34 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in fall 2023
CBC Books | Posted: August 22, 2023 1:12 PM | Last Updated: September 27, 2023
Here are the Canadian poetry collections we are taking note of in the second half of 2023.
Falling Back in Love with Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom
A collection of vulnerable and poetic love letters, Falling Back in Love with Being Human is a lyrical journey of self-acceptance. Kai Cheng Thom writes poems to those she describes as "lost souls" both within and far from her own lived experiences. Thom meditates on her own identities as a Chinese Canadian transgender woman in this collection about healing and love.
When you can read it: Aug. 1, 2023
Thom is a Chinese Canadian writer, artist and activist. Her poetry collection a place called No Homeland was named an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book. Her other books include Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars and I Hope We Choose Love.
The All + Flesh by Brandi Bird
The All + Flesh is a debut collection that explores both internal and external cultural landscapes and lineages from the perspective of a Saulteaux, Cree and Métis writer.
When you can read it: Aug. 8, 2023
Brandi Bird is an Indigiqueer writer from Treaty 1 territory who is currently studying at the University of British Columbia. Their poems have been featured in various publications such as Catapult and Room Magazine. The All + Flesh is their first book.
Theophylline by Erín Moure
Theophylline is a collection that engages with the work of three modernist poets — Muriel Rukeyser, Elizabeth Bishop and Angelina Weld Grimké. Elisa Sampedrín is Erín Moure's alter ego who intrudes on the verse. Through examining queer futures, social bias and rhythms, Theophylline questions what it means to translate poems already in English.
When you can read it: Aug. 8, 2023
Moure is a poet and translator based in Montreal. She is the author of over 15 books, including Kapusta, The Elements and Furious, which won the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry in 1988.
Bottom Rail on Top by D.M. Bradford
The latest book from D.M. Bradford, Bottom Rail on Top, is a collection of poems which embodies the Black histories of antebellum life and emancipation in America. Bottom Rail on Top meditates on lineage and legacy through poetic fragments.
When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2023
Bradford is a Montreal-based poet and translator. His other books include Dream of No One but Myself, which won the 2022 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry and was a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize, and his translated book House Within a House.
Burning Sage by Meghan Fandrich
Burning Sage is a touching personal saga that reflects on the tragedy poet Meghan Fandrich and her community faced when Lytton, B.C. burned down in 2021. The collection explores the grief that accompanies natural disasters.
When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2023
Fandrich is a poet and previously ran the Klowa Art Café, which was lost to the Lytton wildfire in 2021. She continues to live on the edge of Lytton, B.C. with her family. Burning Sage is her debut poetry collection.
LISTEN | Meghan Fandrich on Radio West with Sarah Penton:
Kink Bands by David Martin
Kink Bands is a lyrical exploration of Canadian landscapes and family histories. David Martin explores the natural world through geology and reflects on modern-day environments in Kink Band.
When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2023
Martin works as a literacy instructor in Calgary and as an organizer for the Single Onion Poetry Series. Back in 2014, he won the CBC Poetry Prize for his poem Tar Swan. In 2018, Tar Swan became a published book-length narrative poem.
LISTEN | David Martin on winning the CBC Poetry Prize:
After That by Lorna Crozier
Acclaimed Canadian poet Lorna Crozier lost her longtime partner, fellow poet Patrick Lane, in 2019. In her latest collection, After That, Crozier examines immense grief and loss and highlights the beauty of sorrow and the magic you find in everyday life.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Crozier is a Governor General's Literary Award-winning poet who has written more than 15 books. She won the 1987 CBC Poetry Prize for Angels of Silence. Her other poetry collections include God of Shadows and What the Soul Doesn't Want.
LISTEN | Lorna Crozier discusses The Quiet in Me by Patrick Lane:
Elements by Jamesie Fournier, translated by Jaypeetee Arnakak
Elements is a debut collection of bilingual verse about the complex experiences of an Inuk writer. Following one interior voice, Elements evokes themes of resistance, darkness and erasure.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Jamesie Fournier is an Inuk author who has been published in Inuit Art Quarterly and the anthology Coming Home: Stories from the Northwest Territories. He has also written the novel The Other Ones. He currently lives in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
Jaypeetee Arnakak is a translator and former policy analyst with a focus on Inuit culture. He has adapted several picture books, including The Woman and Her Bear Club and The Story of the Loon and the Raven.
Farhang by Patrick Woodcock
Farhang is the first of three poetry collections which draws on Patrick Woodcock's experience as a migrant writer. Woodcock reflects on decades of memories across Lithuania, Saudi Aradia, Kenya and more. Farhang dedicates verse to those who have been lost or suffered due to warfare and neglect.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Woodcock is a writer and educator currently based in Iqaluit. He is the author of over 10 books, including You can't bury them all and Echo Gods and Silent Mountains. He is also a coordinator for United for Literacy, a charitable literary effort.
Murmuration by John Baglow
Murmuration is an assemblage of poems written in honour of John Baglow's late partner, Marianne MacKinnon, who died in 2006. The non-chronological form of the collection is inspired by James Crombie's famous photo, Bird Murmuration, which captures the moment a flock of starlings formed one giant bird. From this image, Baglow writes poems of love and grief that move together in magical and unprecedented ways.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Baglow is an Ottawa-based writer and researcher. His other books include Hugh MacDiarmid, the Poetry of Self and Emergency Measures.
Sukun by Kazim Ali
Drawing from six of Kazim Ali's previous collections plus 25 new poems, Sukun delves into the spiritual and lyrical use of language. Ali's writing weaves themes of migration and identity from the intersections of his own queer and Muslim experiences.
When you can read it: Sept. 5, 2023
Ali is a professor, poet, writer and yoga instructor. He has published 25 books, including his poetry collections Sky Ward and The Far Mosque and his nonfiction book, Northern Light.
No Town Called We by Nikki Reimer
In No Town Called We, Nikki Reimer reflects on grief, the climate crisis and other anxieties. As a disabled feminist artist, Reimer poses lyrical questions of how she and her readers may relate to one another.
When you can read it: Sept. 6, 2023
Reimer is a chronically ill neurodivergent writer and multimedia artist. They are the author of four poetry and essay collections including Downverse and My Heart is a Rose Manhattan. She is currently based in Calgary.
LISTEN | Nikki Reimer on North by Northwest:
the berry takes the shape of the bloom by andrea bennett
Beginning as a linear narrative in verse, the berry takes the shape of the bloom encapsulates moments in the life of a trans person. andrea bennett writes of the entangled experiences of gender, family, abuse and more from their complex perspective.
When you can read it: Sept. 6, 2023
bennett is a nonbinary poet and editor currently based in B.C. Their work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Walrus and Reader's Digest. bennett's other books include their poetry collection Canoodlers and their first book of essays, Like a Boy but Not a Boy.
Love Language by Nasser Hussain
Experimenting with the idea of modern love poems, Love Language is a collection that was written during pandemic lockdowns as a way of escapism. Nasser Hussain plays with the forms and conventions of the English language while tackling complicated feelings of love and tenderness.
When you can read it: Sept. 12, 2023
Hussain is a teacher, academic and writer currently based in England. He serves on the editorial board for Coach House Books in Toronto. He is also the author of the poetry collection SKY WRI TEI NGS.
Quicker Than the Eye by Joe Fiorito
Quicker Than the Eye is Joe Fiorito's third collection of short poems exploring the intricacies of life in a big city. Fiorito's verse displays vulnerable truths about love, loss and finding your inner purpose.
When you can read it: Sept. 14, 2023
Fiorito is the author of eight books. He has won the Brassani Prize for Short Fiction in 2000 and the City of Toronto Book Award in 2003. He has written two previous poetry collections: City Poems and All I Have Learned Is Where I Have Been.
Nocturne by Marilyn Lightstone
Nocturne is a work inspired by Marilyn Lightstone's program on the New Classical FM of the same name. In Nocturne, Lightstone. curated a collection of paintings and wide-ranging poems.
When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2023
Lightstone is a Toronto-based actress, visual artist and host of Nocturne, on The New Classical FM. She is most known for her role as Miss Stacey in the 1980s Anne of Green Gables miniseries.
Sonnets from a Cell by Bradley Peters
In his debut collection, Sonnets from a Cell, Bradley Peters writes from personal experiences as a young man in the Canadian prison system. Combining lyrical verse with inmate speech, Sonnets from a Cell offers empathy and grace within moments of isolation and fear.
When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2023
Peters is a poet and actor currently based in Mission, B.C. His poetry has been featured in numerous literary magazines. Sonnets from a Cell is his debut poetry collection.
G by Klara du Plessis and Khayashar 'Kess' Mohammadi
Written between the two poets in a shared google document, G is a collection of sonically complementary poems in each of Klara du Plessis and Khayashar "Kess" Mohammadi's respective languages: English, Afrikaans and Persian.
When you can read it: Sept. 16, 2023
du Plessis is a poet, academic and curator living between Montreal and Cape Town. Her other poetry collections include Ekke which won the Pat Lowther Memorial Award in 2019, and Hell Light Flesh which was adapted into a mono-opera at the 2023 International Festival of Films on Art.
Mohammadi is a queer Iranian poet and translator currently living in Toronto. They have published two other poetry collections: WJD in a double volume with TheOceanDweller and Me, You, Then Snow. The received the Vallum Poetry Award in 2021 for their poem My City the City.
Soft Inheritance by Fawn Parker
Soft Inheritance is a debut collection resonating with feelings of grief and memory after Fawn Parker's mother received her cancer diagnosis. Parker's poems are written in honour of the places and faces she loves most.
When you can read it: Sept. 16, 2023
Parker is an author and currently a PhD student at the University of New Brunswick. Her novel What We Both Know was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2022. Soft Inheritance is her first poetry collection.
Masks by Terry Watada
Masks is a poetry collection titled after both the emblem of the 2020 pandemic and as a significant cultural symbol in Japan. Terry Watada's poems are centred around themes of loss, the mystical and the reality of being an immigrant in Canada.
When you can read it: Sept. 19, 2023
Watada is a poet and writer currently based in Toronto. He is the author of many books including his novels The Three Pleasures and The Blood of Foxes. His play, Sakura: the Last Cherry Blossom Festival will premiere in 2024.
King of Terrors by Jim Johnstone
Jim Johnstone's seventh poetry collection, King of Terrors, meditates on the poet's experiences after being diagnosed with a brain tumour shortly after the start of the 2020 pandemic. Moving between personal and public reflections, Johnstone asks what it means to live with illness on a global scale and how we might begin to heal.
When you can read it: Sept. 26, 2023
Jim Johnstone is an editor, critic and poet currently based in Toronto. He has written seven poetry collections including The Chemical Life and Infinity Network. In 2008, he won second place in the CBC Poetry Prize.
Only Insistence by James Lindsay
Only Insistence is a collection of poetry about the surrealism of a pandemic-era reality. Through repeated and metaphorical language, James Lindsay writes about the natural world and the dynamics of fathers and sons.
When you can read it: Sept. 26, 2023
Lindsay is a Toronto-based poet and bookseller. He has published two other poetry collections: Our Inland Sea and Double Self-Portrait. His poetry has also been featured in literary journals such as Taddle Creek and Prairie Fire.
Stedfast by Ali Blythe
Stedfast is a poetry collection that takes place over the course of a single night between the poet and a sleeping lover. Stedfast is inspired by the Romantics like John Keats' Last Sonnet and asks questions of love, eros and the illusory.
When you can read it: Sept. 26, 2023
Ali Blythe is a poet and editor based in Victoria. He has written two previous collections about trans-poetics: Hymnswitch and Twoism.
Peony Vertigo by Jan Conn
Peony Vertigo, is a gathering of poems about environments and crisis and our individual consciousness in relation to them. This is a collection of memories and changing landscapes that varies in scale and intimacy.
When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2023
Jan Conn is a Quebec-born poet, professor and research scientist for the New York State Department of Health. She has written 10 poetry collections, including Botero's Beautiful Horses and What Dante Did With Loss.
Building a Nest from the Bones of My People by Cara-Lyn Morgan
Building a Nest from the Bones of My People begins with the speaker realizing their experience with sexual abuse in their family. In this poetry collection, Cara-Lyn Morgan writes about firt-time motherhood, generational trauma and colonization.
When you can read it: Oct. 10, 2023
Cara-Lyn Morgan is a Métis and Trinidadian poet and writer from Oskana, or Regina, Sask. Her other poetry collections include What Became My Grieving and Cartograph.
People You Know, Places You've Been by Hana Shafi
People You Know, Places You've Been is a collection of poetry and illustrations that focuses on those everyday interactions that leave a lasting impression on your own identity. Hana Shafi gives insight into the liminal spaces of waiting rooms, checkout counters, public transit and more.
When you can read it: Oct. 12, 2023
Shafi is a visual artist and poet also known as Frizz Kid. Her writing often explores feminism, race, body politics and popular culture. Her previous poetry collections include It Begins With The Body and Small, Broke, and Kind of Dirty. She is currently based in Toronto.
Crushed Wild Mint by Jess Housty
Crushed Wild Mint is a sensory exploration of land and ancestral knowledge based on Jess Housty's own connection to Indigenous lands. Crushed Wild Mint is a collection of conversations between Housty and elements of nature like the mountains and animals, and it explores the past, potential futures and humanity at large.
When you can read it: Oct. 14, 2023
Housty is a writer and grassroots activist of Heiltsuk and mixed settler heritage. They are based in their unceded ancestral territory within Bella Bella, B.C., where they are a community herbalist and educator.
act normal by nancy viva davis halifax
act normal is a collection of poetry which reconstructs "normalized" notions of disability and difference through referencing various archival materials, court cases and similar sources. The book begins in an institution where children are sorted based on perceived intellectual inferiority, leading to greater conversations on care and normalcy.
When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2023
nancy viva davis halifax is a poet and associate professor in critical disability studies in the Faculty of Health at York University. act normal is their second collection, after their 2015 book hook.
Elementary Particles by Sneha Madhavan-Reese
Elementary Particles explores both family history and scientific discovery from the perspective of a grieving daughter after her father dies. Sneha Madhavan-Reese's poems meditate on the complex dynamic between immigrant parents and their children, while weaving in figures of history like Rosa Parks and Seamus Heaney.
When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2023
Madhavan-Reese is a writer currently based in Ottawa. In 2015, she received Arc Poetry Magazine's Diana Brebner Prize and was shortlisted for the Montreal International Poetry Prize. Her previous poetry collection is called Observing the Moon.
Sigrene's Bargain with Odin by Zoë Landale
Sigrene's Bargain with Odin is an epic poem reimagining the Norse myth of Sigrene, a lower figure in Asgard, the city of the gods. After Sigrene's friend is murdered, she is determined to enact justice despite the potentially deadly consequences of striking a bargain with Odin. Venturing through the Norse Nine Realms, the poet writes of the brave and daunting journey ahead.
When you can read it: Oct. 19, 2023
Zoë Landale has published 10 books, edited two books, and her work appears in more than 50 anthologies. She taught for fifteen years as a faculty member in the creative writing department at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver. Landale won the 2002 CBC Poetry Prize for Once a Murderer: Poems for Three Voices.
Vixen by Sandra Ridley
Composed of six chapters in varied forms, Vixen is a poetic foray into haunting tales of ecological collapse, hunting and domestic violence. Sandra Ridley offers a vulnerable exploration of cruelty and ultimately survival.
When you can read it: Oct. 24, 2023
Riley is a Saskatchewan-born poet currently based in Ottawa. She was a finalist for the 2017 Griffin Poetry Prize for her collection Silvija. Her other books include Fallout, Post-Apothecary and The Counting House.
Sightseeing by Ariel Gordon & Brenda Schmidt
Sightseeing is a collaborative book of poetry written in tandem between two poets, Ariel Gordon and Brenda Schmidt, in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. As they began writing, their original intention flourished into a collection with connecting themes of local fauna, wildfires and caring for their homes.
When you can read it: Oct. 25, 2023
Gordon is a writer and editor based in Winnipeg. She is the ringleader of Writes of Spring, a National Poetry Month project with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival that appears in the Winnipeg Free Press. Gordon is also the author of the nonfiction book Treed and was a co-editor on the anthology Gush.
Schmidt was the seventh Saskatchewan Poet Laureate. She is the author of five books of poetry and a book of essays, and her work has been nominated for Saskatchewan Book Awards, received the Alfred G. Bailey Prize for Poetry and is included in The Best of the Best Canadian Poetry in English: Tenth Anniversary Edition. Schmidt was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2010.
Asking for Directions by Matthew Firth
In his debut poetry collection, Asking for Directions, Matthew Firth writes realism, dreamscapes and oddness into a range of poems. This collection frames poetry as something that can be found everywhere and everything and as accessible to all who read it.
When you can read it: Oct. 30, 2023
Firth is writer and on-going contributor for subTerrain magazine. He has written four short story collections, including Shag Carpet Action and Suburban Pornography. Firth currently lives in Ottawa.
From the Lost and Found Department by Joy Kogawa
From the Lost and Found Department is a poetry collection that spans acclaimed writer Joy Kogawa's entire career, From the Lost and Found Department is composed of poems newly written as well as poems from The Splintered Moon, A Choice of Dreams, Jericho Road, Woman In the Woods and A Garden of Anchors.
When you can read it: Nov. 7, 2023
Kogawa is a celebrated Japanese Canadian writer currently based in Toronto. She is best known for her novel Obasan which is based on her family's experiences during the Second World War. Obasan won the Books in Canada First Novel Award (now known as the Amazon First Novel Award) in 1982. Her poetry collections include The Splintered Moon, A Choice of Dreams and Woman in the Woods. She is also the author of the memoir Gently to Nagasaki.
Corrections:- An earlier version of this story noted that in 2020 writer andrea bennett released their first book called Like a Boy but not a Boy. This was their first book of essays. bennett's first published book was Canoodlers in 2014. August 22, 2023 9:25 PM