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oetry Review

APER HOTEL, by Rob Mclennan

m Mellish
Contributor

bn contemporary poetry be just
nything? I once believed it so.

‘The first poem in the Paper
fotel “only shooting stars make
ive” introduces the reader to

    
   
  
  
   
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 

Aclennan’s style. No capitaliza-
lon, the absence of some punctu-
tion, and intentionally mis-
elled words amounts to am aca-
emic nightmare. Words are left
ut, so while the mind lurches for
e cadence and imagery, the pro-
eribed needles with its presence.
Even with this impasse of mak-
g@ the reader change gears, I
hink it is necessary to read work
ke this, to get out of your house
ad go for a walk. It is necessary
) read between the lines, regard-
ss of what quorum dictates.
Mclennan’s works have the
evity of a haiku, with lots of
ad space. I would stumble on
> “horse or ashtray” factor—
hat is it about? It was not until
jomething to forget me by’,
ich may or may not be the tail

end of “home fragments”, that I
was used to the style and form of
Mclennan’s work.

Then I experienced “before we
lose what's left of the dark”—
which is my favourite of the col-
lection—finding myself crushed
by the terrible anxiety of the
piece. In another review, Paper
Hotel is said to be a collection of
love stories—I didn’t get that at
all. I saw this paramour of love
like a diseased mentor. Vacuous
relationships like “overcast skies”
atrophy from the core, and the
players are left mulling over the
remains.

He doesn’t make it easy. Just
when I think I have him by the
tail, Mclennan slips free with ser-
pentine ease. After that middle
section, my training comes back
and starts getting in the way.
Why does he leave “o” and “u”
out of words? Why does he spell

though as “tho”? He uses the &
for “and”, which is something I

do outside/online. When I start-
ed reading, I was reminded of
how I write on the Internet—
lowercase when I chat. Why does
he leave off the final punctuating
period sometimes?

What I missed in his shorter
poems is the backdrop—the
colours and the imagery get lost
in. I got caught by the informa-
“shambles” and
“ambrosia’, which stand out from

the others. But, again, this is only

tion of

so much conditioning on my
part—and I dug into the hearsay
of “I will love you at 8pm next
Tuesday”, “what he was thinking
on the last day’, and “pacific
flier”.

The final part of the Paper
Hotel is allocated to “old stan-
dards” where the artists’ hands
invoke the past in a series of
events ranging from ancient
Rome to the disco era.

The ideas in this book of

poems are sometimes too person-

  
  
  
 
   
 
   
 
   
  
   
    
    
 
   
    
   
 

ouglas College Authors:

iam Honsinger

P Editor

in Monday October 28, 2002, the beautiful and
ovocative collages of James Keary provided the
ackdrop for David Zieroth and Calvin Wharton
they read from their new books The Education
Mr. Whippoorwill: A Country Boyhood and
ree Songs by Hank Williams in the Amelia
ouglas Gallery. The free event launched the lat-
accomplishments of two of Douglas College's
eative writing instructors. The reading, which
just over an hour, provided a thoroughly
gaging cultural reprieve from the routines of
ademic schedules.

David Zieroth, an award-winning poet, has
blished six books of verse and has had his work
thologized in numerous journals. Zieroth’s
parture from poetry is a lyrical transition into
> prosaic landscape of the memoir. Sandra
dsell describes his work as “elegant and spare,
th a beautiful clarity.” The Education of Mr.
ippoorwill is written in four sections and
plores the author's relationship with the geogra-
y and culture of rural Manitoba, and the inter-
journey of self-realization. Zieroth’s reading
panated the same measured sensitivity one
buld expect from a poetry recital, drawing the
ener into the poignant world of his memories.
roth’s prose are steeped in a musical measure
hich further enhances the accessibility of the
onal nature of the memoir genre.

alvin Wharton has published a book of poet-

0k Launch and Reading Review

ry, a biography of Silken Laumann, and his fiction
and poetry have appeared in several literary jour-
nals and anthologies. His latest effort Three Songs
by Hank Williams is a collection of short stories
that unaffectedly visits the transitional moments
in his character's lives. These often open-ended
stories move with a deft connection to the geog-
raphy in which they take place. Wharton’s charac-
ters are diverse and likeable as they struggle to
navigate the internal shifts of the world’s influ-
ence. Wharton read a section from the second
story in his collection and finished with a spirited
and humorous short story about travelling to
Mexico with Friedrich Nietzsche. Three Songs by
Hank Williams is a road trip of sorts and the sub-
tle details and nuances of the characters transports
the reader into the backseat of the changing vehi-
cles that the author expertly drives.

Both David Zieroth and Calvin Wharton are
former editors of the literary journal Event, and
are just two of the committed and talented staff in
the Creative Writing Department at Douglas
College. The launch, which was graciously intro-
duced by Glenda Leznoff, provided an opportuni-
ty for staff and students to celebrate, share and
support the talents of these two authors as col-
leagues, instructors, and ultimately as profession-
al writers. Both books are for sale in the Douglas
College Bookstore and other purveyors of fine lit-

erature.

November 6, 2002

 

  

al to approach, and too cryptic in
their generality. But this is the
case with the world outside the
Paper Hotel. Who is to say, or dic-
tate, what contemporary poetry
is. It is either publish or perish.
Rob Mclennan has published—
and regardless of how much one
gets something from his work or

not, the act of making, creating

and labouring over the hot stove
of words—that is worth more
than gold. It poses what is more
important.

I can't say that I’m a fan. I des-
perately want to be embroiled by
the work—captivated—but the
production has a stand off quality
that is not so much flirtation, but
translation. I want to make the
leap, to enter the work. One is
pushed back, almost as though
hearing a rumour about someone
not known. Mclennan remains
outside of pop culture and cheap

entertainment.

   

 

 

Rob Mclennan

 

 

 

 

 

Calvin Wharton & David Zieroth

 

 

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