Some Lines of Poetry

For bpNichols 80th birthday, a selection of 80 pieces from his 1980s notebooks, an astounding trove of never-before-seen work. One of Canadas most beloved poets, bpNichol (19441988), left a huge legacy of poetry, prose, scripts, comics, and playful interrogation of language after his untimely passing in 1988. In celebration of what would have been Nichols eightieth birthday, Some Lines of Poetry gathers excerpts from Nichols journals across the 1980s to give a unique perspective on craft, process, and a writers life. Featuring works in progress, insight into Nichols thinking, previously unpublished prose and lyric, visual, and sound poems, Some Lines of Poetry documents Nichols apprenticeship to language and his playful daily exploration of the limits of writing. Lovingly edited by noted poet-scholars Derek Beaulieu and Gregory Betts, who provide an afterword contextualizing Nichols practice, Some Lines of Poetry is a map of hidden corners, a guidebook to poetic play, and a tribute to Nichols ongoing influence. "No other writer of our time and place was so diverse, attempted so much, and never lost sight of his intent." Michael Ondaatje