Evergreen: Six New Poets

With the onslaught of new writers appearing almost constantly, it becomes harder to search out the cream from the dross. Evergreen: Six New Poets highlights half a dozen young poets from across of the country who have already started to make noise, much the way Al Purdy did in his Storm Warning anthologies of the 1970s. Each poet is given a generous section to allow a strong sense of each writer to come through.

Ottawa-based but variously everywhere, former army brat Laurie Fuhr is the baby of the group, feeling her way through the emotionally charged lyric. Jon Paul Fiorentino, originally from Winnipeg and now in Montreal, and Calgary's Ryan Fitzpatrick have much in common -- both working different sides of the Canadian Prairie long poem, entering as myth making; each from their individual origins in working-class suburbs. Meghan Lynch, from Hamilton, Ontario, writes in short, serial bursts that break through everything else, and hang beautifully, the sheer essence of the poem lingering like the smile of a Cheshire cat. Andy Weaver, currently in Edmonton but also variously-based, works through a clarity that could cut glass, carving lines of hope and hopelessness that any bird would trust to land upon. And finally, Montreal-based Susan Elmslie's poems are slow and contemplative, filled with beauty and searches for understanding, sometimes where there is none, but provide a sense of secure wisdom, even through her questioning.