In the preface to this boldly and appropriately designed blue and yellow and sunflowered anthology of poems in support of Ukraine as the country enters its third month of this renewed attack and attempted devastation by Russia and its psychotic president, Vladimir Putin, the editors, Kemp and Sitoski, begin with the famous (and oft-misinterpreted line) from WH Auden’s Elegy for WB Yeats, “poetry makes nothing happen.” Then, of course, they ask, if this is the case, what can poets do in the face of injustice, threat, dislocation, horror? To this end, I prefer William Carlos Williams’ statements from a late poem, Asphodel, that Greeny Flower, in which he writes – “It is difficult to get the news from poems/yet men die miserably every day/for lack/of what is found there.” These lines suggest the direction political poems can perhaps head towards in order to enlarge their potency, to steer clear of…
Poems in Response to Peril: an Anthology of Canadian Poets on Behalf of Ukraine
A major anthology in support of embattled peoples
On Saturday, May 28, 2 pm, Londoners gathered to launch Poems in Response to Peril at Blackfriars Bistro, 46 Blackfriars St, London, ON N6H 1K7, (519) 667-4930. Local contributors read their poetry at the launch: Andreas Gripp, Penn Kemp, Tanis MacDonald, Frances Roberts Reilly, Shelly Siskind and Richard-Yves Sitoski, Solo and Jennifer Wenn. All were welcome to come listen, buy a copy and some treats from Blackfriars Bistro!
Canadian poets Penn Kemp and Richard-Yves Sitoski have co-edited Poets in Response to Peril, an anthology which brings together 61 poems by 48 of Canada’s most prominent poets in response to the current crisis in Ukraine and other perils afflicting our troubled times. Profits from the book will be directed toward PEN Ukraine’s efforts to provide the Ukrainian cultural community with evacuation and resettlement help.
Contributors like Gary Barwin, George Elliott Clarke, Kim Fahner, Tanis MacDonald, Daphne Marlatt and Goran Simić offer us passionate, often heartbreaking, poems invoking sunflowers and broken earth; intimacy and grief; falling bombs and the fragility of flesh; AK-47s and a bride’s bouquet. Gathering voices in the white heat of the moment, this anthology couldn’t be more timely or more necessary. The work of revered Ukrainian poet Dmytro Kremin is translated here by Russell Thornton and Svetlana Ischenko.
The book is part of a larger project, Poets in Response to Peril, which included a 3-hour international Zoom reading, now up on YouTube > Poets in Response to Peril). The Zoom featured more than 30 of the book’s Canadian contributors, expressing solidarity with those afflicted by war. An ongoing playlist of videos submitted by poets continues our work, 49 so far are up on https://www.youtube.com/user/veggiemeister/playlists. Poets are welcome to submit their readings on the theme to our video curator, Richard-Yves Sitoski, at r_sitoski@yahoo.ca.
Poems in Response to Peril: An Anthology in Support of Ukraine, edited by Penn Kemp and Richard-Yves Sitoski. (Pendas Productions/Laughing Raven Press, May 2022, 121 pages). ISBN 978-1-927734-37-7
The book is now available for distribution. Cost: $30 plus postage. To order, please contact Richard-Yves Sitoski at r_sitoski@yahoo.ca.
Launch at Blackfriars Bistro with Richard-Yves Sitoski reading. Photo: Mary LittlePhoto: Lovedeep Singh at Blackfriars Bistro
Poems in Response to Peril: an Anthology of Canadian Poets on Behalf of Ukraine
A major anthology in support of embattled peoples
On Saturday, May 28, 2 pm, we are launching Poems in Response to Peril at Blackfriars Bistro, 46 Blackfriars St, London, ON N6H 1K7, (519) 667-4930. Local contributors will read their poem at the launch. All welcome to come listen, buy a copy and some treats from Blackfriars Bistro!
Canadian poets Penn Kemp and Richard-Yves Sitoski have co-edited Poets in Response to Peril, an anthology which brings together 61 poems by 48 of Canada’s most prominent poets in response to the current crisis in Ukraine and other perils afflicting our troubled times. Profits from the book will be directed toward PEN Ukraine’s efforts to provide the Ukrainian cultural community with evacuation and resettlement help.
Contributors like Gary Barwin, George Elliott Clarke, Kim Fahner, Tanis MacDonald, Daphne Marlatt and Goran Simić offer us passionate, often heartbreaking, poems invoking sunflowers and broken earth; intimacy and grief; falling bombs and the fragility of flesh; AK-47s and a bride’s bouquet. Gathering voices in the white heat of the moment, this anthology couldn’t be more timely or more necessary. The work of revered Ukrainian poet Dmytro Kremin is translated here by Russell Thornton and Svetlana Ischenko.
The book is part of a larger project, Poets in Response to Peril, which included a 3-hour international Zoom reading, now up on YouTube > Poets in Response to Peril). The Zoom featured more than 30 of the book’s Canadian contributors, expressing solidarity with those afflicted by war. An ongoing playlist of videos submitted by poets continues our work, 49 so far are up on https://www.youtube.com/user/veggiemeister/playlists. Poets are welcome to submit their readings on the theme to our video curator, Richard-Yves Sitoski, at r_sitoski@yahoo.ca.
Poems in Response to Peril: An Anthology in Support of Ukraine, edited by Penn Kemp and Richard-Yves Sitoski. (Pendas Productions/Laughing Raven Press, May 2022, 121 pages). ISBN 978-1-927734-37-7
The book is now available for distribution. Cost: $25 at the launch. Thereafter, $30 plus postage. To order, please contact Richard-Yves Sitoski at r_sitoski@yahoo.ca.
Penn Kemp 