In the latest AHP essay, Women and Gendered Writing Pearl Pirie muses about the role of gender in writing and publishing and discusses the concept of gender itself, and whether or not there is such a thing as female poetry.

Alert by Ben Ladouceur is a collection of poetry that will take you to Nunavut and set your dreams howling. In lines as long and fragile as icicles in early spring, you will find salt and tulips and deranged weeds, Danes and a gentleman of snow. A recent graduate of Carleton University and a stalwart of Ottawa's literary scene, Ben is leaving Ottawa for the wilds of the UK. His rugged and sensual poetry, served to you on fine linen sheets, will warm you in the cold winter nights to come. $5; Limited Edition of 50 copies.

AngelHousePress would like to congratulate this year's winners of the bPNichol Chapbook Award:
Sandra Ridley: Lift: Ghazals for C. (JackPine Press) and Gary Barwin : Inverting the Deer (serif of notthingham).

Both poets have been published recently by AngelHousePress:
Sandra's poetry has appeared in the chapbook, Pent Up and on the site www.nationalpoetrymonth.ca.
Gary's poetry appears in the on line annual pdf magazine, Experiment-o and his essay on how a poem works appears as part of the AHP Essay Series.

The bpNichol Chapbook award is sponsored by the Phoenix Community Works Foundation. The award was established in 1984, under the guidance of noted Canadian poet bpNichol who was also one of the founding members of PCWF. The award was established in order to inspire, encourage and support Canadian poets and the smaller Canadian presses that ordinarily publish chapbooks. In 1988, after the tragic death of bpNichol, the award was renamed in memory of the prolific writer and performer. This year, $2000 is awarded to the best poetry chapbooks written in English, published in Canada.

Congratulations to the award recipients and to those shortlisted: John Barlow, Andrew Faulkner and Daphne Marlatt.

Further info at Phoenix Community Works Foundation http://www.pcwf.ca/bp-nichol-chap-book-award and bpNichol.ca.

Thanks to the Phoenix Community Works Foundation for encouraging and supporting the publication of chapbooks and thanks to the small press industry for bravely continuing to publish and disseminate engaging and original voices.

Get "Pent Up," the latest chapbook published by AngelHousePress and featuring the poetry of Sandra Ridley, Pearl Pirie, Amanda Earl, Marcus McCann and Roland Prevost. Five Ottawa writers play dominoes with sound and language. This is the second chapbook of the as yet unnamed poetry group, following "Whack of Clouds" published in 2008.

Announcing the launch of experiment-o, AngelHousePress's on line annual PDF magazine, celebrating art that risks. The debut issue features Gary Barwin, Emily Falvey, Spencer Gordon, Camille Martin, rob mclennan, Sheila E. Murphy, Pearl Pirie, Roland Prevost, Jenny Sampirisi and Steve Venright.

"Secret Vespers: I Only Pretend To Hide" is now available from AHP. This chapbook is the physical manifestation of one of the most skilful and fun comics AHP has seen on the web: SecretVespers.com created by Patrick Edwards-Daugherty. The chapbook gives the reader 28 vignettes that reflect Patrick's witty and wistful views of day-to-day life. Limited edition of 50 copies.

Also fresh from AHP is "Ursula" by Amanda Earl. Ursula wanders city streets and back alleys while having visions of Saint Ursula, the patron saint of lost girls, said to have been massacred along with 11,000 virgins en route to her wedding ceremony to a young Pagan prince. AHP has designed and published a limited and colourful pocket size chapbook in 26 copies.

In our catalogue you will also find the recently published "Compositions" with poetry by Jamie Bradley and art by Brenda Dunn. "Compositions" is a fevered tumble of sensuality, art, and passion. The art reflects the moods and tones of the poetry in the form of a defiant woman in shades of red and black. The chapbook's rough cotton pages serve to represent the dream-like intensity of the contents. Limited Edition of 50 copies.

Signs of the Apocalypse is a sporadic and ephemeral magazine in the form of broadsheets. AHP dips its wings into history and current apocalyptic anxiety to offer an alphabetical reflection of the end of the world. The first issue is almost sold out.

There are still a few copies of the first two AHP chapbooks somewhere in AHPs dusty cabinets: Marauders of the Fold and Museum of the Broken; 8 Planets Speaking in Tongues is now sold out.

The first edition of "Whack of Clouds" with poems by Amanda Earl, Nicholas Lea, Marcus McCann, Pearl Pirie and Roland Prevost is now sold out.