October, and the trees are striped bare…

Posted by Jeff on Oct 16th, 2025 in News | 0 comments

Is October supposed to be a busy month? I know it’s the scary one.
I spent most of the first half of the month in Greece, walking in the steps of Socrates and Sophocles and a lot of other ancient “es” people. Now I’m back, and I’ve got three (3) events coming in the second half of the month.

More on these events in a second, but first:

COMING IN NOVEMBER!

That’s right, my new novel Performance Reviews is officially out in less than a month, from Alien Buddha Press.
It’s a dark satire of workplace toxicity… if I may generalize. Just imagine Office Space meets Taxi Driver.

You should be able to buy it online starting November 12.
I’m also hoping to have copies to bring to the next Ottawa Small Press Fair and a possible event in Montreal (not yet confirmed). More info on launch events to come.

But before the book comes out:

1) MAGIC THEATRE POETRY ON ZOOM

October 26 will mark my third time featuring at the Magic Theatre Poetry series on Zoom, hosted by Valerie Parker. And this time, my reading is being funded by the Canada Council for the Arts through the Writers’ Union of Canada.

My feature will be followed by an open mic, and discussion is plentiful at these events.
Bring some of your own poetry to share with an international audience.

2) MINSTRELS & BARDS: HALLOWEEN EDITION

Brenda Clews is bringing back her Minstrels & Bards event on October 29 at the Tranzac. I’ll be one of the features. I think George Elliott Clarke is another one, and there’ll be a limited open mic too.
Costumes are highly encouraged.

3) AD LIB TALENT NIGHT

I’m performing with a bunch of other folks on October 31 at the Arts & Letters Club.
Kind of a quasi-private event, but you can come if you buy a drink or two.

For more specific info on these events, check the Events section of this website.
(They don’t appear on the right sidebar anymore, for some reason)

Also, I recently had pieces published in two anthologies:
“I Know You Must Hate Me”, in Indigo Dreams Publishing’s <i>Monstrous</i> (care of Leeds Trinity University in Leeds, England) and a shorter version of “Lazy Book Reports” in this year’s Brownstone Poets anthology (Brooklyn, New York). Both books are now available online.

Is that everything? I’m sure I missed something important.
For now, I’ll leave you with a Siouxsie.

Adios, Poindexter.

The Word on the Street is… new book coming soon!

Posted by Jeff on Sep 20th, 2025 in News | 0 comments

Been about five-and-a-half months since I’ve posted here?
Not that anyone’s noticed. Not even I.

A few things coming up over the next couple of months, but I’ll save the biggest for last.

Next weekend:
I’ll be back at the annual Word on the Street festival, selling copies of my debut novel Hate Story. This year, they’ve moved it to David Pecaut Square on King Street West – and according to the map, it looks as if I’ll be sharing a space with the League of Canadian Poets.

I’ve reduced the price of the book slightly, to $15.
So if that extra three dollars was too much of a hassle for you before, well, this solves everything.

On top of that, I’ll also be back at the Ottawa Small Press Book Fair in November… and waiting to hear back about another possible event in Montreal that month.

On October 26, I’ll be featuring online once again at the Magic Theatre poetry series… and this time, my reading is sponsored by the Writers’ Union of Canada.

 

More on the October and November events later. Now, the really important news.

*****

COMING SOON:

My new novel, Performance Reviews, is coming soon from Alien Buddha Press.

More info to come on launch dates, where to get the book, and other stuff.

Now? Cinema.

Bye.

National and international poetry for National Poetry Month

Posted by Jeff on Apr 6th, 2025 in News | 0 comments

April is National Poetry Month in Canada!
Remember to be a good boy, or girl, or whatever, so the ghost of John McCrae can leave a stanza in your stocking. Then you can eat a big turkey dinner with your family while analyzing the poetry with Northrop Frye lit theory.

I’m involved in two online poetry events this month. Well, only one of them is actually based in Canada. But the other one is not American, so I’m not a traitor.

1. Ó Bhéal’s eighteenth-anniversary event – and launch of the eighteenth Five Words Anthology

Ó Bhéal, a long-running poetry organization in Cork, Ireland, is having its last hybrid event on the 14th. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of that community, however distant, for the last four or five years – attending its monthly hybrid event over Zoom. I even featured live at the series in Cork last November, and also performed virtually at its Winter Warmer Festival in 2022.

The event is also the launch of the eighteenth Five Words Anthology, in which I have three silly poems – all written in fifteen minutes and based on five words from the audience. The main features will be the three chosen Five Words competition winners for the year, and I assume I’ll be reading too, as at previous launches.

2. Oakville Literary Cafe

Back in Canada, I’ll be the feature at the Oakville Literary Cafe, in a few weeks. I won’t be going to Oakville, which is a convenient GO Train ride away, but performing over Zoom again. Followed by a brief open mic.

More info at the links on the right sidebar.

Finally, for National Poetry Month, here’s a classic gem from Leonard Cohen.
Just be thankful it isn’t “Hallelujah”.

Take off, eh.

Off to see Hamilton. The city, not the musical.

Posted by Jeff on Feb 3rd, 2025 in News | 0 comments

Two events you ought to know about this month. If there is a “you” reading this.

1) Hannah’s Bookshelf

Manchester writer and radio host Hannah Kate has featured me on her radio show a couple of times before – first, an interview with Skylar Wynter, Neshka Turner and me before our first Decent Beings tour; and second, a recorded performance of two poems in 2023. And now, we’re doing a catch-up interview, airing this Saturday.

We’ll talk about poetry tours, my (still untitled) new novel, and more.
It airs live on North Manchester FM locally, as well as online; you can listen in at the link on the right sidebar. I’m sure there will be a recording available online afterwards.

2) Sharp Words

I exhibited at this Hamilton book fair last year, and it was far from a disaster, so I’m doing it again.
If you don’t have a copy yet of my debut novel Hate Story, and you live in the Hamilton area or are perfectly willing to go there, this is the ideal opportunity to get it.

I’ll leave you with a little farewell to the recently departed David Lynch.
I often don’t *get* Lynch, I admit, but his work was always interesting, and maybe we’re not supposed to get it anyway. This here may be his finest moment.

That gum you like is going to come back in style.

I pledge impertinence to the flag-waving of the unindicted co-conspirators of America…

Posted by Jeff on Jan 13th, 2025 in News | 0 comments

It’s 2025 already. And before the Trump administration sends the troops to annex us as the fifty-first state (or Poilievre gets elected and hands us over), I’ve got one last event to plug…

Tomorrow night, I’m the Feature Artist at the weekly Time to Arrive event on Zoom.
At least, that’s what the fancy picture says.

Open mic to follow my set, so bring some poetry or prose of your own to share.
More info on the Facebook event page. Zoom link accessible via the event listing on the right sidebar.

At the end of the month, I’ll also be performing (live this time) at the Arts and Letters Club in downtown Toronto, at Ad Lib’s Got Talent – the annual show for host Damon Lum’s birthday.
Kind of a semi-private event, but the club permits non-member guests on Friday nights, so be my guest.

*****

You might know that I was recently across the pond again. This time, I went everywhere from northern Scotland to southern Ireland over more than three weeks.
This included a live appearance at the internationally renowned Ó Bhéal series in Cork (which is, unfortunately, ending in a few months). It’s a hybrid series (i.e. live and on Zoom) and was also streamed live online. If you missed it, here’s the recording. I think I did pretty well considering I had a sore throat and my voice wasn’t at a hundred percent. I blame two previous nights of karaoke in Liverpool.

And one more video…
You may also know that I’ve been dabbling in stand-up comedy over the past year-and-a-half. Here’s my set at Comedy Bar’s PRO class showcase a few months ago.
(And I got paid for it! I didn’t even know at the time that it was a paid gig. We all got a share of the box office. When they say PRO, they mean it.)

Farewell, my concubines.