Open Field: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Poets

by Sina Queyras

An unparalleled compilation of more than twenty-five innovative poets, selected from the dazzling panorama of contemporary Canadian verse. Included in this unparalleled collection are Christian Bök, Anne Carson, and Erin Mouré, whose experiments with genre have landed them international acclaim; Lisa Robertson and Ken Babstock, whose explorations of the pastoral and the sonnet, respectively, reach as far back into poetry’s history as they do into the future of those forms; George Elliot Clarke, whose striking lyrics have been adapted for opera; and Tim Lilburn, Don McKay, and Jan Zwicky, who have reinvented some of poetry’s primordial components from the wilder fringes of the Canadian landscape. Along with Nicole Brossard, Dionne Brand, Christopher Dewdney, Susan Goyette, Dennis Lee, Daphne Marlatt, Michael Ondaantje, Fred Wah, and others, these poets have been carefully chosen to convey the exhilarating commotion and diversity of Canadian verse. For native readers, Open Field represents a handy selection of their country’s most vibrant writers, both established and emergent; for readers in the United States and elsewhere, it is the perfect introduction to the skill and daring ubiquitous in Canadian poetry today.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2005

About the author

Sina Queyras' last collection of poetry, Expressway, was nominated for a Governor General's Award and won Gold at the National Magazine Awards. Her previous collection Lemon Hound won a Lambda Award and the Pat Lowther Award, and she is the winner of the 2012 Friends of Literature Award. She is a blogger for Harriet, the Poetry Foundation's blog.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

KSKS

[nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

doing an english degree, and more specifically a writing diploma, made me revisit and rediscover poetry. it made me actually read bodies of work and form opinions in an area of literature i had only very shallowly dipped into previously. (i'd say my experience with poetry is still quite shallow, but anyway.) this was one of the books my class covered in my canadian lit course, and i have to say that as a relative newcomer to poetry, i had found the selections generally very pleasing and welcoming.

my professor made me read Nicole Brossard's "typhoon thrum" out loud in one of our classes and it changed me. in less dramatic terms: the writing really made an impact on me, and i found my favourite poem. i remember, in that first read, having absolutely no idea what was happening in the poem, but being so incredibly moved by the language that it didn't matter and i read that poem over and over, falling more in love. i would learn french just to read "typhoon thrum" in the original.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered two new favourite Canadian poets: Sonnet L'Abbé and Anne Simpson. What more could one ask from an anthology?