Spoken Word - Filter by Adrien Smart

The second entry in Verbal Vol. 1, a digital anthology of spoken word poetry, is "Filter" by Blasted Tree contributor Adrien Smart.  Adrien a writer of poetry, short fiction, and screenplays living in North Vancouver. "Filter" takes on the cultivation of personas, social hierarchy, and addiction : "I'm the ecstatic truth / The glazing of the facts." Adrien Smart's poem can be heard (and read) on The Blasted Tree, and you can download all of Verbal Vol. 1 as it becomes available, one track per week throughout spring, on Bandcamp.

LISTEN TO FILTER

If this is your first listen to Verbal Vol. 1, be sure to read the Forward by Blasted Tree editor Kyle Flemmer for a quick introduction to spoken word and the challenge of "publishing" literary audio.

Spoken Word - ProjectAwake - 3.02 AM by Audrey Lane Cockett

Welcome to the first installment of Verbal Vol. 1, The Blasted Tree's digital spoken word anthology! This week we're featuring the lyrical stylings of Audrey Lane Cockett, a Calgary-based spoken word poet, soundscape artist, arts organizer, and park naturalist. "ProjectAwake - 3.02 AM" is set to soothing music by SHIGETO, and emphasizes breathing and an interconnectivity with the world. Audrey Lane's poem can be heard (and read) on The Blasted Tree, and you can download all of Verbal Vol. 1 as it becomes available, one track per week for the next eight weeks, on Bandcamp.

LISTEN TO PROJECTAWAKE - 3.02 AM

Be sure to read the Forward to Verbal Vol. 1 by Blasted Tree editor Kyle Flemmer for a quick introduction to spoken word and the challenge of "publishing" literary audio.

Spoken Word Anthology - Verbal Vol. 1

Tomorrow begins our eight-week series on Canadian spoken word poetry, Verbal Vol. 1, showcasing audio recordings of poetry performances delivered all across the country. Each track is unique, from the topic chosen to the method of recording - some are even set to music! The series forward, penned by Blasted Tree editor Kyle Flemmer, provides a quick introduction into spoken word and the challenge of "publishing" literary audio. Verbal Vol. 1 opens on Sunday, March 25, 2018 with a track by Calgary-based artist Audrey Lane Cockett, and will proceed one track per week throughout spring. Be sure to check back every Sunday for a new adventure into spoken word!

LISTEN TO VERBAL VOL. 1

Poetry Booklet - Pushing, pulling by Katerina Sevelka

Katerina Sevelka's second poem on The Blasted Tree continues her exploration of place, tone, image, and perspective. Like the painters invoked in Pushing, pulling, Sevelka employs "subjects at once alien and familiar" like wisps of forgotten memory, "(a Canadian vernacular.)." 4.25" x 2.75" folded booklets were produced in a limited edition of 50 copies, get yours from The Blasted Tree's Store.

READ PUSHING, PULLING

Poetry Leaflet - Our twigs (just in case) by Simon Brown

Our twigs (just in case) is one of two new poems by Simon Brown, both written in a fragmented two-column form which encourages multiple readings. This poem is pointed as a shiv, while Brown's second entry, When fleeing was it, is soft as a cloud. A limited edition of 50 folded leaflets featuring Our twigs (just in case), 4.25" x 5.5" on granite-grey paper, is now available from The Blasted Tree's Store.

READ Our twigs (just in case)

Poetry Longsheet - Lakes and Highways by Katerina Sevelka

Within the contemplative scenery of Katerina Sevelka's poem, encounter the reflexive connections we form between people and places, the memory of a dream, like great lakes in a cup. Lakes and Highways is now available from The Blasted Tree's Store in a limited edition of 4.25" x 11" longsheets, each printed on antique grey Classic Laid paper.

Read Lakes and Highways

A special edition of 100 longsheets was produced to commemorate the inaugural Canzine Calgary, held Saturday, November 4th, and the Memorial Park Library. 50 copies of Lakes and Highways were included in filling Station magazine's small press issue Fall 2017.

Poetry Leaflet - pattern by psw

Produced on a typewriter with both a blue and black ink ribbon, pattern is The Blasted Tree's second print media outing by the German visual poet, psw. This attractive and colorful broadside has been made into a limited edition of fifty 8.5" x 3" folded leaflets, copies of which are now available from The Blasted Tree's Store.

View pattern

For more amazing visual poetry, abstract graphics, artist books, and print ephemera made by psw, make sure to check out the PSW Gallery online!

FLASH HAIKU - Jesse Anger

The winner of The Blasted Tree's second flash haiku contest, held on Facebook earlier this week, is Jesse Anger! We've published his haiku into 2.5" x 2.5" mini-leaflets in a limited run of 60 copies. Jesse's poem was selected for its unconventional structure, loading the last line with contemplative images that lend retroactive meaning to the first two. While we usually go for haiku that open up, this one zooms right in, a surprising move, and a turn in its own right.

BUY FLASH HAIKU: JESSE ANGER MINI-LEAFLET

Poetry Leaflet - Luster + Occult by Amy LeBlanc

Two poems in the form of dictionary definitions, each term is a nucleus encased in poet Amy LeBlanc's personal lexicon, memories, and associations. Featured together, these poems take on a dimension expressed though symbolic actions and taboo significance. 50 limited-edition 2.5" x 7.5" leaflets, printed on high quality granite-grey paper, are now available from The Blasted Tree Store.

READ Luster + Occult

Poetry Leaflet - Sex at Forty-Five by rob mclennan

Imagistic, rhythmic, and restrained, Sex at Forty-Five is rob mclennan's second poetry leaflet issued by The Blasted Tree. This short suite of fragmented poems are, like their subject matter, "Limbinal: / of snaking limbs." A limited edition of fifty 3.75" x 8.5" leaflets were produced using high quality granite-grey paper, available now from The Blasted Tree Store.

Read Sex at Forty-Five