New Poetry 2023

Poetry

OUR FIRST FEATURE of the new year is a good one– Four Prose Poems by talented Toronto musician and poet Tom Preisler. The poems are set in Toronto, at nighttime. They’re first of a two-part set of writing from Tom for New Pop Lit, the second set to appear in a few weeks.

What distinguishes Tom Preisler’s work from the crowd is its ability to convey atmosphere and mood. With a phrase or a word, the reader is put into the world, the moment. Simple yet evocative. “Do more with less!” we’re often told. Here’s a writer who does it. His edge is that he creates in more than one art form– which enhances the quality of both.

If today’s literary scene is to be transformed– we believe it will be– it will be through new writers like Tom Preisler.

Disconnected Love

Poetry

WHAT IS LOVE?

We all want it but we’re not always sure how to get it. Many times we come close– then disconnect. Things don’t work out for any number of reasons.

With Valentine’s Day upon us, we present a poem which might be about disconnected love– “When It’s All Said and Done” by Aqeel Parvez.

If you haven’t found real love for yourself yet, keep trying! It’s out there. In the meantime, read our new poetry feature.

early morn, fairly warm, we subsist as two,
separate entities, delicacy, fallen leaves.

What's the Future of Poetry?

What’s the Future of Poetry?

Poetry

IN WHAT DIRECTION is poetry going? Is its future visual or audio? Or a combination of both?

WHICH of the many new poetry movements– flarf, sedserio, instapoetry, neo-modernist– will be able to sustain itself?

WE WILL be examining this question in more depth in future months– as well as re-examining the greatest poet of them all. “That is the question.” In the meantime we present as our feature two new works of visual poetry by Audrey Rhys. Two amazingly 2018 poems, the first about scholarship and the academy, the second about police and the seeming chaos of our world– or maybe it’s just in our minds. Hyper-intelligent poetry which makes you THINK! Read it.

FIRE, FIRST NAT’L BANK
OFFICER DOWN ON MAIN
WACO RERUNS, BRING A TANK
savor it in my brain

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ALSO be sure to keep up on our ongoing and always-terrific Open Mic.

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(Painting: “The Fortune Teller” by Jehan Georges Vibert.)