Archive for the ‘Cactus Press’ Tag
Willow Loveday Little on James Dunnigan’s Windchime Concerto
Filed under: The Brouillon | Tags: (Vice) Viscera, Cactus Press, Canadian poetry, James Dunnigan, poetry, poetry reviews, Willow Loveday Little, Windchime Concerto, Yolk Literary Journal
Comments (1) 
Like, wow.
Very happy to share here a brief but no less impactful review/essay by one of Montreal’s—nay, English Canada’s—most exciting young poets on another no less exciting young poet.
You can snag a copy of Little’s first trade edition, (Vice) Viscera, here. Read her review essay here.
(Did I mention the folks at Yolk are doing great things?)
To praise, that’s the thing
Filed under: The Brouillon | Tags: Cactus Press, Canadian poetry, domesdaynotebook, Frog Hollow Press, James Dunnigan, poetry, poetry criticism, The Stained Glass Sequence, Wine and Fire
Leave a comment 
A while back, I ventured a few words on James Dunnigan’s The Stained Glass Sequence. As chance would have it, another set of notes, appreciative of the chapbook’s virtues, has turned up, which can be read, here. The anonymous reviewer (who seems to hail from Ireland) shares my appreciation for the sequence’s reflexive dimension:
Stained glass itself is like a decoration hung on perception, one that refracts the light and shadow of the reality behind, transforming it into a more ornate version. Poet James Dunnigan leverages that quality as the foundational conceit for The Stained Glass Sequence, a chapbook plunged in reflection on another primordial creative force: language. But it’s not for the sake of an academic lesson so much as a means to show how poetry transfigures society into civilization.
High, and well-deserved, praise.
Readers whose interest has been piqued can follow up on The Stained Glass Sequence by getting a hold of Dunnigan’s markedly uncanny and no less accomplished follow-up, Wine and Fire (Cactus Press, 2020), whose launch can be viewed, here.
Now the only question is which acquisitions editor will be canny enough to grab the manuscript of Dunnigan’s first, full-length collection…
“As on a holiday” launch, for your poetry viewing pleasure…
Filed under: poems | Tags: As on a holiday, Cactus Press, poems, poetry, poetry readings, poetry recordings
Comments (1) The March 24, 2021 launch of my latest chapbook is now up online: if you missed the event, you can catch it here.
New Chapbook: As on a holiday…
Filed under: The Brouillon | Tags: As on a holiday, Cactus Press, Canadian poetry, poetry
Leave a comment 
I launch my latest chapbook, As on a holiday, with Montreal’s Cactus Press 24 March 2021 20h00 ET. The chapbook collates four short sequences composed during and about trips to Germany (2012), Slovakia (2014), Toronto (2017), and Saskatchewan (2018).
You can access the Zoom link at the Facebook Event page, here.
You can read an earlier version of one of the poems from the Toronto suite, here.
The indefatigable rob mcclennan has published a wi(l)de-ranging interview with the press’ three editors, here.
I’ve invested this year’s Public Lending Rights cheque in a new microphone, so the sound quality of the launch is sure to be top notch! Copies of the limited-edition chapbook are available in print and electronic formats through the publisher, linked above.
Save the date!
James Dunnigan’s Wine and Fire now available as an e-book
Filed under: The Brouillon | Tags: Cactus Press, Canadian poetry, James Dunnigan, poetry, Wine and Fire
Leave a comment James Dunnigan is one of the most exciting young new poets I know writing today, a claim I make rarely.
Now, his chapbook Wine and Fire is available as an e-book for $5.00 Canadian, less than the cost of a pumpkin spice latte and a hell of lot sweeter and more nutritious!
You can see and hear Dunnigan read, below, and get your e-copy of Wine and Fire, here.
Chez Pam Pam: new volume from George Slobodzian
Filed under: Notices | Tags: Cactus Press, Chez Pam Pam, George Slobodzian, poetry, poetry publishing
Leave a comment George Slobodzian, a poet-friend whose work I’ve admired and often lauded from the 
start (over thirty years ago, now) finally has a new volume of poems out: a hefty forty-five-page chapbook Chez Pam Pam from Montreal’s Cactus Press.
For now, it’s readable only as an e-book (for all of CAN$5.00). I look forward to holding the physical volume in hand. In the meantime, you can whet your appetite for the real thing with Slobodzian’s poetry, which is, more importantly, the real thing.
James Dunnigan: new chapbook & interview
Filed under: The Brouillon | Tags: Cactus Press, James Dunnigan, poetry, Wine and Fire
Leave a comment 
Design: Bianca Cuffaro
James Dunnigan launches his second chapbook Wine and Fire (Cactus Press, 2020) Tuesday 18 February 2020, 20h00 at the Accent Open Mic Vol. 25—Cactus Press launch, La Marche à côté, 5043 St-Denis, Montreal, Quebec. (Facebook Event page, here).
Dunnigan is also the author of The Stained Glass Sequence (Frog Hollow Chapbook Award, 2019) and was shortlisted for the Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Prize in 2018. His work has also appeared in CV2, Maisonneuve Magazine, and Montreal Writes. He writes in English and French, reads Latin and sells fish for a living.
You can read a series of five mini-interviews with him, here.
You can see and hear a recent reading, here.
Dunnigan is a singularly gifted young poet. If you’re in Montreal, this launch and this chapbook are not to be missed.
Poeta Doctus 