Planning a Sutton launch

I was very happy to finally pick up my friend Antony Di Nardo's two (!) new books, Alien, Correspondent and Soul on Standby yesterday. Several literary presses were at a book fair in Montreal over the weekend, and I stopped by to browse (also to track down my publisher regarding some urgent business). I came away with my backpack full of poetry. Can't wait to get a chance to read the books!
Tony and I will be launching our books together in Sutton in July. We've been emailing between Montreal and Beirut, where he's been teaching for the past few years, trying to decide how to do this. Since he's finally returning to his home in Sutton the very day of the annual Tour des Arts reading, we decided to appropriate that event for our launch. I've been organising and hosting the TDA reading for the past few years, so I'm hoping I can get away with this! I'll post details soon.

An interview!

Here's a link to a blog interview, rob mclennan's very interesting 12 or 20 questions--though I think I was only asked 19. Check out some of the other inteviews with North America's poets and presses while you're there. So far I've only found one editing error (my own, not rob's); finding my mistakes in published work is so irksome.

http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2010/05/12-or-20-questions-with-susan-briscoe.html

Where to buy my book

Wondering how you can get your own copy of The Crow's Vow? In Montreal, it is stocked by Paragraphe Books on McGill and at Drawn & Quarterly on Bernard. In Knowlton, it should be available at Brome Lake Books, and in Sutton you can get it at Librairie le livre d'or.
If you live somewhere else, ask your favourite independent bookstore to order it for you. For some reason, it's not yet available on Amazon. You can also order it online from the publisher, Vehicule Press (see link below). You can even order it directly from me; just send me an email here (susanjbriscoe@gmail.com) and we'll make the necessary arrangements.

http://www.vehiculepress.com/cgi-bin/dbman2/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=*&mh=20&sb=8&so=descend&view_records=View%2BRecords&keyword=crow%27s+vow&Genre

Summer readings!

A few notices from Brick Books about a couple of readings I'll be doing with my friend and excellent poet Antony Di Nardo in the Eastern Townships this July. At one we'll be reading with Griffin Poetry Prize winner A. F. Moritz!

http://www.brickbooks.ca/?page_id=113

The catalogue entry

Here is the Vehicule Press catalogue entry with all the pertinent details. You can order the book from here -- if the link works!

http://www.vehiculepress.com/cgi-bin/dbman2/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=*&mh=20&sb=8&so=descend&view_records=View%2BRecords&keyword=crow%27s+vow&Genre=

Launch at Drawn and Quarterly

Here is a photo from the launch at Drawn & Quarterly. It's a little small and unfocused, but it's the only photo I'm aware of.
Drawn & Quarterly is a great little store. Do check it out if you're in Montreal.

http://211blog.drawnandquarterly.com/

A stunning cover design

This is the wonderful cover of my book, designed by David Drummond. It's getting rave reviews in the world of book design, where pale pink is rarely seen outside of baby books. I have to admit that it took me a little while to warm up to it, since it's far from my favourite colour. But I am so glad now that I didn't complain, because I've come to really love it. The spareness and stark contrast between the black crow and the soft pink beautifully reflects the poetry inside. Even the publisher agreed to leave their logo off the front cover to maintain the integrity of the design. I was so convinced, I even tried to match that pink for this blog. Check out David's own blog to see more of his very impressive work.

http://bookcoverarchive.com/

http://daviddrummond.blogspot.com/2009/12/crows-vow.html

A glowing review

I was absolutely thrilled when my mother called from Florida to leave me a message quoting from a review of my book. "She is a brilliant writer," the quote began. The very words every (female, at least) writer wants to hear, and this was the first response to my book from anybody other than my publisher and my loved ones. Strangely, nobody else knew about the review yet, since it wasn't supposed to be out until the end of the week. But somebody had sent an email to somebody else, who sent it to my parents, who soon sent it to me. I quickly found out where I could get a copy of the whole review (the source of the first email, Atwater Library), which wasn't far away. And there I found a pile of the Montreal Review of Books set out by the front door.
It was a little disappointing to read the review from the beginning; the glowing part was only at the very end. But still, it's a very favorable review by a well respected reviewer --with no personal connection to me at all, which often is not the case in the tiny world of Canadian poetry. And I was grateful to get any review at all. Actually, I was grateful even just to have my work read. There are so few readers of poetry in Canada, so to have somebody give that much attention to my writing is an unexpected honour.

http://www.aelaq.org/mrb/article.php?issue=29&article=853&cat=3

A review of the book

Here is a link to one of the first reviews of the book. It is a short mention, the reviewer not entirely convinced but definitely intrigued.

http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2010/04/susan-briscoe-crows-vow.html

The spiritual necessity of poetry

I was surprised and pleased to see one of my poems --a pretty spring one-- on this blog in celebration of the spiritual necessity of poetry. The poem describes this precise moment of spring, when the most fragrant flowers are all in bloom, offering us pure sensual delight. I love the connection between this poem, the belief that poetry can protect us and is necessary to our happiness, and handmade bath products, which is what Dot & Lil is all about.

http://dotandlil.blogspot.com/2010/04/poetry.html