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Rocksalt, An Anthology of Contemporary BC Poetry
Rocksalt, An Anthology of Contemporary BC Poetry, edited by Mona Fertig and Harold Rhenisch, (Mother Tongue $24.95)
In 1973, Robin Skelton of Victoria reviewed the new Oxford Book of Twentieth Century Poetry, edited by Philip Larkin. Some of his comments were "Eccentric, uninventive, superficial, uninformed, trivial, absurd."; Out of 207 submissions, Larkin had accepted six poems each from twenty-two poets. Skelton was not one of them.
In 2008, Hannah Main-van der Kamp's submission to Rocksalt was rejected. She writes far less peevishly than Skelton.
Putting together the first, extensive anthology of B.C. poets in three decades is an admirable but necessarily precarious project.
It's impossible to please all readers, let alone all writers, all of the time. Some worthy names will always be left out.
GG-winner Roy Miki but not two-time GG-winner Don McKay? Bowering, Marilyn but not Bowering, George? Were some writers not interested in contributing?
If you've been reading B.C. poetry for a long time, you may recognize about half of the poets in Rocksalt by name, but not their poems, because co-editors Mona Fertig and Harold Rhenisch limited inclusions to one "fresh"; poem each.
Will there be a volume II? And will it include Bachinsky, Belford, Blackstock, M. Blaser, Bowling, Bringhurst, Brown A., Compton, Cookshaw, Crozier, Kearns, Kishkan, Lane, Lamarche, Lau, Lillburn, New, Owen, Pearson, Price, Rader, Reid, J., Roberts, Shreve, Stenson, Thesen, Tucker, Wakan, Webb, Yates, Zwicky?
The standard Canadian poetry anthology, edited by Gary Geddes, first came out in 1970. Now into its umpteenth edition, it must still leave a few noses out of joint. He chooses to include less than twenty poets with an average of ten poems per poet, as well as a few pages of bio/poetics.
The 108 poets in Rocksalt represent about one-third of the total number who submitted. B.C. residency was a requirement. The introduction indicates "a new generation"; would be welcomed, with an emphasis on "fresh"; unpublished work.
True to their resolve, Mona Fertig and Harold Rhenisch have erred on the side of generosity, according space to some less-known writers, but this sampling approach could leave some readers disgruntled. Imagine you are in a coffee shop that offers a huge variety of brews with elegant written descriptions but you may only taste a teaspoon of each.
Speaking of coffee shops, why is there a cover painting of a jaded Viennese kaffee haus? It's hard to relate the image of a bored, paunchy pianist as being relevant to the Pacific Northwest.
The contributors live in all areas of the province and include First Nations writers. There appears to be a preponderance of poets from the islands, especially Salt Spring, home to the publisher. A significant proportion have MFAs and/or teach creative writing. A few wag against that.
Some readers might have preferred to have more poetry, less theorizing. The latter rarely illustrates the former.
The personal statements of poetics mostly avoid posturing and range from the predictable and pedantic to the original and humble.
One wonders if these statements held equal weight with the poems as they occupy about the same amount of print space.
Catherine Greenwood says that it's only once in a great while that she is blessed with a moment of "hitting the right note"; and confesses, fetchingly, that writing poetry is "quite hard work.";
John Pass volunteers this insight: "I know less and less of what I'm up to, or what poetry might make of me.";
Overall, it's hard to know
what to make of this collection, mixed as it is, like this review. No anthology of poetry can be representational of all poetry.
Many British Columbians write and never consider publishing. The "Spoken Word"; resurgence cannot be conveyed in print. Fine poets take long breaks from writing. Some write in languages other than English and there are no translations in this volume.
But, to its credit, this collection reflects the rich ethnicity of the population with a span of at least six decades between the youngest and oldest. It's generous, it's eclectic, it's welcome; but not all the poems display accomplishment.
An opening Dedication recognizes about two dozen wonderful poets who have passed away. Everyone will recognize their own favourites and loved mentors.
Editing an anthology is like teachers trying to identify their best students: it shouldn't be done but they can't help doing it. Somebody has to teach. Somebody has to edit.
978-896949-01-7
-- review by Hannah Main-van der Kamp
[BCBW 2009]
In 1973, Robin Skelton of Victoria reviewed the new Oxford Book of Twentieth Century Poetry, edited by Philip Larkin. Some of his comments were "Eccentric, uninventive, superficial, uninformed, trivial, absurd."; Out of 207 submissions, Larkin had accepted six poems each from twenty-two poets. Skelton was not one of them.
In 2008, Hannah Main-van der Kamp's submission to Rocksalt was rejected. She writes far less peevishly than Skelton.
Putting together the first, extensive anthology of B.C. poets in three decades is an admirable but necessarily precarious project.
It's impossible to please all readers, let alone all writers, all of the time. Some worthy names will always be left out.
GG-winner Roy Miki but not two-time GG-winner Don McKay? Bowering, Marilyn but not Bowering, George? Were some writers not interested in contributing?
If you've been reading B.C. poetry for a long time, you may recognize about half of the poets in Rocksalt by name, but not their poems, because co-editors Mona Fertig and Harold Rhenisch limited inclusions to one "fresh"; poem each.
Will there be a volume II? And will it include Bachinsky, Belford, Blackstock, M. Blaser, Bowling, Bringhurst, Brown A., Compton, Cookshaw, Crozier, Kearns, Kishkan, Lane, Lamarche, Lau, Lillburn, New, Owen, Pearson, Price, Rader, Reid, J., Roberts, Shreve, Stenson, Thesen, Tucker, Wakan, Webb, Yates, Zwicky?
The standard Canadian poetry anthology, edited by Gary Geddes, first came out in 1970. Now into its umpteenth edition, it must still leave a few noses out of joint. He chooses to include less than twenty poets with an average of ten poems per poet, as well as a few pages of bio/poetics.
The 108 poets in Rocksalt represent about one-third of the total number who submitted. B.C. residency was a requirement. The introduction indicates "a new generation"; would be welcomed, with an emphasis on "fresh"; unpublished work.
True to their resolve, Mona Fertig and Harold Rhenisch have erred on the side of generosity, according space to some less-known writers, but this sampling approach could leave some readers disgruntled. Imagine you are in a coffee shop that offers a huge variety of brews with elegant written descriptions but you may only taste a teaspoon of each.
Speaking of coffee shops, why is there a cover painting of a jaded Viennese kaffee haus? It's hard to relate the image of a bored, paunchy pianist as being relevant to the Pacific Northwest.
The contributors live in all areas of the province and include First Nations writers. There appears to be a preponderance of poets from the islands, especially Salt Spring, home to the publisher. A significant proportion have MFAs and/or teach creative writing. A few wag against that.
Some readers might have preferred to have more poetry, less theorizing. The latter rarely illustrates the former.
The personal statements of poetics mostly avoid posturing and range from the predictable and pedantic to the original and humble.
One wonders if these statements held equal weight with the poems as they occupy about the same amount of print space.
Catherine Greenwood says that it's only once in a great while that she is blessed with a moment of "hitting the right note"; and confesses, fetchingly, that writing poetry is "quite hard work.";
John Pass volunteers this insight: "I know less and less of what I'm up to, or what poetry might make of me.";
Overall, it's hard to know
what to make of this collection, mixed as it is, like this review. No anthology of poetry can be representational of all poetry.
Many British Columbians write and never consider publishing. The "Spoken Word"; resurgence cannot be conveyed in print. Fine poets take long breaks from writing. Some write in languages other than English and there are no translations in this volume.
But, to its credit, this collection reflects the rich ethnicity of the population with a span of at least six decades between the youngest and oldest. It's generous, it's eclectic, it's welcome; but not all the poems display accomplishment.
An opening Dedication recognizes about two dozen wonderful poets who have passed away. Everyone will recognize their own favourites and loved mentors.
Editing an anthology is like teachers trying to identify their best students: it shouldn't be done but they can't help doing it. Somebody has to teach. Somebody has to edit.
978-896949-01-7
-- review by Hannah Main-van der Kamp
[BCBW 2009]
Submitted on March 10, 2009 in By David.
