Editor’s Notes

Greetings Dear Readers,

The poems in our May issue attempt to communicate with an unknown “you” through letters, dreams, messages in bottles, and grace notes. I hope you enjoy the issue.

The weather is lovely. Lilacs have started to bloom and spread their fragrant scent into the air. The trees and fields are greening up. Song sparrows, goldfinches and blue jays are in full song. I love this time of year. I hope you are finding ways to enjoy it, including attending events, either in person or virtually and going to your local independent bookstore to pick up poetry collections. Here’s my suggestion for a downtown poetic wander. Begin at Perfect Books on Elgin, pick up a book, such as former Ottawa resident, Manahil Bandukwala's debut collection, Monument or But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves by Conyer Clayton or the book of smaller by rob mclennan. Or perhaps all three! Wander south a block or so to the Happy Goat, get a beverage to go. Cross the street to Minto Park. Read, sip and watch. That’s an ideal ramble for me.

Spring is festival season in the National Capital Region, with VERSeFest in March, the Ottawa International Writers Festival in early May, and the Wakefield Writers Festival toward the end of the month. On May 28, there will be a special remembrance of the late Stephen Heighton, a poet, fiction writer, troubadour who we had the misfortune to lose a year ago. Visit www.writersfete.com for more information.

Thanks to our selection committee this month:

Jesse Aubin
Chris Johnson
Sarah Kabamba
Margo Lapierre
Kemisha Newman
Jade Riordan
Sonia Saikaley
Jagjeet Sharma
Marjorie Silverman
Carol A. Stephen
JC Sulzenko

Thanks to all who have submitted and contributed poems, events for the calendar and news for the news section of Bywords.ca.

If you have questions, suggestions, comments or just want to chat, please e-mail me at amanda@bywords.ca.

Amanda Earl
Managing Editor

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