Ongoing Series: Poets Respond to The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry

The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry, edited by Mark Callahan and James Langer, was published earlier this year and features the work of 11 poets who "developed—either by birth or residence—a strong relationship with the island of Newfoundland prior to the publication of their first full-length collection of poetry." This anthology includes the work of Al Pittman, Tom Dawe, John Steffler, Mary Dalton, Carmelita McGrath, Richard Greene, Michael Crummey, Agnes Walsh, Ken Babstock, Sue Sinclair, and Patrick Warner.

Fiddlehead editor Ross Leckie and I reached out to poets across the country to get their perspective on the 11 poets selected. We didn't want an overly complex analysis of the featured work, nor did we want to call into question the editors' selection. We wanted poets simply responding to poets. Appreciations. And the responses—we hope you agree—are thoughtful, generous, and illuminating.

Starting tomorrow and over the next several weeks and months, we'll be posting what came back to us over the electronic transom. On behalf of The Fiddlehead team, we hope you enjoy.

Ian LeTourneau

Poetry Co-editor

October 24: Richard Kemick on Tom Dawe

October 29: Stan Dragland on Agnes Walsh

November 5: John Steffler on Al Pittman

November 14: Katia Grubisic on Ken Babstock

November 20: Lynn Davies on Mary Dalton

November 26: Susan Gillis on Sue Sinclair

December 3: George Murray on Patrick Warner 

December 9: Jeffery Donaldson on Richard Greene

December 16: Shoshanna Wingate on Carmelita McGrath

January 6, 2014: Lorna Crozier on Michael Crummey

January 16, 2014: Vanessa Moeller on John Steffler 

James Langer's Best Poetry Books

As promised during the Radio Fiddlehead podcast, here is a list of my ten favorite poetry collections published in Britain and Ireland over the past decade (in no particular order). This isn't pretending to be a "Best Of" list by any means, so if you're reading this and notice something's missing, feel free to fill in my blanks.

Simon Armitage, The Universal Home Doctor

Alice Oswald, Dart

Paul Muldoon, Maggot

Sean O’Brien, The Drowned Book

Geoffrey Hill, Speech! Speech!

Carol Ann Duffy, Feminine Gospels

Kathleen Jamie, The Tree House

Paul Farley, Tramp in Flames

Glynn Maxwell, The Nerve

Michael Longley, The Weather in Japan

Favorite Debuts: Emma Jones, The Striped World and Nick Laird, To a Fault

James Langer
Poetry Editor, The Fiddlehead

Radio Fiddlehead: Best Poetry Books of the Previous Decade

Welcome to our Radio Fiddlehead podcasts, now available on our blog. Our most recent is a round table on the best poetry books of the 2000’s featuring James Langer, Sharon McCartney, and Anita Lahey.


In the comments please enter your own lists!  Say why you like the books you are listing. Over the next two weeks we will post lists from Ross Leckie, Anita Lahey, and James Langer and with a list from Sharon McCartney to come later.

Ross Leckie

Editor, The Fiddlehead

Listen to the interview in your web browser 
(Right Click or Control Click on the above link to download mp3 File)

Congratulations to James Langer!

James, The Fiddlehead's poetry co-editor, won the 2010 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for Best First Poetry Book for his collection Gun Dogs (House of Anansi Press).