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Laurier Poetry

Laurier-Poetry

On the aims and scope of the series, literature scholar, poet, and LPS General Editor Tanis MacDonald writes: "Under my editorial eye, the Series will retain its original aim to produce volumes of poetry made widely available to new readers, including undergraduate students at universities or colleges, and to a general readership who wish for 'more poetry in their poetry.' WLU Press also retains its commitment to produce beautiful volumes and to alert readers to poems that remain vital to thinking about urgencies of the contemporary moment. It is a reality that poetry books are produced in smaller print runs and often on a shoestring, and as a consequence, original collections of poetry tend to go out of print too quickly and far too precipitously. The Series has the added goal of bringing poems from out-of-print collections back into the public eye and the public discourse. The Press’ commitment to the work of literary studies includes choosing editors for each volume who can reflect deeply on the body of work, as well as inviting an original afterword from the poets themselves." 

“Wilfrid Laurier University Press has done a great service to the cause of the preservation and dissemination of Canadian poetry by releasing an average of two such books a year in their continuing series.”
— John Herbert Cunningham, Prairie Fire Review of Books

“The quest for a wider audience for poetry may be quixotic, but this series makes a serious attempt to present attractive, affordable selections that speak to contemporary interests and topics that might engage a younger generation of readers. Yet it does not condescend, preferring to provide substantial and sophisticated poets to these new readers. At the very least, these slim volumes will make very useful introductory teaching texts in post-secondary classrooms because they whet the appetite without overwhelming.”
— Paul Milton, Canadian Literature

“I can say unreservedly that this series will be an invaluable resource to students and general poetry readers alike. Because even major Canadian poets must watch their books slip out of print, this series should do much to keep contemporary poetry in circulation. The books in the series will be logical choices for poetry or Canadian literature courses, either as a group, or as supplements to anthologies. The individual poetry selections are broad enough to give representation to the different stages in each poet's career. While I appreciated some introductions more than others, I found all five valuable in offering the reader a way into each poet's work. Moreover, the poets' afterwords often provide a complementary perspective—or even a counterweight—to the introductory critical appraisals. I think most teachers of poetry are always on the lookout for insightful poetics, not just to help understand the work of individual poets, but to understand more fully what the project of contemporary poetry is, and how poets achieve the desired result. Such teachers won't be disappointed by some fine insights provided by these poets.... [T]he Laurier Poetry Series... is providing an excellent model for keeping interest in Canada's contemporary poets alive.” 
— Paul W. Harland, University of Alberta, Journal of Canadian Poetry

“The aim of the Laurier Poetry series is both admirable and exciting.” 
— Erin Wunker, Canadian Literature

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Reclamation and Resurgence

To describe the writing of Marilyn Dumont is to call her a poet of reclamation and resurgence. Some thirty-five years ago she set about documenting her life as a young Métis woman and telling the story ...

A Possible Trust

By Ronna Bloom
Edited by Phil Hall
Series: Laurier Poetry

With compassion, humour and sharp-eyed irreverence, Ronna Bloom's work has made a significant impact on Canadian poetry. A Possible Trust is selected from her work to date.

Bloom writes concisely of the ...

A Different Species of Breathing

By Sue Goyette
Edited by Bart Vautour
Afterword by Erin Wunker
Series: Laurier Poetry

What can it look like for poetry to bear witness? What might it feel like for a poem to keep company? A Different Species of Breathing: The Poetry of Sue Goyette offers an introduction to the work ...

DisPlace

DisPlace: The Poetry of Nduka Otiono engages actively with a diasporic world: Otiono is equally at home critiquing petroculture in Nigeria and in Canada. His work straddles multiple poetic traditions and ...

Current, Climate

Current, Climate is an introduction to the environmental and social-justice poetry of Rita Wong. Selections from her poetic oeuvre show how Wong has responded to local and global inequities with outrage, ...

(Re)Generation

(Re)Generation contains selected poetry by Anishinaabe writer Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm exploring a range of issues: from violence against Indigenous women and lands to Indigenous erotica and the joyous ...

Make the World New

Lillian Allen is one of the leading creative Black feminist voices in Canada. Her work has been foundational to the dub poetry movement, which swept across the Black diaspora in the 1980s, taking roots/routes ...

mahikan ka onot

mahikan ka onot collects the finest work of accomplished Indigenous poet Duncan Mercredi, from his first book in 1991 to recent unpublished poems. These are poems of life on the land as well as life in ...

Post-glacial

Post-glacial is a collection of poems by Robert Kroetsch selected by his former student David Eso. The book features Kroetsch’s iconic collection, Completed Field Notes, alongside rare work gathered ...

Social Poesis

Social Poesis introduces readers to the work of one of Canada’s most exciting and challenging poets. Through selections from across Rachel Zolf's poetic oeuvre, this book foregrounds the philosophical, ...