Globe and Mail reviews Crabwise to the Hounds

On Saturday, April 11, the Globe and Mail reviewed the three shortlisted Griffin Prize titles, including Crabwise to the Hounds, the debut collection from Jeramy Dodds:

The 21st century so far has proved incredibly fruitful for Canadian writers of poetry. Many of our most recognized senior poets continue to publish masterful new work, and the level of accomplishment and sophistication expected of our emerging poets is continually rising.

All of this, of course, is wonderful news for Canadian readers, and this year's Griffin Poetry Prize short list is proof that the happy trend continues.

Jeramy Dodds is the newcomer here, but he's no token newbie. Crabwise to the Hounds is a first collection, but it is impressive enough for this list without seeming diminished by the work of Dodds's elders. To his credit, he honed his skills over a long apprenticeship and did not rush to publish as early as he probably could have. The result is a debut that easily rivals any I've read in years.

Most remarkable about Dodds's writing is its resourcefulness and versatility. He has learned from both traditionalist and avant-garde schools of modern poetry, and has done so without developing an ideological attachment to either extreme that would only limit the imaginative possibilities of his poems.

At ease in either world or in-between, his poems resonate physically with cunningly crafted language while they successfully amuse the intellect. He balances form, content, entertainment and ingenuity without giving any indication that any ingredient is more or less important than the others. His 'Two Riders, Four Werewolves' is a Beckettian script for the unfortunate meeting of the titular characters. In fewer than 60 words, Dodds manages to create setting, characterization, action and suspense, all executed with onomatopoeic fervour, psychological depth and narrative complexity.

And in a poem like the spectacular 'Moorhen,' he demonstrates that his ear is finely enough attuned to the world to tell us, 'The tubas are full of fog and fallen thoroughbreds,' and also that he is wise enough to know 'you/ can't tell someone just how lonely he is,/ but a moorhen sure can.'

More at www.globeandmail.com.