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January 26, 1998 |

A Murder of Crows: Poetry By People You Could Meet.

By Nicole Larson

l’'s snowing, not hard
enough for it to make any dif-
ference, and the flakes float
down pleasantly as we enter
the bookstore. The smell of
coffee, and the sounds of
voices familiar with each
other can be heard as we
enter, through the backdoor,
to Books and Co. It has the
air of a poetry reading, peo-
ple are huddled around can-
dlelit tables, with brightly pat-
terned cups of coffee, chat-
ting and shuffling, and reshuf-
fling the dog eared pages of
their own work that surround
them. Everyone seems to
know one another, whether
they have met or not, and the
readings are about to begin.

What started as a group of

people just getting together to
read poetry every Thursday
evening at Books and Co.
has grown into so much
more. On Thursday, January
15th, Andrew Burton, David
Quast, Christopher Earl,
Stephen Stlaurent ‘and_ lan
Kluge, launched their new
book, A Murder of Crows,
which contains a selection of
poetry as varied as the poets.
It can be said that a poem is
a snapshot of the poet’s soul;
this anthology is the photo
album that this family of poets
drags out when it is time to
reminisce.

Editor Stephen Stlaurent surrounded by a murder of poets,

The styles of these poets dif-
fer, but they work together to
form a well integrated whole.
Each poet has style which is
distinguishable from the oth-
ers, but they do share some
characteristics, one of which
is a clear sense of humour.
There is at least one
humourous poem included in
each poet's selection, and
while the humour may some-
times be extremely black, a
reader is almost forced to
laugh at the vivid imagery
presented. The
humourous pieces are the

ones with the most socially

disturbing undertones, such
as “OH THE HUMANITY” by
David Quast, and “TIGHT
NUTS? by lan Kluge.

Going through the antholo-
gy poet by poet presents the
contrasts of the poets and the
interesting choice of place-
ment made by the editor,
Stephen Stlaurent. The
causal narrative works of
Andrew Burton, of things that
have happened or will hap-
pen or could have happened
is followed by the dark
humour and descriptions of
David Quast. Quast’s work is
followed by the less jarring
and softer poems. of

Christopher Earl, the self pro-
claimed “cuddly one.” The
other two poets, Stephen

(clockwise from top) Andrew Burton, lan Kluge, Christopher
Earl and David Quast at the launch of their literary anthology
“A Murder of Crows” (Photo by Michelle Berard)

most

Stlaurent and lan Kluge have
styles which, also, do not
match any of the others.
Stlaurent’s poetry is almost
as far from cuddly as one can
get, with sharp images and
pessimistic themes. The
selections by lan Kluge on
the other hand have a pol-
ished maturity and cover a
broad range of topics, from
thoughts on this country to
the experience of changing a

et

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feminist’s tire.

This anthology is truly a
work of contradictions which
come together to form a
whole which by far out shine
the sum of its parts. Any of
the works contained in A
Murder of Crows could stand
alone, but in this form they
are made somehow better.
The only way to improve
upon this anthology would be
to have the authors perform

their poems for you, because
only the author knows exactly
how a poem should sound.

A Murder of Crows can be
found at Books and Co. 1685
3rd Ave. You, also, can hear
the authors and other local
poets perform every
Thursday night, from 7:00pm
to 9:00pm at Books and Co.’s
weekly Rant Night.

wanted!

React ec ee etree ere

Stop by the NUGGS office and talk to
Tami if you want to model.
All fashions couresy The Bay

RESPUD ENR OE PD EUROS PWD CREEL

Comme to UNBC Feb 10th in the Upper C afetexia
Starting at8pm
Tickets ave only $5 availabe at The Bay or outside the NUGGS office.

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