Matrix admires Prismatic Publics

Being the first anthology of 'Innovative Women's Poetry and Poetics,' Prismatic Publics has an automatic place in the CanLit canon. Fortunately, it is crafted skillfully enough to deserve it. Consider the emphasis placed on 'craft,' as the writers interviewed and excerpted in its pages approach writing as a process-oriented, dynamic engagement open to multiple interpretations. As Rita Wong puts it, 'Language that excites me comes from a mindset of 'power with' or 'power to,' not 'power over'' (345).

Each section on one of fifteen writers, all leaders in Canada's avant-garde literary practice and many involved in movements such as the Tessera collective and Kootenay School of Writing from the 1970s to the present day, includes an interview and a cross-section of poetic work. The interviews are rich and introspective, permitting readers a glimpse into a variety of poetics, practices, and more intimately, into these writers' lives ... In the hands of the Prismatic Publics poets, everything from subject identity to language to politics is placed under scrutiny. From Nathalie Stephens investigation of the limitations of self through the creation of a male alter ego, Nathanael, to Rachael Zolf's compassionate recombinant treatment of the Israel-Palestine conflict in Neighbour Procedure, these poets and their poems insist that form be held accountable ... The anthology offers a smooth introduction to an array of texts that are often difficult and profoundly rewarding.