Enjoy Otter Produced By Ben Ladouceur Contained In Copy
gritty, explicit, yet tender collection of modern queer poetry, excellent
poetry
best reads
I am nuts about this collection of queer poetry, Very sharp and urban. Not whiny or pretentious. Just REAL. Smart work!
Gay hipster rot, The first two poems are the worst in the book, Im confused about that and about some passages I laughed out loud at not sure if they were intended to be funny or not, stay tuned for the Small Machine Talks Episode: Interview with Ben Ladouceur at the end of May, We will discuss his latest poetry book, Mad Long Emotion, Otter and a variety of his chapbooks, Sign up to the AngelHousePress mailing list to get notices about the upcoming episode, subsequent episodes, publication info and calls, sitelink com/
or check out the podcast on SoundCloud: sitelink com/user His body, like yours, would lie
mute as a plum
until a vigilant limb came
to a decision, As you might have guessed
Ive come to one myself,
Moving from the absurdity of the First World War to the chaos of todays cities, where men share beds, bottles of ouzo and shade from willow trees, these poems ask questions: If your lover speaks in his sleep, how do you know you is you What good is it to decorate a headstone What if you
think of the perfect comeback to a sixyearold argument Otter fails, with style, to find answers.
Formally impeccable and richly imagined, Ben Ladouceurs poems track the awe of a mind as it engages with epiphanal moments, both private and historical, His language is filtered through an intelligence thats queer and graceful, always in search of the singular phrase and a music that startles with its precision, As each poem unfurls, keen insight gives way to the wonder of words, Otter is a magnificent debut,
Eduardo C. Corral, author of Slow Lightning, winner of the Yale Younger Poets Prize
Ladouceur writes with an awareness of queer history, documenting it faithfully, but with his own twist This is poetry motivated by an honest wit.
John Barton, Arc Poetry Magazine
Ben Ladouceur is a writer originally from Ottawa, now based in Toronto, His work has been featured in Arc, The Malahat , PRISM international and The Walrus, and in the Best Canadian Poetry anthology, He was awarded the Earle Birney Poetry Prize in,
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