The Seaboard Review: April 7th, 2025
Date Volume 2, Issue 14
An All-Poetry Issue!
“I'm coming to think of reading poetry as an act of rebellion against a world that demands my time and gives back terror.” — Emily Weedon
April is Poetry Month, and we are kicking the month off with this all-poetry issue. The above quote was pulled from Emily Weedon’s review of The Mountains of Kong (see below), and it is so apropos for the times we are living in. Poetry can offer solace and articulate the emotions we struggle to express. It is our hope that you will encounter new poetry this month that deeply resonates with you.
We also have a poetry bundle giveaway going on over on our Facebook page. It’s open to anyone with a Canadian mailing address. Three titles from icehouse poetry (an imprint of Goose Lane Editions) are up for grabs:
There is also an exclusive giveaway of a six-book bundle from Penguin Random House for our paid subscribers (all paid subscribers are automatically entered). If you are not a paid subscriber, then let this be the incentive you need to sign up! If that’s not enough, we’ve discounted annual subscriptions by 50% for April, our anniversary month.
There are more giveaways to come, sponsored by Breakwater Books and ECW Press! Watch our social media sites for more info.
*Please scroll to the bottom of this email to participate in a quick poll.*
Poetry Month Reviews:
Myth by Terese Mason Pierre
In Myth, Terese Mason Pierre delivers a debut collection that, while speculative, is deeply grounded in emotional and physical reality. The collection shimmers with mythic resonance—not the borrowed grandeur of gods and legends, but the kind that haunts the ordinary: the mythologies of memory, the metaphysics of grief, and the strange poetics of distanc…
Dreams of the Romantics: A Story Cycle by M. G. Turner
I believe that Dreams of the Romantics is the first chapbook that I have ever reviewed, and I would not have heard of it at all if I wasn’t a connection with the author’s father, Philip Turner, at LinkedIn. It was he who reached out to me regarding the possibility of getting his son’s book reviewed here at TSR. I don’t review poetry (which I assumed it …
If I Write About My Father by Sheila Stewart
Fathers are often powerful influences on their offsprings’ psyches and self-mage. For better or worse, Dad often provides the first image of a man, and how he behaves, that children encounter. And, like humans in general, fathers run the gamut from nurturing to tyranny, from caring to abuse. Thus, it’s not surprising that there many fathers in literatur…
The Mountains of Kong by Dag T. Straumsvåg
In the forward to his delightful collection, The Mountains of Kong, Dag T. Straumsvåg is quoted as saying “I like to think of the prose poem as an explorer setting sail for the open sea, lost in the legends of El Dorado or Soria Moria, the dream of a new world where everything is possible, anything can happen.”
The Art of Floating, Poetry by Melanie Marttila
The Art of Floating, published by Latitude 46 Publishing, offers 60 poems penned by Sudbury-based author Melanie Marttila. The collection is divided into five sections, Drunken Moon, The Art of Floating, White Noise Machine, Lunar Observation, and Fire and Ice.
Michael Greenstein Reviews:
George Murray’s Jewish Melodies
George Murray’s wit is on display in most of his poetry, which may be connected to his act of witnessing; that is, the poet’s power of observation is angled in such a way as to comment on his persona’s oblique perception. These witty angles are featured in several of his unusual “Jewish” poems.
Kevin Andrew Heslop Interviews
Interview with David White
This conversation, here faithfully transcribed, took place at The Church Key Bistro-Pub in London, Ontario, December 1, 2017. Poems from The Lark Ascending (Pedlar Press, 2017) were woven in after the transcript was completed. Thank you to David White for his participation, and for sharing his work and life. Note: this interview was originally published…
Hot Takes: Brief Notes on Books Present & Past
(Note: clicking on the underlined link takes you to the book’s publisher page for more information or for purchasing purposes)
“I recently read two chapbooks published by Agatha Press that I picked up on a trip to Edmonton in December of last year—Ground Cherries by Danielle Paradis and Bloody Women by Bree Taylor. Poetry Month is a perfect time to check out some short poetry reads. In Ground Cherries, Danielle Paradis cultivates beacons of kindness for a childhood past and life in the present. Challenging memories are delicately intertwined with the possibilities of seeds planted. Each poem in Bree Taylor’s Bloody Women is after a character that embodies the chaotic, skilful, horrific, powerful, intellectual, messy, and mean. Amidst all the ways women are despised, these poems throw it right back on the systems and sentiments set on making villains of us all.” Link to Agatha Press: https://www.agathapress.com/ (Contributed by Samantha Jones)
TSR welcomes Samantha Jones as a contributor! Samantha is a poet, editor, and earth scientist based in Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary, Alberta). She is Black Canadian and white settler with roots in Nova Scotia, Québec, and Ontario. Her poetry collection, Attic Rain, is available from NeWest Press.
In Great Silent Ballad, A.F. Moritz continues his longstanding exploration of lyric poetry as a vessel for moral clarity and historical memory, offering readers a collection that is both hauntingly intimate and profoundly civic. Across its meditative structure, the book foregrounds poetry’s potential not as escapism, but as a means of bearing witness to the slow violences of the modern world—capitalism’s degradations, ecological collapse, and the enduring wounds of historical injustice. What emerges is a version of lyric attention as an act of resistance: a way of preserving the dignity of human experience in a time increasingly hostile to reflection. The collection’s primary strength lies in its subtle juxtapositions—private grief set beside public horrors, mythical elements tangled with contemporary allusions—all rendered in language that is precise and musical. Engaging in tacit dialogue with poetic forebears like Jiménez and Blake, Moritz situates the Canadian lyric tradition within a broader, transhistorical conversation about beauty, innocence, and aging. Great Silent Ballad is a masterful continuation of Moritz’s oeuvre, as well as a reminder that the lyric, at its best, still holds the power to transform attention into ethical insight. (Contributed by Selena Mercuri)
TSR News
Lisa Timpf
Third Wednesday, where I have been previously published, provided the opportunity for a YouTube reading from my poetry collection Cats and Dogs in Space.
My poem "Martian Cats" was published on Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, link: https://cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/fiction-all/science-fiction/martian-cats/
Emily Weedon
For folks out Toronto way, once a month The Caledonian Pub at 856 College St is home to Drunk Fiction, an irreverent night of readings, where readers, listeners, authors and those who love them can gather, drink and nosh! April 22 we celebrate Greg Rhyno's launch of Who By Water, along with Richard Scarsbrook, Hollay Ghadery and Sara Flemington, May 27 is Dennis E Bolan touring his new book, along with Marianne Miller, Aviva Rubin and Sydney Hegele. Check in at https://emilyweedon.com/drunk-fiction for more info!
Climbing the Substack Ratings!
On April 6th, Substack notified us that we are #87 and rising in the Literature category on Substack! That’s a pretty good one-year anniversary present!
Throwback Thursday Poll
For some time, we have been sending out a “Throwback Thursday” email of a book review of James’ from years past. We want to know if you wish to continue receiving these. Going forward, we will soon start re-sharing posts from a year back, but they can be contained within this weekly issue. What is your choice? Majority rules!
TSR Subscriber Count
We now have 329 335 337 subscribers! That number includes our paying subscribers (thank you!) as well as our free ones. Being a paid subscriber (for as little as $5/month) allows us to give out honorariums to our team of contributors, which keeps them dedicated to writing reviews of books we think are worthy of your time. Click the button to see all the Substack options. For the month of April, annual subscriptions are 50% off!
Other support options:
Ko-fi: you can choose from one-time donations to a $5/month membership
Patreon: memberships from $3/month on up.
Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
