Vintage 95, The League of Canadian Poets

Don Precosky teaches English at the College of New Caledonia and is the
co-editor of Four Realities: Poets of Northern B.C.

The 50 poems in Vintage 95 were culled by a panel of judges from
hundreds submitted by members of the League of Canadian Poets. The top
three, as selected by the panel are “The Stillbirth” by Catherine
Greenwood, “The Bruce Peninsula” by Sophia Kaszuba, and “On
Skye” by Neile Graham. Although all three poems are very good, my
favorites are “As a Stranger: Abuja, 1989” by Sylvia Adams, “The
Zen Master’s Wife” by Marianne Bluger, and “Reading(s)” by
Maureen Harris.

Overall, the collection is a fine one, but I have one minor complaint
(which perhaps has more to do with the prevailing fashion in Canadian
poetry than with the judges’ taste). Too many of the poems begin with
“I,” “me,” or “my” in the first line, placing the ego of the
writer front and centre. This first personitis makes for tiresome
reading. The book’s front-cover drawing shows two faces making eye
contact; a more accurate depiction could have shown a face looking at
itself in a mirror.