Editor’s Notes

Happy Autumn Bywords Readers,

The fall is starting out colourfully with poems by Patricia Kathleen McCarthy, Gary Robinson, Nick Power, and Warren Layberry. The issue includes childhood memories of summer, the frozen portrait of Antartica, a reminder of the autumn murder of Ottawan, Ardeth Wood, and the colourful description of a child’s painting. All different subjects, yes. A range of styles and themes to go with the variety of autumn leaves.

Thank you to those poets and audience members who attended Moments, Not Monuments: Rembering John Newlove at the Ottawa International Writers Festival at the beginning of the month. The event was poignant and touching thanks to the readers and our musicians. We also initiated the John Newlove Poetry award. For more information go to the Newlove page. To see photos from the reading, please visit Pearl Pirie’s website: www.pagehalffull.com/humanyms.html.

We are busy attending small press fairs and holding our autumn launch of the Bywords Quarterly Journal. This will be available in stores shortly, and is filled with excellent poetry from emerging and experienced writers alike.

For those of you who are current or former Ottawa residents, students and workers, don’t forget to submit your poems to submissions@bywords.ca. And we are always looking for events to fill our online and printed calendar. Send them to events@bywords.ca. While I’m plugging: you can subscribe to the Bywords Quarterly Journal for the modest sum of $10. This years subscribers received the Newlove issue as a bonus. Check out the Quarterly Journal section of the site for more information.

Finally, a reminder that Bywords is an independent publication. We receive funding from sales, the private sector and the City of Ottawa. Our editorial board is composed of current and former University of Ottawa students, We need funds for the journal and calendar printing, and mail outs. If you’d like to donate money, you can send us a cheque and mail to Bywords, P.O. Box 69033, 320 Queen Street, Ottawa, ON K1R 7S0 or use Paypal.

Thank you to October’s selection committee: Joe Goski, Stéphanie Lafleur, Sarah Ruffolo, Betty Warrington-Kearsley, Genevieve Wesley and Christine Zadorozny.

I’m looking forward to meeting you all at fall readings around town. If you have any comments, questions, kudos or donations, please email me at editor@bywords.ca.

Amanda Earl