Response to the first issue of PQ has been very positive. We have received a number of notes congratulating us and commending us on our foolhardy venture of starting a poetry magazine. And, of course, we have received many, many submissions. Since we launched the magazine on June 24th, we have received 61,130 visits to our website/ezine. That’s impressive. In the past, that would have taken several lifetimes to achieve. These comments and numbers have encouraged us to continue.
Although we are very pleased to be launching our 2nd issue, it is with sadness that we dedicate it to the memory of Sonja Skarstedt, who passed away on Friday, July 31, 2009. Sonja was a poet, publisher and painter whose always cheerful spirit graced the literary scene in Montreal. What makes it doubly painful for me is that Sonja was a student of mine at John Abbott College some 31 years ago. This is not how it is supposed to go. She was one of my first students as well as one of the first to work on the student literary magazine I started to encourage those crazy enough to want to get involved in the world of writing. And she was crazy enough. She was eager, even then, to become part of that reality.
Sonja went on to publish a number of books. She started Zymergy, a literary magazine, and founded Empyreal Press. Her accomplishments were many for the short period that she was with us. I invite you to read some of Sonja’s poems in this issue of Poetry Quebec and to read Anne Cimon’s appreciation of her.
On a happier note, we pleased to report that one of our editors has reached the half-century milestone. Congratulations to Carolyn Marie Souaid. You can see and hear her in The Gazette’s online poetry reading series at www.montrealgazette.com/books.
And while on the topic of The Gazette’s newest literary initiative, let us offer, with reservations, our congratulations to the newspaper for its effort to support the local poetry scene. Our reservations are two-fold. Firstly, although the newspaper seems to have had a sponsor for the site, it offered no remuneration to the poets it videotaped. The suggestion, here, as always, is that poets should feel grateful for an opportunity – any opportunity – to read their work. Secondly, there seems to be a lack of imagination in the presentation of the videos. We could go on, but we invite you to read an analysis of the series by critic and video-poet Tom Konyves as well as Carolyn Marie Souaid’s soapbox piece, which speaks to the sad reality that poets are rarely compensated for their work.
In the ongoing effort to improve this magazine, we have added a few new sections. We are fortunate that Elias Letelier, the “third Stitch” in our editorial cloth, is such a wizard at this digital technology. It is not only his wizardry that makes this magazine possible, but his belief in the necessity for such a magazine. In fact, he has been pushing for this magazine for a couple of years now. And it is his “working like a Third World peasant” (his expression) that has finally made it possible.
The most recent sections we have added to PQ are Lifestyle, History and Archives. The Lifestyle section, never seen before in a literary magazine, is one of our most original and playful additions: we wanted to know what was going on in the kitchens, bedrooms and wardrobes of our poets. We felt you would be interested, too.
Our History section showcases important moments in the evolution of English language poetry in Quebec. We begin with Thomas Cary’s “Abram’s Plains,” one of the earliest poems written in English in Quebec, which we posted on September 13th to mark the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and Richard King’s recollections of the beginnings of QSPELL.
Interviews with writers are engaging. Their observations are interesting and insightful and bear little resemblance to the inarticulate and incoherent ramblings of athletes, celebrities and musicians that dominate newspapers, radios and television. The late Peter Gzowski led some of the best on-air conversations with writers. And Eleanor Wachtel’s Writers and Company on CBC is a national treasure.
Unfortunately, most of those interviewed are prose or non-fiction writers. One reason for this is that poets spend as much time contemplating language – its meanings, sounds, rhythms and musicality – as they do topic or theme, and most audiences are not versed enough or are uncomfortable or uninterested in the language part. It’s the kind of “shop talk” that only other poets appreciate.
So, we decided to give poets their due. We sent out twenty questions to English language poets of Quebec and invited them to be as free as they wanted, in length and depth. We were interested in collecting background information to put their existence in Quebec into context, but we also wanted to know more about their writing process.
The interviews we have published here are varied and engaging. Reading their words, you will almost feel as though they are sitting across the table from you, sharing a bottle of wine, a coffee, a toke or a smoke (no longer politically correct or healthy). Look for more of them in upcoming issues.
The first five poets are Maxianne Berger, Stephanie Bolster, Michael Mirolla, Sharon H. Nelson and Lesley Pasquin.
Finally, readers will find previous and back issues of PQ in our Archives section.
And don't forget to write. We want to know who those 61,130 plus visitors are. Send us your thoughts, observations, suggestions, criticisms as well as your poems, articles, essays and recepies.
P.S.
One of the wonderful aspects of an online magazine is the luxury of publishing whenever the muses move us. And although we are officially launching the second issue today, we have been and will continue posting news and information when it is timely and relevant. We encourage you to check us out regularly.
And for those of you who are statistic nuts and those who would advertise with us. Here are our numbers for the month of August.
