PoetryReviews.ca

Reviews

ECW Press - October 23, 2008 - 0 Comments

Seven into Even

Seven into Even by Jacqueline Turner

Reviewed by Michelle Miller

Seven into Even, Jacqueline Turner’s new collection of mainly prose-poetry, is a compelling read.  The pieces here are considered to be a reworking of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, a book I should admit that I studied eagerly in university in a “Religion in Literature” course.  Whether you’re as geeky as me, you slept through your 18th century lit survey course, or you never went to college but like poetry, you can choose to appreciate or ignore the Spenser connection in most places.  Despite her high brow literary interests, Turner does well to write poetry for everyone. 

Continue...

ECW Press - August 10, 2006 - 0 Comments

Gutted

Gutted by Evie Christie

Reviewed by Greg Santos

Evie Christie’s debut, Gutted, is filled with observations on subjects as diverse as alcoholism, faith, family, friendship, love, and loss. It is a book that showcases the poet’s admirable handle on the everyday, revealing the world’s beauty without ignoring its darker side.

Continue...

ECW Press - April 07, 2006 - 3 Comments

no cage contains a stare that well

no cage contains a stare that well by matt robinson

Reviewed by Jenn Houle

Matt Robinson’s third full-length collection of poems, no cage contains a stare that well, opens powerfully with “how we keep it together,” a poem I remembered having read in last summer’s edition of Arc magazine.  This is significant, because while I read a great many Canadian literary magazines in the run of a year, I’d be hard-pressed to recall many specific poems.  “how we keep it together,” a poem about the often hapless and haphazard nature of human resolve, stuck with me, and I was excited to find it opening this collection.  Combining incredible alliteration with effective imagery, the poem conveys a sense of not necessarily endurance but enduring, despite oneself:

Continue...