The Town Crier

The Town Crier operated as a hub for criticism and commentary, connecting a community of writers, readers, and commentators through social media, and focusing on the interplay of literary opinion in and around the city of Toronto until its closure in February 2021.

• Review: Ken Babstock’s On Malice

  By Scott Marentette | February 23, 2015

  Ken Babstock’s On Malice draws on Walter Benjamin, Charles Baudelaire, and Kafka to investigate the contemporary moment of surveillance.

• Interview: Liz Howard

  By Jillian Harkness | February 20, 2015

  Liz Howard talks about rewriting Longfellow’s racist, colonial poetry, Sudbury acid rain, ecopoetics, Ariana Reines, and Margaret Christakos.

• Balance

  By Napatsi Folger | February 19, 2015

  Napatsi Folger explores Aboriginal issues including sexuality, family, and political ties in Nunavut in this piece of short fiction

• Review: Christine Leclerc’s Oilywood

  By Andy Verboom | February 16, 2015

  Andy Verboom reviews Christine Leclerc’s Oilywood, touching on Kinder Morgan, William S. Burroughs, Gary Barwin, Stephen Collis, and Bobbi Sykes.

• Interview: Maggie Helwig

  By André Forget | February 13, 2015

  Maggie Helwig on being the rector at St-Stephen-in-the-Fields, the difference between poetry and homily, and running an arts event in sacred space.

• The Myth of the Truth

  By Bänoo Zan | February 11, 2015

  Bänoo Zan discusses Reza Aslan, Hot Sauced Words, James Dewar, Sue Reynolds, and her poems, Toronto 2012 and Payäm-där.

• Calling Out “The Ballad of Ferguson”

  By E Martin Nolan | February 9, 2015

  E Martin Nolan debates Frederick Seidel’s “The Ballad of Ferguson, Missouri,” Shannon Barber, The Paris Review, Tony Hoagland, and Claudia Rankine.

• Journalese vs. Poetic Language

  By Lisa Pasold | February 6, 2015

• Visioning Poetry and Activism

  By E Martin Nolan and Jillian Harkness | February 4, 2015

  Puritan staffers interview Stephen Collis and Jordan Scott about Decomp, Jack Turner, Christine Leclerc, Paul Salopek, and poetry and activism.

• Different Ways of Seeing

  By E Martin Nolan | February 2, 2015

  E Martin Nolan reflects on W.B. Yeats, Robert Creeley, and Matthew Tierney in his introduction to February's blog feature on political literature.

• On Geoffrey Alexander Parsons

  By Jason Freure | January 29, 2015

  Author of “Xian Dyad” talks about Geoffrey Alexander Parsons, the New York City literary scene, Jumel Terrace Books, Darius James, & 8th House Publishing.

• Microliteratures and Travelogues

  By Jason Freure | January 26, 2015

  Jason Price Everett on his book, Xian Dyad, Saint-John Perse, Xi’an, microliteratures, Maurice Girodias, and J.G. Ballard.