Some extraordinary poetry collections are coming soon from publisher McClelland & Stewart.
Canadian poetry releases
Poetry is deeply human and these Canadian poetry collections beautifully capture the essence of the human heart. Each book showcases the remarkable talent, depth, and diversity of these poets. And these collections will give pleasure and insights to readers who are seasoned poets and/or avid readers of poetry.
Unravel, by Tolu Oloruntoba
In his stunning poetry collection Unravel, Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize and Governor General’s Literary Award Tolu Oloruntoba invites readers on a poetic exploration of the cyclical philosophy of dismantling and remaking. Unravel is a moving and inventive rove through what could happen in the deconstructed aftermath of person and world.
Tolu was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, where he studied and practiced medicine. He is the author of two collections of poetry, The Junta of Happenstance, winner of the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize and Governor General’s Literary Award; and Each One a Furnace, a Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize finalist. Tolu gave the 2022 League of Canadian Poets Anne Szumigalski Lecture, and is a Civitella Ranieri fellow.
Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of Felon, says: "Unravel by Tolu Oloruntoba is a dope and fascinating collection of poetry that navigates the intersections of identity, migration, fatherhood, and history.
"A vivid poetic digging in the crates, it threads through the many layers of Whitman’s multitudes: the Nigerian self, riffing on memories of home; the immigrant self, navigating displacement and belonging; the father self, reflecting on his newborn daughter; and the literary self, referencing a rich reading history. Unravel lingers in the mind as a testament to Oloruntoba’s ability to blend intellect and emotion into unforgettable verse."
total, by Aisha Sasha John
total is the highly anticipated new collection from Griffin Poetry Prize finalist Aisha Sasha John, and it is a stunning celebration of Aisha’s precision and playfulness at its most astonishing.
Aisha is a performer, choreographer, and poet. She’s the author of I have to live, (McClelland & Stewart, 2017), which was a finalist for the Griffin Poetry Prize. THOU (Book*hug, 2014) was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry and the ReLit Poetry Award. Aisha is the author of The Shining Material (Book*hug, 2011), and the chapbook TO STAND AT A PRECIPICE ALONE AND REPEAT WHAT IS WHISPERED (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021).
As a dance artist, Aisha is interested in performance as a site of rehearsing being and in the power of reception as creative methodology. She’s the inaugural Affiliate Artist at Toronto Dance Theatre where her work The Pool, made with the TDT ensemble, will premiere in winter 2025.
American poet Vanessa Place on total: "The closest thing to thinking is the fragment of pure thought. The closest thing to pure poetry is the alignment of these fragments. In total, Aisha Sasha John thinks, purely, aligns, beautifully, turning the poetry to thought and the thought to poetry. Poetry that insists itself, that sings, asides, snaps, and screams, like all pure thought."
antibody, by Rebecca Salazar
antibody by Rebecca Salazar (she/they) is a powerful follow-up to the Governor General’s Literary Award shortlisted sulphurtongue. antibody is a protest, a whisper network, a reclamation of agency, and a ritual for building a survivable world.
antibody mobilizes body horror as resistance, refusing to sanitize the atrocities of sexual violence or to silence its survivors. Challenging myths of “perfect” victimhood, this collection honours the messy, rageful, queer, witchy, disabled, and kinky grief work of enduring trauma and learning to want to live.
Rebecca is a queer, disabled, and racialized Latinx writer currently living on the unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik people. Their first full-length collection sulphurtongue was also a finalist for the New Brunswick Book Awards, the Atlantic Book Awards, and the League of Canadian Poets’ Pat Lowther Memorial Award.
"Rebecca Salazar’s antibody is a future classic of feminist verse. This book is so many things at once and powerfully so: ode, elegy, lamentation, manifesto, rallying call, theoretical treatise. I envision this book not so much arriving to the scene of Canadian poetry as remaking it completely," poet Billy-Ray Belcourt, poet, scholar, and author of Coexistence
Forecast: Pretty Bleak, by Chris Bailey
Confessional, candid, and insightful, Forecast: Pretty Bleak by acclaimed poet Chris Bailey looks at life in rural Prince Edward Island. These poems explore climate change, work, family, love, and the idea that sometimes all you’ve got is hope for better weather and favourable winds tomorrow.
Chris is a graphic designer and commercial fisherman from PEI. He holds a MFA Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Chris’ writing has appeared in Grain, Brick, The Fiddlehead, Best Canadian Stories 2021, Best Canadian Stories 2025, and elsewhere. His debut poetry collection, What Your Hands Have Done, is available from Nightwood Editions. His piece, Fisherman’s Repose, was a winner of the 2022 BMO 1stArt! Award. Forecast: Pretty Bleak is his second poetry collection.
Author Lorna Crozier on Forecast: Pretty Bleak: "I grew up in Southwest Saskatchewan, about as far from a big body of water as you can get, yet these poems by a writer 'baptized by sea' speak in the voices of my prairie ancestors, rough and colourful and true. Few in this country write so eloquently and lyrically about the lives of working people. Chris Bailey throws his net of wonders from his father’s boat and pulls in all the tragedy and humour a life can hold. Often what gets caught are wise lines that break the heart: 'Maybe it’s best to learn the hard things young / and never forget.' I won’t forget this book."
Find these Canadian poetry releases at McClelland & Stewart. Thanks to the team at River Street Writing for this article!
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