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Ruth Daniell

~ poet, writer, editor, teacher

Ruth Daniell

Tag Archives: poems

Two New Poems in Talking about Strawberries All the Time

04 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Poetry, Publications

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Dear bird, Malcolm Curtis, poems, poetry, Talking About Strawberries All the Time, working manuscript

strawberryI have two new poems up in the inaugural issue of Talking About Strawberries All the Time. Have a read, if you like! The poems, “Today I can’t be sad” and “August 27:” are from my current working manuscript (entitled Dear bird,). My thanks to editor Malcom Curtis for the publication.

Keep watching for updates about my debut poetry collection, The Brightest Thing, which will be published with Caitlin Press early in 2019.

The Games We Play exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery runs from June 24 to September 17

10 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Events & Appearances, Poetry, Visual Art

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games, Kelowna, Kelowna Art Gallery, Mario Kart, painting, poems, poetry, The Games We Play, video games, Visual Art, watercolour, watercolour painting

The Games We Play_Poster

I have new work appearing in The Games We Play, a juried exhibition that will be showing all summer at the Kelowna Art Gallery. The opening reception is happening on Friday, June 23 and I would love to see you there–the event is free to members and to guests by invitation. You can RSVP to the Facebook event if you plan to come to the party, but of course you can visit the art gallery at any time this summer (through to September 17) to view the poems, paintings, installations, and all the other excellent art by my fellow exhibitors!

The Games We Play is an exhibit about all kinds of games, from video games to board games, party games to nursery games… The gallery has brought together artists from game and animation studios, visual art programs, and local art communities to create a diverse celebration of games and how they influence us! (You can learn more about the exhibition from the art gallery’s website.)

My work for the exhibit is a suite of four poems, which I’ve illustrated with watercolour. I’m really excited to be a part of this exhibition. If you’ve ever wanted more poetry and art about Mario Kart, this is your chance!

New work in new Spring 2017 issue of Grain Magazine

03 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Poetry, Publications

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Adam Pottle, Folk Tale Type 425C, Grain - The Journal of Eclectic Writing, Grain Magazine, happily ever after, On Learning a Girlfriend Started Cutting Again, poems, poetry, prose poetry, Ruth Daniell, the fairy tale poetry manuscript, Winnie Truong

I’ve got two new poems in the newest issue of Grain: “Folk Tale Type 425C” and “On Learning a Girlfriend Started Cutting Again.” In very different ways, both poems explore the way that love, even good love, can fail to meet our expectations of “happily ever after.”

Grain_Spring2017

Both of these poems happen to be particularly dear to me, and I’m really happy to see them in their first home in Grain–a journal that seems especially generous towards work that veers out a little past the expected (I’m still grateful they published my seven-page-long mermaid poem a couple years ago). My thanks to current editor Adam Pottle for his support this time round. I encourage you all to check out the entire issue–it’s full of excellent writing, and I’m also very partial to Winnie Truong’s visual art, which is featured throughout the issue. (By happy coincidence, Winnie Truong was also the cover artist of another lit mag I’ve been published in–the first issue of Canthius!)

Two Poems in Event Magazine Issue 45/2

01 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Poetry, Publications

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Event Magazine, happily ever after, Jane Campbell, Love and Paradise Lost, Paradise Lost, poem, poems, poetry, The Brightest Thing, the fairy tale poetry manuscript, Waiting for Spring or Something

EVENT 45/2 is now out and the issue contains two of my poems. Check it out!

event-magazine-45-2-fall-2016-front-cover
“Waiting for Spring, or Something” is a poem about depressingly rainy winters, faith, doubt, teaching children, and the nature of happiness on earth. “Love and Paradise Lost” is about angels and sex. Both poems are from my working manuscript about fairy tales and the contemporary search for happily ever after. (If you’re keeping track, that’s a separate manuscript from the one about birds.)

The issue also has non-fiction by the wonderful Jane Campbell (who performed at Swoon once upon a time). I’ve also loved many of the other stuff I’ve read in the issue so far, so definitely pick up your copy and give it a read.

2015 Synaesthesia Magazine Poetry Competition finalist

04 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Announcements & News

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Annabelle Carvell, Carlotte Eden, Daily Bread, EAT, Mark Cugini, poems, poetry, poetry competition, poetry contest, Synaesthesia Magazine

Synesthesia Magazine contest

Photograph (via Synesthesia Magazine) by Kelley Bozarth

The kind folks at Synaesthesia Magazine have just announced the finalists for their 2015 Poetry Competition, and I’m honoured to be included on their list!

Synaesthesia Magazine is a growing magazine based out of the UK of which I am a really big fan; they do really wonderful, gorgeous things with design, in addition to publishing good writing.  You may remember that they recently published one of my short stories, and I’m pretty pleased to be recognized by them for poetry, too (and by their guest judge, Mark Cugini)!

The winners of the poetry contest will be revealed in July. In the meantime, you can go read their most recent issue, EAT, including my fiction “Daily Bread.” The founding editors Annabelle Carvell and Carlotte Eden are two of the nicest gals ever, and truly passionate about putting together a beautiful magazine, and definitely worth supporting with your clicks and shares!

Synesthesia Magazine logo2

Artwork (via Synaesthesia Magazine) by Meghan Niittynen

The City Series from Frog Hollow Press: Number One – Vancouver

26 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Announcements & News, Poetry, Publications

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Amanda Siebert, April 17:, chapbook, chapbook publication, Frog Hollow Press, Laura Ritland, Michael Prior, place and poetics, poems, poetics, poetry, publication, Shane Neilson, Sugar le Fae, The City Series: Number One - Vancouver, Vancouver, You're living in a big city now

Frog Hollow Press Vancouver

I’m so pleased that two of my poems have been chosen to help represent Vancouver in the first volume of Frog Hollow Press’s new chapbook series, The City Series. Edited by the excellent writer Michael Prior and with cover photography by Amanda Siebert, it is a well-curated and gorgeous little book! The poems all reflect or engage in Vancouver in some way, and the city’s influence is keenly felt. My own poems within the book are “You’re living in a big city now” and “April 17:” and I must admit there is mention of Vancouver’s famous rain!

I hope you’ll consider coming out to the Vancouver launch (TBA) and/or ordering yourself a copy of the book from the Frog Hollow Press catalogue. Frog Hollow Press is releasing just 150 limited editions, so you’ll want to call dibs quickly! I’ll post again as soon as the Vancouver launch date is set!

Forthcoming Spring & Publications – part II

10 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Announcements & News, Poetry, Publications, Reading Recommendations

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Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Canlit, daffodil, fairy tale, fairy tales, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth, January is terrible so far, Kayla Czaga, Laura Ritland, love, Love and IKEA II, Maria Tatar, poem, poems, poetry, publication, Red Rose Review, spring, The Maynard, The Turnip Princess

IMG_7506I’ve recently had a couple other confirmations trickle down, and I am so excited to tell you that I have two poems forthcoming in The Maynard. They’ve previously published some of my favourite writers/people, including Laura Ritland and Kayla Czaga, and I’m thrilled to become part of their ranks. Look for “Love and IKEA II” and “January is terrible so far” in the middle of April. Poetry month!

Even sooner than that, you will be able to read my poem “Beauty” in Rose Red Review, a beautiful fairy tale-themed online journal. The new issue, featuring my work, will go live on the first official day of spring!

Turnip Princess Book CoverSpeaking of fairy tales, has anyone else been reading the new collection of Bavarian fairy tales by Franz Xaver von Schönwerth? Maria Tatar recently translated the tales into English and I have been savouring the wonderful and strange stories. If you’re looking for some wild new reading, I definitely recommend The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales!

Forthcoming Spring & Publications

06 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Announcements & News, Fiction, Poetry, Publications

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Another Poem Featuring a 1994 Toyota Tacoma, Arc, Arc Poetry Magazine, BC, Canlit, Colossal, Daily Bread, fiction, Jeremy Stewart, poem, Poem Featuring a 1994 Toyota Tacoma, poems, poetry, Prince George, short fiction, short stories, short story, Sorrow Halved, Synaesthesia Magazine, Vending Machine Press

IMG_7546Arc Poetry Magazine bannerI’m excited to announce that I have work forthcoming in Arc Poetry Magazine! Look for “Sorrow Halved: Parts I & II” in issue 77 this summer. Arc is one of the best and most-respected lit journals out there, and I am absolutely over the moon to have work published by them!

I also have a couple newly-polished poems coming out in issue 5 of Dreamland, a new journal based out of my hometown of Prince George, BC, and edited by Jeremy Stewart. Have you ever wanted to read poetry about old trucks? Watch out for “Poem Featuring a 1994 Toyota Tacoma” and “Another Poem Featuring a 1994 Toyota Tacoma.”

Also keep an eye out for new fiction! I have two short stories coming out this spring: “Daily Bread” with Synaesthesia Magazine and “Colossal” with Vending Machine Press.

It’s an astonishing early spring here in Vancouver. My crocuses and tulips are poking out, my hydrangeas have new green, and my daffodils have already bloomed! I am particularly delighted that it looks as though my young blueberry bushes will bear fruit this year.

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The Writer Tag and Blog Hop, or: My writing process, complete with a robin in the garden

09 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Interviews, The Writing Life

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amwriting, blog hop, Canlit, garden, gratuitous bird photos, Jeffrey Ricker, Joelle Barron, poems, revision, robin, secrets, sharing secrets, sharing stories, Sierra Skye Gemma, stories, The Brightest Thing, writing process

I find it endlessly fascinating to know about other writers’ processes, so I am pretty pleased with the current Writer Tag and Blog Hop that’s going on! I get to read everyone else’s trade secrets and decide which ones I want to steal–and so do you!

You also get to look at some photos of a robin who’s been hanging around my garden this fall, so that you are not intimidated by a wall of text. Some of my best writing days recently have included looking out into my garden and seeing this little guy. Having natural light is really important to me as a writer, and I feel super blessed that my writing desk faces a window into our garden.

Some of my best writing days recently have included looking out into my garden (my writing desk is directly facing our patio windows) and seeing this robin.

Look at how regal he is next to one of my surviving petunias!

I like, too, that this blog hop not only lets me collect new ideas from other writers, but also makes me consciously articulate the way my own process works: so thank you to my dear friend, Jeffrey Ricker, for asking me to participate!

If you don’t know Jeffrey yet, then I can happily introduce him to you as one of the kindest guys I know. He’s the type of guy who pretends to hate humanity but only because he cares so genuinely about all the horrible things that happen on this earth and wishes it would just stop. It’s this unapologetic earnestness and bravery that I love most about his work. A recent Lambda Literary Fellow and MFA graduate from UBC, Jeffrey is a two-time novelist and a wonderful short story writer. Jeffrey is an excellent consumer of poutine and chocolate (separately, of course), and although he’s back living in St. Louis he still helps out with Swoon, my Vancouver-based reading series on love and desire.

Because so much of the fun of this blog hop is that it’s such a great opportunity for readers and writers to learn about new writers, I’m tagging another good friend, Joelle Barron. She read at last April’s Swoon event and recently won the Malahat Review’s Open Season Award for Poetry, although she also writes spellbinding fiction and nonfiction. I should probably stop defining my friends based on what they like to eat and drink but I still find Joelle’s excellent taste in tea and cookies to be noteworthy. I’m looking forward to reading Joelle’s musings on the writing process so I can adopt any of her writing habits that involve the aforementioned cookies and tea.

Now, onto the questions!

Robin 3

1.) What am I working on?

I’m working on several things at once, with varying amounts of productivity. My poetry manuscript, The Brightest Thing, dramatizes devoiced princesses from fairy tales and explores the challenges of the contemporary search for true love. I began the manuscript as my MFA thesis (although, if I’m honest, it was germinating for much longer than that) and I’ve been fiddling with it for a good year since then, so it is pretty much complete, with the exception of a couple difficult poems I want to finish writing to fill in some gaps.

I also keep writing all these other poems that I don’t think I’ll be folding into The Brightest Thing, so I suppose I’m collecting those poems for my second collection.

Right now, though, I am especially busy with an exciting, secret collaborative project that I can’t tell you about yet! But trust me, it is really exciting.

Strike that. Make that two secret exciting projects. Yikes! When I write it all out like this, I understand why I feel like I’m so busy all the time. And excited!

I’m also slowly gathering together a collection of children’s poetry and even more slowly plugging away at some fiction. With so many projects competing for my attention, I am never bored.

2.) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I agree with friends Jeffrey Ricker and Seirra Sky Gemma that this question is a bit pompous-sounding, and I’m not quite sure how to answer it. The bulk of my work is in the tradition of contemporary lyric poetry. I’m quite interested in narrative. I also write a lot of dramatic monologues. I’m really engaged by unique or unheard voices, and I’m especially compelled by strong imagery. I love metaphor. If my work is different from others of its genre, I’d like to think that it is especially honest. I’ve been told before that my work is emotionally honest, and I would like to believe that that is true, because it’s important to me.

Robin 4

3.) Why do I write what I do?

Because I want to, because I need to, because I want to help make the world a better place and writing is the best way I know how. It sounds hopelessly naïve and romantic of me, but I want to help spread the word that love—despite how perverted it can get, how it can be twisted and harmful—is above all a positive, healing force. I want to expose the fact that the fairy tale isn’t true—and that it is. (You can actually read more about some of my preoccupations with writing in my Q&A with CBC about my dramatic monologue, “Ophelia, Attending a Garden on the Ground Gloor of a Vancouver Apartment Building.”)

Another big reason why I write is probably because my mother used to read to me and my brother every night before bed, and I have yet to encounter an activity that’s quite as much fun as sharing stories with others.

4.) How does my writing process work?

I’m not quite sure how my writing process works. Sometimes, I just feel in the mood to write and without having a specific idea that urges me to sit down at my desk I can sit down and just start writing. Most of the time, though, I’ll get an idea for a poem—an image, a turn of phrase, a glimpse of a memory—and then I’ll jot it down (in a little palm-sized notebook I carry with me everywhere) and attend to it as soon as possible. I try to listen to what the poem (or story) wants, though: sometimes, I’ll get the idea for something but I’ll somehow know it’s not ready for the actual putting-words-on-the-page stage and so I’ll wait for weeks or sometimes months and let it gestate. I do quite a bit of my composing inside my head; road trips are really good for this. I love being a passenger in a car, staring out the window, connecting images and ideas together.

Oh my goodness how can you not love this little guy? That little feather sticking out? Too cute.

Oh my goodness, how can you not love this little guy? That little feather sticking out? Too cute.

When I am actually sitting in front of my computer and writing something, I prefer to work in long, uninterrupted periods of times. A full, commitment-free day is best, or an evening home alone when I’ve already eaten dinner and the dishes are done and there are no daily chores competing for my attention. Though I’m usually most productive if I’m home alone (despite how much I love having my sweetie around), I do like having music to keep me company. 99% of my writing is done with music in the background. I’m a little embarrassed about this because I’d like to say that I can only write to really classy instrumental music but that is not true: I have a bunch of dorky, thematic playlists I’ve made for myself that speak to particular places and people and moods and the weather. Often I consciously play music that has a similar emotion to what I am writing… I have a teen angst playlist that I’ll put on if I’m writing adolescent characters, an achey mix that makes me think of rain and another for sunshine days. I’ve got a playlist for my hometown that has a healthy amount of country music on it. I’m not distracted by music lyrics as long as I’m not listening to anything too peppy. I don’t like obtrusive music, music that cannot be ignored. I like listening to music that I can slip into and out of at will. This is why I find it slightly embarrassing to admit: if I’m listening to music that can be easily ignored, then I’m probably not listening to especially good music, am I? All my musically-talented friends (not to mention my famous opera singer sister-in-law) would probably be really unimpressed with my bad taste if they knew!

Robin 6Another confession: although I do most of my composing on the computer, I still need to have a connection to the actual page, and especially in revision I print off drafts and start the revision process by marking up the pages. I also read my work out loud a lot. When a poem or story is fresh, I will often keep a copy of it with me at all times and then whenever I go for a walk by myself, I bring out the page and read it out loud, fine-tuning. I also read the work out loud a lot during its initial composition. I put my nerdy writing playlists on pause and try to find the music in the piece itself. It may be my speech arts training influencing me here, but regardless I think it’s important for a piece of writing, especially poetry, to maintain a connection to its oral literature roots.

Finally, yes, I usually keep a bar of dark chocolate by my desk. And if my sweetie is at home on a day when I’m working, he’s conscripted to fetch me tea.

Come out to WORD Vancouver Festival on Sunday, September 28!

17 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by Ruth Daniell in Events & Appearances, Poetry, Reading

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Emily Carroll, fairy tales, festival, Geek Girls, geeky, Meghan Bell, poems, ROOM Magazine, upcoming event, Vancouver literary event, WORD Vancouver, WORD Vancouver Festival

It’s less than two weeks until WORD Vancouver, and I’m so excited to share my poems with you. If you’re excited about the festival, too, there are a couple things you can do to spread your excitement, especially if you are favourably inclined to social media. You can like the WORD Vancouver page on Facebook and follow the festival on Twitter at @WORD_Vancouver. Please consider RSVPing to the event on Facebook, because it makes me squee with happiness when I see so many people plan to spend their September weekend supporting fellow readers, writers, magazines and book-makers of all kinds.

If you’re on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #wordvan14 to spread the word about the specific presentations you’re excited about (e.g. mine).  And hey, you can even tweet at me directly; I’ll probably reply and retweet!

Room 37.3 & WORD 2014

I’m performing at WORD for Room Magazine, and they now have a lovely run-down of Room‘s events at WORD, including the one with yours truly. Check out their blog post here: Catch Room at WORD Vancouver on Sept 28 in three different ways.

My contributor copies of Room Magazine‘s Geek Girls issue arrived a couple days ago, and let me tell you, I am so proud to have my work in this magazine! (Can I just say: ee! I’m in the same magazine as Emily Carroll!) I am especially excited about this publication because I’ve been dreaming of having my work featured in Room for years, and it seems especially appropriate that it happened for me in their Geek Girls issue. I’m married to a video game designer/devourer of comic books, and I’m loved by a bunch of other wonderful people who have helped to expand my geekiness beyond the realms of books and fairy tales (Thanks, Matt, you were right–Doctor Who is awesome!). Meghan Bell, in her editor’s letter for the issue, says,

This issue of Room is a love letter to unremitted, unrestrained, and often unfashionable enthusiasm.

She goes on to say that it wasn’t “[her] interests that defined [her] as a geek, it was the degree of [her] passions.”  This resonates with me. I love how unapologetic these artists are for loving what they love. I’m contentedly geeky about many things that I love, and I love many people who are geeky, too.

I think you’ll like my poems, “Fairy Tales I” and “Fairy Tales II.” You can read them when you pick up a copy of Room from your local bookstore, order online, or–even better–pick up a copy of Geek Girls from the Room Magazine‘s Table at WORD Vancouver any time on Sunday, September 28. They’re going to be at table T10b on Homer Street (check it out on this map). They’re going to have a special WORD subscription deal, too.

Alright, friends, once again: the Room Magazine event will take place at 12:20pm on Sunday, September 28 as part of the festival’s Magazine Words programming and I want to see your lovely faces there! Come and say hi. Tell me what you’re geeky about.

For my original post about WORD Vancouver, scroll down or click here. For my original post about Room‘s Geek Girls issue, click here!

← Older posts

The Brightest Thing (Poems)

Boobs (anthology)

Boobs: Women Explore What It Means to Have Breasts

Four Portraits (chapbook)

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Swoon Reading Series

Ruth Rhymes

Bolton Academy of Spoken Arts

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