The Vehicule Poets _ Now

Douglas Barbour is a professor of English at the University of Alberta.
He is the author of Lyric/anti-lyric : Essays on Contemporary Poetry,
Breath Takes, and Fragmenting Body Etc.

Perhaps the most telling and ironic fact about this new anthology is
that it had to be published by The Muses’ Company. As George Bowering
tells us in his witty introduction, the seven poets here gathered first
in the then new Véhicule Gallery, and started Véhicule Press way back
when, in the mid-1970s, Endre Farkas, Artie Gold, Tom Konyves, Claudia
Lapp, John McAuley, Stephen Morrissey, and Ken Norris represented a new
active poetry scene in Montreal. In 1979, they published a collective
anthology, The Vehicule Poets. Though they have gone their various ways
since then, their work continues to demonstrate a wry, often sharp,
refusal to join the mainstream that is now represented by Véhicule
Press. The Véhicule Poets Now marks the 25th anniversary of that book.

Not all the selections in this anthology are new; many of those from
Artie Gold appeared some time ago. But for the most part, The Véhicule
Poets Now offers readers an opportunity to catch up with their recent
writing. Claudia Lapp, for example, who used to write delightful
shamanistic romps, has returned to the U.S. Northwest, where she writes
angry rants against America’s wars against both other countries and
the environment. Who can blame her? Stephen Morrissey, whose early work
achieved a dense and moving obscurity, now writes striking poems of
memory, both personal and tribal. Artie Gold’s work maintains the kind
of wit he took from Frank O’Hara and made his own. Indeed, all the
poets have grown, continued experimenting with poetic possibilities, and
refused to fall into a stale pattern.

For readers who haven’t been able to keep up with these poets as they
moved out and away and published with small presses elsewhere, or those
who might want to find out just who these poets are, this is an
entertaining and provocative anthology. Each poet has something
interesting to offer, and there are plenty of poems that invite a second
reading. This volume is a worthy invitation to get to know these seven
writers better.