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War of the Words

Jason Guriel September 15, 2011 At Poetry Idol, contemporary verse is very much alive—at least when it’s onstage.

The other night, your correspondent found himself—geographically, but spiritually, too—in Toronto’s financial district. It was rush hour, and professionals in suits and business casual were streaming past. Only one busker (on alto sax) and a few scalpers held their ground; the rest were off to other pleasures: home, dinner, Cougar Town. You can feel a little silly in such bustling company, especially when you’re on your way to a poetry reading. But you can feel a little superior, too, like the speaker in that great report of rush hour, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by Walt Whitman: a …

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Tenth Anniversary: Spring

ISSUE 43 Tenth Anniversary: Spring 2012

online content:

also in this issue:

  • Face the Music

    by Tim Falconer How can someone who passionately loves music also be a terrible singer? Tim Falconer takes up voice lessons—and discovers the surprising science of tone deafness.

  • The Big Job

    by Deni Y. Béchard As a teenager, Deni Y. Béchard went to Vancouver to live with his father, an ex-con with a penchant for telling tall tales. He met a man desperate to forget the past.

  • The Homesickness of Astronauts

    by Johanna Skibsrud "She felt a great sadness. She would remember next to nothing of this, even soon."
  • [see full issue contents]