Micro to small
Matthew Firth
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McLennan: poet, publisher and literary scenester
photo: Christina Riley
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Local author launches new literary press
Rob McLennan - poet, micro-press publisher and literary scenester extraordinaire - can add "small-press publisher" to his accomplishments. McLennan and Jennifer Mulligan are co-founders of Chaudiere Books, a literary press focused on Ottawa that launches its first three titles this weekend: Clare Latremouille's first novel The Desmond Road Book of the Dead, Meghan Jackson's poetry collection Movements in Jars, and poetry book Disappointment Island by Monty Reid. Here's what McLennan had to say about his step up:
XPRESS: Where does the name come from?
ROB MCLENNAN: From the waterfalls and rapids on the Ottawa River just west of downtown. Some Confederation poets of the late 1800s and early 1900s viewed it like a bad joke - if you hadn't written a poem on the Chaudière Falls or the Rapids then you weren't really an Ottawa poet. We like the link between history, literary history and geography.
X: What does Chaudiere Books bring to the Ottawa literary scene?
MCLENNAN: Our aim is for a high-quality series of poetry, fiction and eventually non-fiction. Hopefully we'll bring a coherent sense of the literary scene here to locals. There's an impressive amount of work being done here by dozens of writers, although looking at the books section of the Ottawa Citizen it would be impossible to know.
X: Why should Ottawa readers read Chaudiere Books titles?
MCLENNAN: Why should anyone read anything? We're producing high-quality books.
I think we should at least be considered. I want to create books that people want to read, not should.X: Why does local matter?
MCLENNAN: Arguably, everywhere matters. The problem with Ottawa that we're trying to correct is that local gets overrun by national, simply because we're the national capital. We want to give voice and acknowledgment to work being done right under our noses.
X: Give me 20 to 25 key words on each book.
MCLENNAN: Clare Latremouille's The Desmond Road Book of the Dead is pretty much our lead title. It's wonderfully lyrical. It works through three generations of women in heartbreaking prose. Meghan Jackson's poetry collection Movements in Jars is a series of fine moments shaped like glass. Monty Reid's Disappointment Island works the long line and the long idea better than most.
X: What is the plan for the press? Will it stay focused on Ottawa or branch out?
MCLENNAN: To focus on local to the exclusion of all other things would be simply the same problem we're trying to correct, but in reverse. The second season includes poems by Saskatchewan's Andrew Suknaski, who has only visited Ottawa once, and that was the year I was born. Regionalism by itself is an interesting and even an inevitable thing, but unless someone is out there connecting the regions, the enterprise becomes pointless.
X: How does this affect your work with Above/Ground Press?
MCLENNAN: It's separate from Above/Ground, as much as it's an extension of the same work. I've known many of the writers included in the first season of Chaudiere Books for years. Above/Ground and Chaudiere are two different beasts, but everything I do manages somehow to connect with just about everything else.
Chaudiere Books launch
Thursday, October 26, 7 p.m.
Library and Archives of Canada
On the go, reading and writing coupled with the arithmetic of numbers, countless
poems, books, critical articles and now, a publishing house. What next?
To be sure, we will be hearing much more of Rob as time passes and all of it will
be good for the world of writing. His contributions to date for the expansion of
the poetry community of Canada in terms of numbers and quality of productivity
have been recognized. All the support that might be given to him by the public
would be well deserved.
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Val Mileti
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{1 vote}
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Rob states that he wants "to create books that people want to read, not should" which in and of itself is one tall order. The creation of any book is the work of the author, not the publisher. Rob should be the first to understand this as he himself has been the creator of many books as well as the publisher of many literary endeavours.
We here in Ottawa are most fortunate to have Rob as a resident. He knows the literary scene as no other, not only in Ottawa but I dare say, across our country. He has provided leadership in hosting literary gatherings, through book sales and teaching. He has proven to be an inspiration to many writers and in particular young poets.
Ottawa will be honoured when Rob becomes the Poet Laureate of Canada. This could happen in the near future as the next Laureate will be English language representative. Rob more than meets the selection criteria! As equal representation is given to Canada's two official languages, the next French language representative will be selected in 2008. If Rob is not selected this year, his next opportunity will be in 2010.
Now to return to Rob's statement, remembering that this came from an interview and not from his written words which could have been subjected to his personal editing. I don't know of any person who could possibly create books that others might want to read unless the main topic or feature was sex. It would be nice though to be able to determine what others should read because of the merits of the works created. Rob could certainly do that.
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Louis Reeves
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{1 vote}
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| Congratulations to Chaudiere from filling Station Magazine! |
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Formerly an Ottawa writer myself whose first writing was published by rob mclennan, I now live in Calgary where I volunteer on the poetry collective of filling Station, a nationally distributed multiarts magazine. As such - congratulations on behalf of filling Station! rob and Jennifer have worked really hard to make this happen. rob in particular deserves to enjoy in Ottawa all of the recognition he has earned across the country for his prolific publishing, touring, and tireless promotion of others' work (and of poetry in general). Chaudiere Books will be a great success!
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Laurie Fuhr
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