Happy September!
After a great summer which included a two-month blogging break, I’m back.
One lovely summer surprise was an email from Stephen Kenned (former editor of the Testimony magazine and fellow poet). He told me about a new chapbook he had recently published and would I like a copy?
YES!
I Read Your Poems Out Loud came in the mail a little later. What a treasure!
The book is a collaborative effort by Stephen and his daughter Raechelle. Because they live continents apart, their communication—including poems they had and were writing—was by phone, email, etc. When Raechelle came home for a several week visit in the fall of 2023, they decided to publish this book.
Physically the book is a little piece of Kennedy family art. Under a tan cover, with green embossed lettering, the two halves of the book are typeset opposite each other with a ribbon of graphic art (by Stephen’s sons) flowing throughout, giving a sense of unity. The book is held together by green yarn, hand stitched by another daughter.
A graphic ribbon unites the two sections of the book. The green stripe down the middle image is green yarn — hand-stitching at the center of the book.
Stephen’s poems are about place—his home in Ontario—and memories of occasions and people. “The linden tree on Easter Sunday morning” was written on an anniversary of his mom’s death. “My father wrote his name on things” recalls the variety of tools and books that bear not only his dad’s signature but carry his essence:
“…remember him & weigh the ways
in which my father
wrote his name on things.”
Raechelle’s poems are about a different place—her current home in Australia and her relationships and life there. I was struck by how often rain and water figure in her writings. I could relate to the references to fires after our recent wildfire summers.
“I stop looking at the weather app while keeping half an eye on the fire map—both will be whatever they will be” – from 15.01.01.
I also enjoyed the naming of things particularly Australian that had me doing a little research: “Sheoak,” “Umbarra,” “eucalypt leaf,” “monkey gum,” “Bellbirds” to name a few.
The thought and care that went into this book recalls the excellence seen in Stephen’s earlier chapbook Humble Fare. These chapbooks remind me that there is more than one way to put together a collection of one’s writing that is, in its physical presence, also an object of elegance and beauty.
Stephen still has a few copies of I Read Your Poems Out Loud available for purchase ($15 + $3 postage CAD). Email him if you’re interested in obtaining one.
Violet Nesdoly 