"Like animated shorts, comedy, beer commercials and maple syrup."

Still on the fence about going to "What We Talk About When We Talk About Poetry," the series of discussions we (and Palimpsest and the PQL) are hosting in Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, and Windsor? Here's why you should go. Courtesy of Carmine Starnino, who is among many many other things one of our wonderful moderators, and The Montreal Gazette.

“The critical essay is a form Canadians excel in, like animated shorts, comedy, beer commercials and maple syrup,” poet and critic Carmine Starnino told me last week. It’s a view borne out by the recent publication of no less than three acclaimed essay collections, by Zach Wells, Anita Lahey and Jason Guriel. There’s no time like now, then, for a Starnino-hosted panel discussion/joint book launch in which four of our finest poetry reviewers can hash out the critical issues of the day. 

“In my mind, the event is a kind of outreach,” Starnino said. “There’s been a fierce counter-reaction against critical writing in the last couple of years, as bad as I’ve ever seen it. Social media — which has helped make the literary culture more deferential — has played a part in this. Any contrarian attitude is immediately dismissed as snark, as neo-conservative, or worse. So the event is a way to connect with audiences, to help them understand a healthy review culture is not a zero-sum game.”

Panel Dates and Times

Montreal
March 19 at 7:30 p.m. at The Word Bookstore, 469 Milton St.

Toronto
March 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Ben McNally Books, 366 Bay St.

Hamilton
March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at McMaster University, Council Chambers, Gilmour Hall, Room 111

Windsor
March 33 at 4:30 p.m. at Biblioasis, 1520 Wyandotte St. East
(And by March 33, we mean 33-11. The 22nd. Yes, the 22nd. Thank you, Zach.)