Shift & Switch Launch Party

Shift & Switch is an anthology of contemporary Canadian poetry that represents work from some of the country’s more formally-inventive practitioners. A local launch party for the book begins with a panel discussion to contextualize the anthology against a backdrop of Canadian poetry and continues with readings from Geoffrey Hlibchuk, Trevor Speller, Gregory Betts, Mark Truscott, Rob Read and Angela Rawlings (pictured). This is exciting stuff, folks. Buffalo connections abound—panel members for the discussion include UB graduate students, and readers Hlibchuk and Speller are both pursuing PhDs at UB. The other readers also come with an impressive pedigree: Angela Rawlings (one of the anthology’s co-editors) received the bpNichol Award from York University and will pubish her first full-length book through Coach House Books later this year. Also with a Coach House Books edition, Mark Truscott was short-listed for a ReLit Award for his Said Like Reeds or Things. Both Rob Read (who reads as part of Just Buffalo’s Orbital series in February) and Gregory Betts have had books published by BookThug (Read uses spam e-mail as the basis of his poems, see review in Artvoice v5n1, while Betts uses anagrams).

Friday, January 27 at 7pm. Rust Belt Books, 202 Allen St. (885-9535).