Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Guernica author Maria Mazziotti Gillan‘s What We Pass On: Collected Poems: 1980-2009 is the featured review in The Montserrat Review:

“Thirty years is encountered within this book – the young wife, mother, daughter, lover – the fervent countenance of one who will not back off from the consequences of every situation, domestic or professional, who says I have to go there to make sense of it; to make human complications a demilitarized zone, to loose a burst of brilliance and language over what would otherwise be our flinty daily lives. Each poem says: ‘How do I understand this? Let me pass through the hurt and the love because poetry takes us beyond being lonely.’ You will admire – in this book – the girl she must have been becoming the poet you’ll find here.”

Having recently returned from readings in Italy, Maria is preparing for a series of readings in the Fall: with fellow poet Diane di Prima at Bird & Beckett Bookstore, San Francisco, September 13, 7 pm; and at the Petaluma Poetry Walk, The Apple Box, Petaluma, California, on Sept. 19, starting at 3 pm.

Order Online: Amazon.com
Canada, USA: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Ellen Jaffe talks about Guernica author Elana Wolff‘s latest book Implicate Me: Short Essays on Reading Contemporary Poems on her Writing Your Way blog. Ellen says:

“Years ago, I read Jerome Rothenberg’s anthology Technicians of the Sacred, an anthology of poetry from various “indigenous” cultures around the world, past and present. I think in this book, Elana Wolff herself becomes a sacred technician, able to show us the “workings” of the poem without losing its mystery and wonder. Her essays – like the poems themselves – have the elegance of mathematics, incorporating truth and beauty.”

Check out the entire article on Ellen’s blog.

Order Online: Amazon.com
North America: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Guernica author Elana Wolff talks to Open Book about poetry, writing and her latest book, Implicate Me: Short Essays on Reading Contemporary Poems. Check her out on Open Book Toronto.

Elana Wolff is the author of five books with Guernica, the latest being Implicate Me: Short Essays on Reading Contemporary Poems, to be launched on July 13th.

Order Online: Amazon.com
Canada, USA: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Michael Mirolla

Guernica publisher/author Michael Mirolla is the featured writer on this month’s Bibliosofia web site. The bilingual English/Italian site presents several of his poems and short stories, as well as a biography, interview and analysis of his writings. The articles can be found in sections 84-91 of the site and can be downloaded as pdfs. Michael’s collection of poetry, Light And Time, is due to be launched July 13th, 2010.

Online: Amazon.com
Canada, USA: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Julie Roorda

Catch Elana Wolff‘s interview with fellow Guernica author Julie Roorda on the Open Book Toronto site. Among other things, they discuss the effectiveness (or not) of back cover blurbs and Julie’s penchant for mixing metaphysics and body parts:

“I’m fascinated by the question of how it is that consciousness is contained in a body. Not to mention ‘why’ — a question I’ve pursued more in soon-to-be published poems. In Eleventh Toe I think my use of body parts was mostly symbolic. Courage Underground is a more intentional exploration of the tension between physical and metaphysical. It is a struggle that yields not only discomfort and frustration with the limitations of flesh, but also the possibility that flesh is, in fact, an instrument of intuition, a means of consciousness.”

Elana Wolff is the author of five books with Guernica, the latest being Implicate Me: Short Essays on Reading Contemporary Poems, to be launched on July 13th. Julie Roorda, author of four Guernica books, is also scheduled to launch her latest collection of poetry, Floating Bodies, on July 13th.

Order Online: Amazon.com
Canada: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
USA: Independent Publishers Group (800-888-4741)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Guernica author Maria Mazziotti Gillan‘s What We Pass On: Collected Poems: 1980-2009 has been selected as a Best Book For Summer Reading, 2010 by The Montserrat Review’s Grace Cavalieri.

Having recently returned from readings in Italy, Maria is preparing for a series of readings in the Fall: with fellow poet Diane di Prima at Bird & Beckett Bookstore, San Francisco, September 13, 7 pm; and at the Petaluma Poetry Walk, The Apple Box, Petaluma, California, on Sept. 19, starting at 3 pm.

Order Online: Amazon.com
Canada, USA: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Melanie Janisse

Guernica poet Melanie Janisse, author of Orioles in the Oranges, is also a fine book reviewer and astute commentator on the Toronto literary scene. Here are some links to her writing:

Review of Unleashed by Sina Queyras
Comments on Anansi and Coach House launches, Part One and Part Two.

Melanie Janisse’s Orioles in the Oranges is available from Guernica Editions:

Order Online: Amazon.com
Canada, USA: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Melanie Janisse

Just back from Paris, Guernica author Melanie Janisse gets right back into the local scene with a pre-fair reading in anticipation of the Toronto Small Press Book Fair.

The reading takes place Friday, June 18, 8pm, at the Victory Cafe, 518 Markham Street (just below Bloor). For more details, visit the Toronto Small Press Book Fair site.

Melanie Janisse’s Orioles in the Oranges is available from Guernica Editions:

Order Online: Amazon.com
Canada, USA: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Sue Chenette

“What would you do if you gave a poetry reading and nobody came? Well, almost no one. The other poet’s brother and sister-in-law were there, and my mom, and the librarian who had made the arrangements and brought the chips and dip.”

That’s how Guernica poet Sue Chenette, author of Slender Human Weight, starts her blog on the three-day homeland tour of Minnesota and Wisconsin she undertook recently, a trip that included a visit to the town where she graduated from high school.

Despite the paucity of an audience, Sue considered it a “fine afternoon.” Read all about it on the Open Book Toronto site.

Online: Amazon.com
Canada, USA: University of Toronto Press Distribution (800-565-9523)
Europe: Gazelle Book Services (0-152-46-87-65)

Julie Roorda

Elana Wolff

Guernica Editions prepares to take the heat with its second launch of the 2010 season. Unlike the admonition from Saint Eligius to abstain from dancing or leaping or diabolical chants, we invite you to do just that on this all-poetry mid-summer eve to help celebrate the coming out of:

• Floating Bodies by Julie Roorda
• Implicate Me: Short Essays on Reading Contemporary Poems by Elana Wolff
• Light And Time by Michael Mirolla

Aside from the proud authors, the evening will include special guests reading from their own works featured in Elana Wolff’s Implicate Me. And, once more, This Ain’t The Rosedale Library‘s iconic Charlie Huisken has agreed to hold down the fort (or at least the book table).

Bar Italia
582 College Street [map]
Toronto, Ontario M6G 1B3
(416) 535-3621
Tuesday July 13th, 2010, from 7 to 9 pm

Featuring: Guitarist Larry Lewis

Guernica thanks The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and Joe Bonavota and Bar Italia.