What the Poets Are Doing

In 2002, Nightwood published Where the Words Come From: Canadian Poets in Conversation, a successful first-of-its-kind collection of interviews with literary luminaries like Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Avison, Patrick Lane, Lorna Crozier and P.K. Page, conducted by “the younger generation” of poets of the day. Sixteen years later, What the Poets Are Doing brings together two younger generations of poets to engage in conversations with their peers on modern-day poetics, politics and more. Together they explore the world of Canadian poetry in the new millennium: what's changed, what's endured and what's next. An exciting “turn of the century” has evolved into a century characterized by social and digital media, the Donald Trump presidency, #MeToo empowerment and scandal, and Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation.

Should we look to our poets as our most articulate analysts and critics of these times? Are they competing with social media or at one with social media?

Poets in Conversation:

Elizabeth Bachinsky and Kayla Czaga

Tim Bowling and Raoul Fernandes

Dionne Brand and Souvankham Thammavongsa

Marilyn Dumont and Katherena Vermette

Sue Goyette and Linda Besner

Steven Heighton and Ben Ladouceur

Sina Queyras and Canisia Lubrin

Armand Garnet Ruffo and Liz Howard

Karen Solie and Amanda Jernigan

Russell Thornton and Phoebe Wang

Afterword co-written by Nick Thran and Sue Sinclair

“If you think an entire book about the poetic process — chronicled through email interviews, no less — sounds depressing or dull, you are not alone. You are, however, delightfully mistaken… This gem of a book sees several generations open up on writing, loss and life, and is a riveting read, akin to stumbling on private letters between your most literary and intriguing friends.”
—Tara Henley, Toronto Star, December 15, 2018

“What the Poets Are Doing opens a door onto perspectives in contemporary Canadian poetry, and it’s apparent to me that the poets are asking of themselves, and of their readers, that imagination, above all else, greet the poems they are writing.”
—John Pass, The Ormsby Review, February 22, 2019

"What the Poets Are Doing is instructive.... each [interview] brings forward, variously, vital questions, thoughts, and ideas related to writing practice, poiesis, the body, family, community, isolation, place, position, racism, sexuality, freedom, and survival."
—Deanna Radford, Arc Poetry Magazine, Fall 2019