| PROSODY at the café du coin,
By Jeff Bien, published by Quarry Press Inc., P.O. Box 1061, Kingston,
ON K7L 4Y5I arranged to meet Jeff Bien one Tuesday afternoon
to discuss poetry. "The reading of a poem is not just entertainment.
It is communion. In that sense it is always the same audience—a heart
to be reached". We spent two hours talking about poetry, poets
and writing, and, if the gods are kind, I will repeat the occasion as soon,
and as often as possible.
Bien is a man whose body and life can barely contain his intelligence. "Our obligation as a species has changed. The human condition does not change... How does one deconstruct love, grace, mystery." He lives in a small bungalow in a small town, safe from the busyness of city life, and from other poets. "There is magic in the ordinary, redemption in the ordinary occasions of grace." I entered his book a little fearful that his intellect would leave me behind, but I needn’t have worried. His poetic structure is so sound one is never lost, never far away from revelation. There is such authority here, such profound beauty of expression, as if intellect itself were the jewels, and each reader were invited to take what s/he can from the treasure laden pages. "If you are in the presence of love you can write a love poem", he told me. And so I looked for one. But. Bien’s poetry is a large flag unfurling with majestic grace over a landscape of both wild and cultivated passion, that is epic in proportion, and bound for posterity, not the tender pages of a letter to a lover. There are no small interiors here, no kitchen counters or kisses stolen behind the shed. His is a world of ‘ages where only the dead may speak;’ of martyrs, war heroes and courtesans. I did not find the intimacy of a love poem, although I managed to get a lot of mileage out of some of his lines: The way your hair falls back / is its own story. (p.54) Love finally is cause / descends upon us like sky, / revelation. / Finds us thus, / naked / and yearning. (p.98) Bien left a few days after our conversation, for a book tour starting in Paris, where he will be feted by dignitaries and fans throughout Europe, as he launches both Prosody at the café du coin and America & other poems, also published by Quarry Press. He will be returning to Europe late in the fall to read, perform and celebrate translations of the work. A review by allison comeau
One the events I want to mention which is up-coming. This event is will be occurring over 9 days, September 5-13 of 1997. This will be the first Ottawa International Writers Festival and will feature 24 Canadian Writers and 16 Irish writers. To be held at National Arts Centre here in the nation's Capital. This event will be covered by CBC Radio, TVO, Bravo!, and CBC Television. The organizers have as part of the festival there will be a night called The Razor's Edge bring writers from the local scene and presented by Spout and TREE (TREE readers will be John Barton, Stephanie Bolster, jwcurry, & Mark Frutkin) Literary series and well showcase nine writers. There will be a film called The History Of Irish Baseball, a BBC film dealing with the effect of paramilitary violence on freedom of speech. There will be a night called The Pub Crawl and will be hosted by local Best-selling author Phil Jenkins, who will take you on a literary tour of pubs, where tour goers will be treated to an evening of readings and anecdotes. Finally, there will be The Evening of Irish revelry, with awarding-winning Irish poet and musician Ciaran Carson. For more info. Call 662-3844 b stephen harding
Managing Editor
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1997 © graffito