bill bissett, who recently celebrated his seventieth birthday, remains even in his “biblical years” Canada’s most exciting, innovative pioneer in the field of the written, spoken, performed, illustrated and sculpted word. No one over the past half century comes close to what bissett has accomplished in pushing the boundaries of language beyond what was imagined in the mid-twentieth century as their furthest possible horizon, and what is most astonishing is that he is still the vanguard of that movement in the “language arts”, not just in Canada, but around the world today. As a way of introducing new readers to the non-hierarchical orthography, syntax and breath-determined metric and cadence so essential to the construction of meaning in the performance scores of his narrative poetry, Talon asked bissett to tell his readers in his own inimitable and “raging” way what his latest book is “about”:
time is reelee abt how evreething is fleeting n how we deel with that n how deeplee we undrstand that awareness th jewels shine as our undrstandings th layrs n openings apertures n iris lens in or not n how manee narrativs reveel our paradoxikul n continualee shifting minds … a storee is what time is it … 4 ourselvs n our specees n how timeless th breth uv th galaxee n oftn ourselvs tho agen fleeting lyrik song chant philosophikal theologikul prsonal propheseez vizual n tanguld tangos … with th invisibul dansrs … n th 4tune tellrs shuffuling theyr decks how we yern 4 n letting go uv our games finding love n th chancs 4 savin th environment n our selvs
— bill bissett
“His poetry addresses the limitless discussion of the boundaries between the personal and the political.”
— National Post
bill bissett’s charged readings, which never fail to amaze his audiences, incorporate sound poetry, chanting and singing, the verve of which is only matched by his prolific writing career—over seventy books of bissett’s poetry have been published. whether paying tribute to his hometown lunaria or exercising his native tongue dissent, bissett continues to dance upon the cutting edge of poetics and performance works.
…we commune? Can we enjoy our sick prostrated time? What does it mean to occupy a land? What duty of …
…world are we going to get through these fearful times? An excerpt from Jigsaw: ‘“I have caused …
…these poems, which capture particular moments in time, may recur in any given present: sometimes what … surfaces is anxiety or anger, sometimes love or eagerness. Some poems bear witness; …
…in response to Webb’s paintings by her long-time friend Diana Hayes. Pick up a copy of A Dream in …
…These poems capture particular moments in time, butmay recur in any given present: sometimes … what surfaces is anxiety or anger, sometimes love or eagerness. Some poems bear witness; …
…Aubin on Vancouver’s 1979 Writing in Our Time series; critical writing, transcripts, and …
…the Creator of all things period Why is it every time I write Creator or God or kisêmanitow I feel the … like to recommend is Standing in a River of Time by Jónína Kirton . This lyric memoir explores the … with respect and the love stemming from a lifetime of spiritual healing and decades of sobriety. An … excerpt from “Rooted” in Standing in a River of Time: “turning towards the invisible I can see the … One by Bev Sellars is a powerful memoir about her time at St. Joseph’s Mission. Sellars breaks her …
…is Pride Month and this year especially, at a time when the rights of LGBTQIA2+ people are under … and refusing a gaze, paralysis in time of crisis – what non-doing undoes. From “A Study … people come and go, nature acts real or unreal, time passes inadvertently” Have you checked out … these poems, which capture particular moments in time, may recur in any given present: sometimes what … surfaces is anxiety or anger, sometimes love or eagerness. Some poems bear witness; …
…Wong’s journals span nearly his entire lifetime, detailing his early life in China, his decision … to immigrate to BC, his time as a tailor in New Westminster, and his … While Lin is still yet growing, I can afford the time now to build a real home to call mine. Perhaps it …