20 works of Canadian poetry to check out in spring 2019

A new year means new books! Here's a list of the 20works from Canadian poets to check out in 2019.

How She ReadbyChantalGibson

Artist, poet and educator Chantal Gibson'sHow She Readis a collection of genre-blurring poems about the representation of Black women in Canada from a cultural perspective. The Vancouver-based Gibson has East Coast roots and she brings a holistic, decolonizedapproach to challenging imperialist ideas by way of a close look at Canadianliterature, history, art, media and pop culture.

When you can read it:Jan.29, 2019

• 5 Black Canadian artists whose names should be known alongside the Group of Seven

The Caiplie Cavesby Karen Solie

TheCaiplieCaves is thefifth book of poetry from award-winning poet Karen Solie. It is a portrait of sorts ofan Irish missionary namedEthernan, who, in the seventh century,withdrew to a cave in Scotland to ponderwhether to establish a priory on May Islandor pursue a hermit's solitude. Solieadopts an intersectional look atthe realities of war, religious colonizationand ideas of progress, powerand corruption via a personal and emotional lens of faith, grief and confusion under duress.

When you can read it:April 9, 2019

• KarenSoliewelcomes robot poets to theCanLitcommunity

These are not the potatoes of my youthby Matthew Walsh

The debut poetry collection from Nova Scotia-raised poetMattWalsh is a look at growing up on the East Coast and heading west on a nomadic journey. Speckled withMaritime vernacular, Walsh's poems delve into the nature of queer identity, family structure and self-determination using elements of humour, surprise and frankness.

When you can read it:Feb. 26,2019

Tonguebreakerby LeahLakshmiPiepzna-Samarasinha

Lambda Literary Award-winning poet and writer LeahLakshmiPiepzna-Samarasinha's latest poetry collection continuesher poetic throughline of presenting perspectives and observations of working-class queer brown femmesurvivorhoodand desire.Through Tonguebreaker, the Canadian-raised and U.S.-based poet reflects on the stakes surroundingsurvival in the context of the nature of love, the spectre ofhate crimes, the suicides of queer kinand the rise offascism.The collection sets forth narratives ofdisabled femme-of-colour moments, while dreaming offearless femme futures to come.

When you can read it:March 1, 2019

Mad Long Emotionby BenLadouceur

Mad Long Emotionis the latest poetry collection from Ottawa-based poet BenLadouceur. The poems look at the nature of loveand loving for humans, flora and fauna alike.Mad Long Emotioncreatively gazesat the interplay between species and the host of universal connections within the natural world.Ladouceur'sprevious poetry collection,Otter, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award.

When you can read it:March 10,2019

• Poet Ben Ladouceur wins $4K LGBTQ emerging writers prize

Disintegrate/DissociatebyArielleTwist

ArielleTwist is aCree, Two-Spirit poet and educator based in the East Coast. Twist's debut poetry collection offers perspectives of human connections after death looking at anger, grief, trauma and displacement left in its wake.Disintegrate/Dissociate depicts life for anIndigenoustranswoman, one dreaming for a hopeful future and a clear path for self-discovery.

When you can read it:March 15, 2019

• The Indigenous renaissance was truly here in 2018 and it's not going anywhere

Hymnswitchby AliBlythe

Blythe's 2015 poetry debut,Twoism, offered stark, vibrant eroticism;Hymnswitchbuilds on that foundation to explorethemes of identity and the body.Blythe brings a mastery of precision and cadence to bear in creating poems that pulse with emotion, complexity and vulnerability.

When you can read it:March 19,2019

TREATY#byArmandGarnetRuffo

ArmandGarnetRuffo'sTREATY#is an examination of the nature and meaning of a treaty. Ruffo documents his observations of life from an Indigenous perspective, looking at belief systems and the complex, evolving connections and obligations betweennation-to-nation, human-to-human andhuman-to-nature.

When you can read it:March19, 2019

Clusterby Souvankham Thammavongsa

Toronto-based poetSouvankham Thammavongsais of Thai heritage andwith her fourth poetrycollection examines the nature of meaning.Every poem in Clusterlooks at the ways in which meaningarrives, resonates and dissipates.

When you can read it:March 26, 2019

Drolleriesby Cassidy McFadzean

Regina-raisedCassidyMcFadzean is a past finalist for theCBC Poetry Prize andThe WalrusPoetry Prize. Her latest collection peers into the duality between human and beast.Drolleriesis a manifesto forself-realization by way ofinvestigatingthe nature of romantic relationships, the allureof artand the structuresof power from fallible and transformative angles.

When you can read it:March 26, 2019

Heftby Doyali Islam

Doyali Islam is an award-winning poet and author based in Toronto. Heft is her second collection of poems and is a conceptual look at rupture and resilience in today's world. The poems look at the nature of illness, pain andsexuality. Heft casts its lens on normal female sexual experience and the notion of home in light of chronic pain and suspected autoimmune illness on a personal level.

When you can read it:Mar. 26, 2019

• Doyali Islam and the poetry of stillness

Magnetic Equatorby Kaie Kellough

Montreal-based artist and poet Kaie Kellough plays with geography and self-determination in Magnetic Equator, his third poetry collection. Drifting between South and North America, Kellough digs into the ancestral belonging, exploring The Canadian Prairie, Georgetown, the Amazon rainforestand in the Atlantic Ocean. It looks at the nature of language and dialect in the works of Caribbean and Canadian writers, seeking origin, identity and understanding.

When you can read it:March26, 2019

• How an album title inspired finalist Kaie Kellough to become a writer

Q & Aby AdrienneGruber

Adrienne Gruber's Q & A represents her third full poetry collection. The collection looks at trauma and recovery during a first pregnancy, birth of a daughter and early postpartum period. The poems cover the transformative, the grotesque and the lasting effects of bringing life into the world.

When you can read it:April1,2019

TheElementsby ErnMoure

ErnMoure is a poet and translator. The poems in The Elements is a personal examination on family built on her experience with her late father's dementia. It looks at the nature of self in an ambivalent world, drawing parallels between the struggle of Galician peasants against the invasion of the armies of Napoleon with her father's struggle with an invasive mental illness.

When you can read it:April 9, 2019

• Ern Moure on the elation (and stomachache) of poetry

Twitch Forceby Michael Redhill

Michael Redhill who won the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prizefor his novel Bellevue Square returns to his roots as a poet. Twitch Force marks his first collection of poetry in 18years and brings togetherpoems grounded in the satirical and profound. Redhill looks at topics such as the family construct, the nature of beauty, love, loss and despair.

When you can read it:April 9, 2019

• 'All art is failed art.' Michael Redhill on being comfortable with failure

Dunk Tankby Kayla Czaga

Kayla Czaga's sophomore collection of poetry weighs in onknowledge, experience and the fears associated with being an adult. Dunk Tank is a creative imagining of the body as anstrange and unknowable landscape, breaking down the anatomicalcomponents in a blur of metaphor, imagery and dark humour to make connections between sex, love, friendship and belonging.Czagawas longlisted for the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize for Drunk River.

When you can read it:April 9, 2019

War / TornbyHasanNamir

Iraq-born and Vancouver-basedHasanNamir is an award-winning poet. Hisdebut collection of poetry,War / Torn, looks at parameters ofreligion and masculinity weighing in on the nature of identity, belonging and love. Namir examines his experience with war and violence, along with hisLGTBQ identity and his relationship withtenets of Islam.

When you can read it:April 10, 2019

• How this author learned his gay and Muslim identities could coexist and found hope in the process

It's a Big Deal!byDinaDelBucchia

DinaDelBucchia is an author, comedian and poet based in Vancouver. It's a Big Deal!is a humourousand honestlook at personal and societies priorities, mining trends in food, clothes, culture and politics.The poetry in the collection ispointed, sincere and candid with the aim ofgaugingwhatconstitutesornecessitatesa'big deal'inour21st-centurylives.

When you can read it:Apr. 15,2019

• Writer Dina Del Bucchia teaches you to 'dress like a book'

Hope Mattersby LeeMaracle,ColumpaBobbandTaniaCarter

This collection of poetry fromaward-winning author LeeMaracleand her daughtersColumpaBobbandTaniaCarter is a look atthe journey of Indigenous people from colonial beginnings to reconciliation. The collaborative effort documents the personal mother-daughter connection and also the shared song ofhope and reconciliation from all Indigenous communities and perspectives.

When you can read it:April15, 2019

• Lee Maracle stormed CanLit stages to make sure her story was heard

brethby billbissett

The incomparablebillbissett returns with breth, a collection of new and selected works for poetry by the innovative and accomplishedToronto-basedsound, visualand performance poet. breth continues bisset'sunorthodox methods and approach to language and narrative.

When you can read it:April 25, 2019