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Patrick M. Pilarski is the co-editor of DailyHaiku, an international journal of contemporary English-language haiku, and poetry editor for its new sister publication DailyHaiga. His first full-length collection, Huge Blue, was released in 2009 by Leaf Press, and he is the author of two chapbooks, most recently Contemplating Vows, written with Nicole Pakan. Patrick's writing has appeared in journals and anthologies across North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan, and on CBC Radio One as part of the CBC Poetry Face-off. He has served as Vice President of the League of Canadian Poets, and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta. Read More → |
Loose Ends and 2010
21 February 2010
The astute reader will notice that it has been some time since an entry was posted here. The reason for this is simple: 2009 was an eventful year. In a good way. I am eternally grateful to those who helped create such an exciting end to the decade. In particular, a huge thank you to everyone who made the launch of Huge Blue a roaring success. Tammy and the Kasbar lounge provided an excellent home for the festivities, and I couldn't have asked for a better host than the inimitable Michael Gravel.
Following the launch, I had the pleasure of reading at Audreys Books, and took a jaunt down to Calgary to perform with three other filling Station Issue 46 authors at WordFest 2009: the Calgary Banff International Writers Festival. Huge Blue and I also visited Japan and select parts of the USA; despite its age, it is becoming quite the world traveler. So far, the book has received an excellent reception in Canada and abroad, including some wonderful reviews by Andrea McKenzie Raine from Victoria and Lanie Shanzyra Rebancos of the Philippines, and mentions in Modern Haiku, Haiku Canada Review, Trek Magazine, Ingenuity, and New Trail. Articles about the launch were also featured in The Edmonton Examiner and The Gateway.
A packed Kasbar Lounge for the Huge Blue launch.
Given all the madness with book launches and graduations and personal excitement in the latter months of 2009, it is guaranteed that 2010 will be comparatively tranquil and uneventful. Not so. The book tour continues, with a recent trip to Victoria to read at Planet Earth Poetry with Kim Goldberg—many thanks to Yvonne Blomer and Isa Milman for making me feel so at home on the flowering coast. All the gears are also sliding into place for this year's Edmonton Poetry Festival: "Found in Translation". It is going to be one heck of a show, with a stellar translation component, so be sure not to miss it this April! You won't be disappointed.
Back at home, work continues on the new collection—a series of sparse and fragmented views of modern Iceland. With all luck it will be out the door by early spring, to begin the hunt for a perfect home. For those who are curious what all the fuss is about, and want a preview of things to come, work from the book recently appeared (or will be coming out soon) in The Fiddlehead, 42opus, BluePrintReview, blue skies poetry, DailyHaiga, CV2, filling Station, The New Quarterly, Other Voices, RAVING Magazine, and The Toronto Quarterly. Check it out, and look forward to more previews in the months to come!
Launch photos courtesy of Eugene Pilarski.
