An angry man. A sad man. A guy who wants to commit sudden acts of violence, and pass it off as the purifying act of creativity; it’s all here in these stories and poems by Grant Shipway. Some of his poems deliver genuine recognitions of emotion and lend a pithy new insight into what are common experiences for us all: ordering drinks in a bar, getting drunk, spewing forth morose reflections on a life that seems to be going nowhere. Grant’s stories and poems certainly reflect an honesty about living in an isolating urban jungle. Sometimes I wish his poetry pulled itself out of what seems like self-pity and mundane reflections. If I had to sum up his approach to his writing in one word then this word would be: EARNEST. Generally, this collection is a good first effort.
chapbook / main creator: Grant Shipway / Publisher: Black Bile Press / $3 / 1315 Niagara Street #4, Windsor, Ontario N9A 3V8