Jackknife Express

This little foldout is a collection of poetry from the Hideout Press gang in Kitchener, Ontario. Included are the winners and honourable mentions for a recent poetry contest in the categories of humour and erotica; as well, new works by local poet Duncan Armstrong and well-established George Elliott Clarke are thrown in for good measure. Being a man with a solid sense of humour, I found myself immediately drifting towards the humour contributions; Ed Woods’ embarrassed “Sued” is a riot, and Duncan Armstrong’s “L’amour domestique” is a cleverly original piece about the sexuality of household appliances. Meanwhile, more erotic works from Sylvia Barta and Daniel Kane Rajala are strong in imagery and metaphor. As an added bonus, the three works by prolific Canadian poet George Elliott Clarke make this collection especially worth a peek. Sadly, I’m not sure how many people will want to spend five dollars on what is essentially four 8.5 x 11″ pages of poetry, even though there is undoubtedly quite some measure of talent present here. (Michael Tau)

poetry zine, Hideout Press, $5, www.hideoutpress.ca, Hideout Press, Box 43084, Eastwood Sq. PO. Kitchener, ON, N2H 6S9, Canad