Editor’s Notes

Happy November, Readers.

This month is an all male poets issue, and not surprisingly all the poems are about women. Serendipity and a blind vote really do lead to unusual coincidences at times.

Our reading in October at Chapters was well attended. Thanks to the readers from the fall Bywords Quarterly Journal and the fall quarter of Bywords.ca, Jesse, our singer/guitarist, the volunteers, Chapters staff and marketing manager, Jennifer Herman and our audience. Getting a chance to meet and befriend Bywords authors is one of my main pleasures as managing editor of Bywords. Please see the Local Scene for Catharine Carroll’s poem-by-poem account.

Our next reading will be Bywords Warms The Night III: an afternoon of poetry and music to warm the nights of the homeless. It will take place on Sunday, January 15, 2006 at 2:00 pm at Chapters on Rideau Street.

The Small Press Fair in late October was also well attended. It was great to chat with small press enthusiasts and to spread the gospel of Bywords once more, along with autumn leaves and Tootsie Rolls. We got to sit near our soul sister and kindred spirit press: The Dusty Owl, which is always a fun and zany time.

While my own schedule and health haven’t allowed me to take part in too many readings of late, I’ve been keeping up to date by reading Ottawa literary blogs. If you don’t have the chance to go to readings, or even if you do, check out the blog of John MacDonald and the Ottawa Poetry Newsletter where you’ll find descriptions and photos of literary events. You’ll find them by clicking on the Blogs link.

Bywords elves will be even busier than usual in the weeks leading up to Christmas, preparing our proposal to the City, organizing next year’s readings and choosing poems for the site and the winter Bywords Quarterly Journal, and making various upgrades to the site. Thanks to everyone who is supporting Bywords and the local literary community through submissions, subscriptions, purchasing small press publications from our store and attending literary events.

Finally a thank you to this month’s selection committee:

Jesse Ferguson, Kemisha Newman, Victoria Martin, and Betty Warrington-Kearsley

If you have comments, questions or virtual hugs, please e-mail me at editor@bywords.ca.

Amanda Earl