John Rottam is on a journey back in time and place. Fleeing a private stripping engagement turned violent, he reflects on a time in his life when he was burdened with a broken heart, self-doubt and a floundering dance career. A few clumsy steps in the corps de ballet of a prestigious Canadian ballet company sends John fleeing to join a psychotic an …

children of air india is a series of elegiac sequences exploring the nature of individual loss, situated within public trauma. The work is animated by a proposition: that violence, both personal and collective, produces continuing sonar, an echolocation that finds us, even when we choose to be unaware or indifferent.

This collection breaks new grou …

Book 14 is packed with all the trivia, puns and fun that solvers love (and sometimes love to hate!). Thirty-four Canadian-themed crosswords key on well-known places, people and events, with titles including The Wonder of Canada, When Brian's Eyes Are Smiling, Exposed and Fields of Dreams. Thirty-two universal crosswords offer even more Canadian con …

The poems in Songs that Remind Us of Factories explore how we
remain connected: to the world outside, to our ideas of home, to
each other, and to ourselves. In their searching, these magpie poems
strike a balance between wound language and quiet meditation,
the arched-brow wisecrack and the emotionally frank gesture. The
result is an honest and pl …

One of the first lines of X, Shane Rhodes' sixth book of poetry, is a warning: "this book of verse demands more of verse, this book demands perversity." He goes on to write:

“This book is about where I live, a place still settling, still making the land—law by law, arrest by arrest, jail by jail—its own snow blown”

Heed this warning. In X, …

With Selected Poems, Tim Bowling has gathered together his finest poems over a twenty-year period, a selection including work from his widely celebrated debut collection, Low Water Slack, in 1995, to his tenth collection, Tenderman, in 2011. Always a poet of intense emotion and surprising metaphor whose lyric-narrative voice ranges in tone from rom …

In Blaise Moritz's second collection, Zeppelin, we are passengers in the long-range ghost ship that is our new millennial culture. The time before technology recedes in our wake—the past an amazing clutter, if only as deep as early modern things—and looking forward, our impressions phase constantly. We travel far, seeing much that is strange, b …

Timely Irreverence is a collection of occasional poems that are sewn together through the inescapable intrusion of poetry itself. With circles of logic that provoke thoughtfulness, the paths of these poems are alluringly complex, and they engage through amusing points of casual living, visceral moments when poetry is permitted to intrude upon the e …

With her signature eye for irony and sensuality, Elizabeth Bachinsky's latest book of poetry, The Hottest Summer in Recorded History, balances a youthful playfulness with observational maturity. Bachinsky strings together seemingly non-sequitur images, capturing in these poems the commonality of raw intimacy, dark humour and a sense of immediacy. H …

Brad Cran's highly anticipated second book of poetry, Ink on Paper, is a compelling collection of political poems that seek to elucidate our relationships with our surroundings as well as those who surround us. Cran, former Poet Laureate for the City of Vancouver, masterfully constructs images held in contradictory tension, as in his civic poem, "T …

Drawn from nine collections published over thirty years, the thirty-eight poems in this retrospective reveal the poetic accomplishments of John Barton. In this collection, which is introduced by R.M Vaughan, Barton explores the role of love in contemporary society, the complexity of gay experience, the persistence of homophobia, the reinvention of …

"Later we will laugh; shake moonlight
off our clothes like ash.

For now we stare at the clock. The
day wears, tired as mechanism."
--from Undark

Undark: An Oratorio is the highly anticipated second collection from Sandy Pool, whose debut book of poetry Exploding into Night (Guernica, 2009) was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for poetry i …

In this unsettling collection, Vancouver singer/songwriter Rodney DeCroo delivers raw footage of a childhood marred by violence, sudden uprootings, and abuse. Allegheny, BC is a candid, gritty tour through DeCroo's troubled past in a small coal town outside of Pittsburgh, PA, the bush of northern BC, and his young adult years in Vancouver. Scenes o …

It's lucky 13 for the latest instalment of the bestselling O Canada Crosswords series. This volume features 100 puzzles for solvers from coast to coast, including 67 with full-on national content. Solvers can take a trip to the nation's capital with Destination: Ottawa. Savour true Canadian flavour with For the Foodies and Eponymous Edibles. Test y …

The poems in Chris Jennings's long-awaited debut poetry collection are linked at their core by a preoccupation with the ways objects or moments become charged with meaning. Narrative occupies the territory of memory, making the most ordinary things--a classified ad, the odds and ends of an estate auction, graffiti, an antique lancet, a vegetable st …

Dirt of Ages is the highly anticipated second book of poetry by Gillian Wigmore, whose debut collection soft geography (2007) captured the ReLit Prize for Poetry and was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay BC Book Prize.

In Dirt of Ages, everything meets in "the perfect v" of the valley: where rivers meet in an "exchange between sky and water," whe …

In his third poetry collection, A Brief History of the Short-Lived, Chris Hutchinson brings the full force of his linguistic dexterity to bear on the elusive subject of literature itself.

With his restless intellectual curiosity tempered by a dash of witty self-deprecation, Hutchinson deftly manoeuvres through hallowed halls of academia with humour …

An otherworldly uncanniness haunts the margins of Darren Bifford's debut collection, Wedding in Fire Country. Bifford is exceptionally adept at capturing the beauty of the mundane, and his poetry offers an insightful meditation on the meaning of the individual journey within larger political and geographical spheres. However, these familiar scenes …

Few figures in Canadian history have attained such an iconic status as Louis Riel. Celebrated Metis poet Gregory Scofield takes a fresh look at Riel in his new collection, Louis: The Heretic Poems, challenging traditional conceptions of Riel as simply a folk hero and martyr. By juxtaposing historical events and quotes with the poetic narrative, Sco …

The title of Carleton Wilson's debut poetry book, The Material Sublime, contains an apparent contradiction that is central to the collection's aim--to investigate how the intangible, spiritual sphere of existence is connected with the material world of nature and human society. With finely honed, immaculate craftsmanship and an extraordinary abilit …

In Kerosene, her debut book of poetry, Jamella Hagen weaves individual memories into a narrative that charts the process of orientation and growing maturity within shifting geographical locations.

Patterned on the author's own experience, the collection follows the story of a young woman's life, encompassing the beauty and harshness of a childhood s …

Ready, set, solve! Tipping the scales at 100 puzzles with over 10,000 clues, this is the largest O Canada Crosswords volume in over a decade! Featuring Canadian and fun-themed puzzles and packed with more wordplay and Canadiana than ever before, O Canada Crosswords 12 will satisfy diehard fans of the series and newcomers alike.

Long-time Canadian cr …

"I grew up in a blue-collar town ten minutes down the road from a white-collar town. And I've spent most of my life uncomfortable in both places."

With these opening words, accomplished poet Tim Bowling outlines the central tension that acts as a vital force in his newest book, Tenderman—the dichotomy between the sensitive poetic observer and the …

Kevin McNeilly's debut poetry collection, Embouchure, compiles the intertwined lineages of trumpet players who came to prominence in the States during the "pre-bop" era, loosely defined as the period between 1890 and 1939. This series of vignettes betrays a broad and detailed knowledge of the players' lives and work, yet reads like a collection of …

Sex, booze, war and wordplay collide loquaciously in Err, the latest collection from innovative and accomplished poet Shane Rhodes. Equally amusing and stunning with his joyful manipulation of language and his stark portrayals of disease and oppression, Rhodes tackles everything from AIDS to martinis with style, wit and clarity.

The book is divided …

Earworm, the second book from acclaimed poet Nick Thran, expertly combines wicked cleverness, adept craftsmanship and a uniquely insightful perspective in an entertaining yet substantial tour de force. Building on the success of his debut, Thran has enhanced his compelling pop culture rhythms and distinctive voice with bolder formal experimentation …

From far and wide O Canada Crosswords returns with the eleventh book in this ever popular series of Canuck-themed puzzles. Crossword enthusiasts will delight in this test of word-wit. Fun, smart, original and often humorous wordplays have made the series wildly popular, and the latest instalment is no exception. From universal topics to clues that …

In this eagerly anticipated follow-up to his award-winning, critically lauded debut, Rob Winger's sophomore collection, The Chimney Stone, bends the contemporary lyric into startling new shapes. Concentrating on a splendid mess of headlines, wars, politics, relationships and artistic influences, Winger's ghazals ask us how to negotiate the complex …

Patternicity contains a suite of poems that won a 2008 CBC Literary Award and follows the author's debut book of poems, The Velocity of Escape (Guernica Editions, 2008). As a physiologist currently completing his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto, Johnstone's work is informed by a scientific approach, his own corporeal environment and an explorati …

In Triny Finlay's second collection of poetry, she asks what it means to let in the ghosts of the past. Will memories loosen the frame of a life? Will subtle fears take over? Finlay plumbs the depths of family life as she negotiates the territories of ancestry, love, and new motherhood: a great-grandmother who went to bed for seventeen years; a lov …

"I have to wonder why poets are always expected to write exactly what they wrote the last time they wrote a poem. So I wrote the poems a little differently this time. That's okay too."
- MillAr, interview published in The Danforth Review

Jay MillAr's poetry resists classification. This book, being a collection of Other Poems, is an assemblage of see …

Everyone's welcome
At the Seaweed Cafe,
Where seaweed tea
Is served all day...

If you've ever played restaurant, made mud pies or hosted an imaginary tea party, you'll welcome an invitation to the The Seaweed Cafe for an evening of song, storytelling and dance. A perfect bedtime book, Down at the Seaweed Cafe's sunken treasure, sea monsters and tsun …

Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon, the follow-up to Ray Hsu's award-winning first collection, Anthropy, is the second book in a prospective trilogy that explores the "grammar of personhood."

Whereas Anthropy approached the human condition through the prism of first-, second- and third-person perspectives, Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon uses the grammat …

How do we reconcile story with fact? What must one lose for the other to exist? In this debut collection, Rowe explores the nature of mythology and how it morphs in time to retain cultural and personal significance. Folk tales, supernatural creatures, family histories and personal elegies come together to expose the cohabitation of the dead and the …

These fun, easy-to-understand puzzles and quizzes are perfect for fans of all ages who will be challenged and intrigued by the variety of skill-testing questions about hockey and all of its leagues.

Sudoclues test readers' knowledge of players' jersey numbers to help readers fill in sudoku grids.
Lost Teams is a word search with a twist--readers m …

Windstorm is a passport to the place where chaos and form meet; Denham's timeless ethereal gaze is rooted in the mastery of poetic forms such as the sonnet and Dante's terza rima. These quiet, forceful poems explore heaven, earth and sea with arresting images, ideas and words. Like the wind, Denham's poetry has the power to move.

in the windsong. T …

"Red Nest is a deeply political book without the cant. This first book argues passionately for the interconnectedness of all our everyday actions with the larger, political and cosmic forces shaping the destiny of our species. It's got the scope of Whitman, the sensuality of Keats, the ferocity of Kathy Acker and Sylvia Plath."
—Suzanne Buffam

Ent …

This is the tenth book in the bestselling O Canada Crosswords series. This new volume offers 50 new cleverly-themed puzzles featuring snappy titles, tricky wordplay and other tests of mental agility. As usual there is plenty of Canadian flavour to make the Canuck solver feel right at home.

New puzzles include:

Monkey Business
Working for CN
Don't Bo …

Written in the near absence of creative works by Ukrainian Canadians of her generation, God of Missed Connections is a breakthrough collection by one of Canada's leading young poets. This book is profound, devastating, and draws on Ukraine's brave and bloody history as a means to explore the author's place in the contemporary world.

"This book expl …

The first anthology of urban Aboriginal songs by Gregory Scofield is a retrospective of the award-winning poet's pivotal work to date. The word kipocihkan is Cree slang for someone who is mute or unable to speak, and charted in this book is Scofield's journey out of that silence to become one of the most powerful voices of our time.

"I make offerin …

In this collection, husbands and wives stumble into each other at the end of days, children find the wild edges of suburbs, new mothers try to navigate through a map-less terrain, and a relentless epidemic of bugs eats away at the forest. The collection explores new territory, both physically and emotionally--relocation, the north, new marriage and …

Shortlisted for the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry

Shortlisted for the Relit Award for Poetry

Philip Kevin Paul's first book, Taking the Names Down from the Hill won the 2004 Dorothy Livesay Award for Poetry. In Little Hunger, his second book for the WSÁ,NEC (Saanich) Nation of Vancouver Island, Paul continues to draw upon the ric …

From the salmon fishing grounds to the Special Collections library, from the vanishing rural world of pheasant hunting and canning along the banks of the Fraser River to the deck of the Titanic and the famous book collector's tragic fate, Tim Bowling's startling and powerful eighth collection of poems moves seamlessly between the riches of nature a …

Letters I Didn't Write is a contemplative collection of poems imbued with a sense of longing for opportunities lost and lives unfulfilled. Acclaimed poet John Mackenzie explores a sweeping range of subjects, from the tragedies of war to the musings of a discouraged physics major to the violent end of Spanish poet Federico Garc�a Lorca. At the …

Macleod and Olson's puzzles are ingrained with accents of Canadian culture, and are infused with humour:

House party (NDP)
Liberal-minded guy (DION)
Lame excuse (BUM LEG)
Pet peeve (FLEA)

"I really enjoyed the humour and challenge of these (O Canada 8) puzzles. Please tell me you plan to publish more."

-Brenda, B.C.

Following on the heels of the bests …

Repose, the striking new work by award-winning poet Adam Getty, is technically flawless, philosophically refreshing and naturally phrased.

Repose is an exploration of the definition of cultural freedom; it is a pointed look at an obsession with production, and a comparison of the natural and urban environments that shape our lives. Getty argues that …

"Living Things thrives." –George Elliott Clarke, Halifax Chronicle-Herald

Written in the year after the birth of Matt Rader's first daughter, Living Things honestly introduces the contradictions of the modern world: "how what we see in daylight is less than whole / and also more so." Using words in lieu of sonar, these poems bounce off the ecology …

Winner of the 2008 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize
Finalist for the 2008 Asian American Literary Award

Rita Wong's new collection of poems explores how ecological crises relate to the injustices of our international political landscape. Querying the relations between writing and other forms of action, Wong seeks a shift in consciousness through poems t …

Winner of the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize

In her debut collection of poems, Birch Split Bark, Diane Guichon uses a quintessentially Canadian image -- a birch bark canoe -- to speak of those private waters that make us universally human. By writing in the first person of a father, a mother, a son and a daughter, she bridges age to gender …

A puzzle a day keeps the boredom away! And these are no ordinary puzzles. These 75 cleverly themed crosswords include themes like "Prefix-ation," "Prime Mini$ter$" and "Let it Snow." Many of the clues use tricky wordplay and are all about Canada: Child of Chibougamau? (enfant). Saturday night live group? (NHL). With Canadian spellings, Canadian per …