gesture of declining to participate in events that even obliquely support this "new normal" won't mean anything. Bravo to 180 principled writers. www.cbc.ca/news/world/a...

The new season of Poetry Unbound, one of the better poetry podcasts out there, dropped yesterday! Have a listen! #poetry #poetrypodcast #poetryunbound

the live-cam company of a pair of endangered red wolves, and a private-to-public reckoning that is grounded in this singular time.

and yet works in the frequency of courage and joy. Propelled by Goyette’s declarative voice, sense of humour and side-slipping imagery, each page of the poem is “a microdose of ars poetica” infused with intertextual and transformative guidance from the painter Bob Ross,

Now available on our website! gaspereaupress.com/books/future... Sue Goyette’s poem Future Howl plots a fulsome radius of the experience of trauma and survival, one that encompasses much about living in the aftermath that skirts straightforward description

Been thinking on this: Renée Good was not a more valuable person because she wrote poetry. But she did write poetry, and now she doesn’t. Because of the illegal and immoral actions of a state that has decided not to care about people. And that is terrifying. #resist

A D&D-inspired novel, about an adventurer who decides to hang up her great sword to start a coffee shop. Very readable, if it discordantly contemporary at times. Good characters, just enough peril, a quaint and subtle romantic subplot. Little violence or dungeon crawling. #tinybookreviews #booksky

Happy New Year! Let's celebrate 2026 w my semi-annual post of upcoming books for young people by Canadian creators. There are 100s of picture books, early readers, graphic novels, middle grade, YA, non-fiction. . . There's something for everyone. canlitforlittlecanadians.blogspot.com/2026/01/upco...

There's NewPoetry today from Elizabeth Pszczolko. newpoetry.ca/2026/01/05/p...

BIG NEWS FOR 2026: we're so excited to offer FREE-SHIPPING to ANYWHERE in Canada for anyone who spends $50 or more online 📦📚 From Dawson City to St. John's and everywhere in-between, we're thrilled to share books & products we love with the whole county.

It's true; our new website is live!

I agree. Very disappointing. Does nobody know any history? Does our government think that we can’t see through this nonsense rhetoric?? Write your MP. Demand better. #QuislingCarney

Is it just me or does “Venezuela” sound a bit like “Sudetenland”?

Tomorrow is J.R.R. #Tolkien's 134th birthday! As Frodo did for Bilbo, the Tolkien Society continues to celebrate Tolkien's birthday in his absence with our #TolkienBirthdayToast. Our tradition: at 9pm your time raise a glass and toast "The Professor!" www.tolkiensociety.org/events/tolki...

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” J.R.R. Tolkien was born #OTD in 1892. 🎨Alan Lee

I support this wholeheartedly.

A 2025 list! So many intriguing titles…

I am honoured to announce I’ve been appointed as a member to the Order of Canada. Thank you to everyone for the support! I dedicate this to my late Mom who taught me so much about history, local independent media & research. I know that she would be, like me, screaming with joy! #orderofcanada

What about poetry, CBC? #poetry #canlit #poetsarepeopletoo

I don’t know where someone gets enough time to read enough poetry to be able to compile an annual top 52 list, suggesting that many more than 52 books were read. Thanks @robmclennan.bsky.social for this great summary of 2024 in poetry. Can’t wait for the 2025 list.

“The short winter’s day was drawing to a close. It seems to me sometimes that these are the only days I have ever known, and especially that most charming moment of all, just before night wipes them out.” — Samuel Beckett