Part of TDR’s Behemoth Gargantuan Canadian Poetry in Review

Review by Stacey May Fowles

With Revolver, Kevin Connolly creates a dynamic, diverse and innovative collection that both impresses and winks slyly at his reader. Not only are the forty-five poems in the book a showcase for Connolly’s undeniable skill, together they act as proof positive that the poetic voice need not be bound by style, form, or subject matter. 

Each addition is radically different, as Connolly moves effortlessly through countless approaches, ideas and emotions, so much so that it might be easy to accuse him of showing off if the result wasn’t so damn deserving of our praise. On one page he simplifies the most complex questions into tasty bites of verse, and on the next he ecstatically rejoices over the mundane. 

No subject matter is unworthy, no form too complex. Whether it’s free ranting prose or tight rhyming verse, Connolly uses near acrobatic skill to prove he can do it all and do it all well. Revolver proves that Connolly is a poetic chameleon, charming his enraptured reader with many voices in myriad ways.