Un/inhabitedFront Cover
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    ISBN: 9781772012682 | Paperback

    240 pages | Pub. Date: 20200406
    5.5 W × 8.5 H × 1 D inches
    featured | Poetry | Bisac: POE015000
    Rights: WORLD

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Un/inhabited
By Jordan Abel
Contributions by Kathleen Ritter & Tracy Stefanucci

This is the second edition of award-winning Nisga’a poet Jordan Abel’s second collection of poetry, Un/inhabited, which maps the terrain of the public domain to create a layered investigation of the interconnections between language and land.

Abel constructed the book’s source text by compiling ninety-one complete western novels found on Project Gutenberg, an online archive of public domain works. Using his word processor’s Ctrl+F function, he searched the document in its totality for words that relate to the political and social aspects of land, territory, and ownership. Each search query represents a study in context (How was this word deployed? What surrounded it? What is left over once that word is removed?) that accumulates toward a representation of the public domain as a discoverable and inhabitable body of land.

Featuring essays by Project Space founder Tracy Stefanucci and independent curator Kathleen Ritter – the first pieces of scholarship on Abel’s work – Un/inhabited reminds us of the power of language as material and invites us to reflect on what is present when we see nothing.

Long-listed 2015 One of 15 best CanLit covers of 2015 (CBC Books)

"…the way in which he hypnotizes his audience is always astounding."
— Navneet Nagra, sadmag

"What is most interesting about Un/inhabited is the ambiguity that complicates the more obvious metaphors linking text with land and reading with resource extraction.”
— Canadian Literature

By Jordan Abel

Jordan Abel is a Nisg̱a’a writer from Vancouver. He is the author of The Place of Scraps (winner of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize), Un/inhabited, and Injun (winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize).

Read more about Jordan Abel

Contributions by Kathleen Ritter

Kathleen Ritter (born 1974) is an artist, curator, and writer based in Vancouver and Paris who focuses on contemporary art.

Read more about Kathleen Ritter

Contributions by Tracy Stefanucci

Read more about Tracy Stefanucci

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news | 2020-04-07
The 2nd edition of Jordan Abel's Un/inhabited has arrived!

…poet Jordan Abel’s second collection of poetry, Un/inhabited , has arrived from the printer! Un/inhabited maps … the first pieces of scholarship on Abel’s work – Un/inhabited reminds us of the power of language as material … Mi’gmaq and settler descent. Pick up your copy of Un/inhabited today! …

news | 2016-07-14
Tonight in New York City, the Poets House Poetry Publication Showcase opens New York City

…Impeccable Regret by Judith Fitzgerald, Injun and Un/inhabited by Jordan Abel, Pound @ Guantánamo by Clint …

news | 2016-02-17
Jordan Abel’s new book is here!

…stands as a companion to Abel’s previous book, Un/inhabited , which was composed using similar methods and …

news | 2016-01-20
A look at what’s coming this spring

…Jordan Abel, a natural follow-up to last year’s Un/inhabited, is a long poem composed of found text from …

news | 2016-01-05
Best of 2015

…earlier poems of Fred Wah, and Jordan Abel’s Un/inhabited, are among CBC’s favourites. And now a few other … stick, the phrasing causes slaps or shivers.” Un/inhabited was also yesterday listed as one of 10 BC books …

news | 2015-12-08
CBC’s Best Books of 2015

…earlier poems of Fred Wah, and Jordan Abel’s Un/inhabited , are among CBC’s favourites. Hooray! …

news | 2015-04-24
We Have Liftoff! (Photos from Talon’s Spring 2015 Poetry Launch in Vancouver)

…in his mask in front of projected spreads from Un/inhabited Jordan Abel, the second reader, advised the … audience to approach his latest book, Un/inhabited ($24.95), as they might a map: rather than trying … against a backdrop of projections of spreads from Un/inhabited. In the words of one audience member, “poetry …

news | 2015-04-10
Horses Records’s Talonbooks

…Talon poetry titles, from Jordan Abel’s new Un/inhabited to Nikki Reimer’s recent DOWNVERSE , and other …

news | 2015-02-04
Q&Q Shouts Out to Meredith Quartermain and Jordan Abel

…short stories, I, Bartleby , and Jordan Abel’s Un/inhabited . Pauline Johnson, Robin Blaser, Daphne Marlatt, … Vancouver poet Meredith Quartermain. (source) Un/inhabited (Talonbooks), the second collection from Nisga’a … reading, and sociological groundwork.” (source) Un/inhabited is available now for $24.95. Watch for I, …

news | 2015-01-28
CBC’s “15 poetry collections to watch for in 2015”

…to get excited about in 2015, and Jordan Abel’s Un/inhabited has made the list! Read a brief introduction to … this book and see it CBC’s gallery. Un/inhabited is Abel’s second book, following upon his …