Editor's Notes

Greetings Dear Readers,

Charles and I are working on the February issue together on Valentine’s Day after an epic snow fall. I couldn’t think of a more loving and supportive thing to do than publish a new issue of Bywords.ca and share the work of our excellent contributors.

This month’s issue features poems of joy, trees, brittleness, friendship, and bicycles. I hope you enjoy the poetry.

In the latest Best Canadian Poetry anthology, editor and beloved local poet Bardia Sinaee discusses the advent of poems written by AI. He talks about the purpose of writing poetry. “I write poetry for the same reason other people dance: because it is fun and probably good for my heart. Great poems […] offer a recognition and mutual understanding I have not experienced outside of intimate conversation, and I write poetry because there is pleasure, value, and meaning in sharing this connection with others.” May you find pleasure, value and meaning in this shared connection in this and all our issues of Bywords.ca.

I have updated our guidelines, specifying that we do not consider poems written via Artificial Intelligence.

Thanks to our selection committee this month:

Maya Chorney
Sarah Kabamba
Andrew Lafleche
Margo Lapierre
Stephanie Mason
Kemisha Newman
Colin Quin
Jade Riordan
Marjorie Silverman
Carol A. Stephen
JC Sulzenko
Kuna Zero

If you have comments, suggestions, or a recipe for low-carb nutritious hors d’oeuvres, please feel free to e-mail me amanda@bywords.ca.

Amanda Earl
Managing Editor

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