Chapbooks to the right of me, chapbooks to the left of me...

If nearly selling out The navel gaze, my limited-edition, hand-made chapbook with Kingsville, ON's Palimpsest Press wasn't nifty enough, I've had a couple of pieces of good news of late I think it's finally safe to share.

Edmonton's Rubicon Press, run by Jenna Butler and Yvonne Blomer, will be publishing a chapbook of my travel poetry in spring 2009.

I'm very excited that my long poem Guidelines, based on travels in 1998 to Malaysia and Indonesia (and my family history in the region, unearthed six years later), will appear with Rubicon, whose list is very impressive and whose books are pretty.

Rubicon Press publishes chapbooks and broadsides of extraordinary poetry from authors in Canada and around the world. We’re looking for work that resonates; poetry that is more than just excellence of technique and use of multiple forms. We seek poetry that moves, inspires and affects.

Newly released chapbooks from the press include Claire Sharpe's Casual Notation of Earth-Shattering Events and Marcus McCann's The tech/tonic suite. Upcoming collections for 08/09 by Joanne Arnott, David Zieroth, Dipika Mukherjee, Danielle Schaub, Ariel Gordon, and more!

Also, Rubicon encourages their writers to have a hand in the design of the covers - and, what's more, encourages the use of visual art - which is very exciting. As such, I've been madly scanning the websites of Winnipeg galleries and consulting with Amy Karlinsky, who is Aqua's Arts Writer-in-Residence for a suitable piece/artist.

A second piece of good news is that I just found out I'm to be a part of a new series with Montreal's Buffalo Runs Press. Though Buffalo Runs is a younger press than either Palimpsest or Rubicon, I admire what they're trying to do and am glad to be a part of their inaugural efforts.

Buffalo Runs Press is a Montreal-based small press. We run with poets and other writers, and a lot of artists, too, and publish smaller runs of interesting books of literary or artistic merit. We aim to gather the herds – to work at building community and to embrace collaboration.

Rutting Season is an engaging and accessible series that publishes the poetry of three fresh voices from three different regions in Canada and places these poets into a critical conversation with each other.

I'm greatly looking forward to finding out who the other poets are and to begin, well, nattering. About poetry.

And Rutting Season? What a perfectly wonderful/perverse title, both in the run-at-things-with-yer-head-down images it conjures, and its dirtyness, and for the simple fact that Montreal editors have chosen a bison as their mascot.

And who knows? I may have to contrive another tour to promote these darlings...

In the meantime, fun!