iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Doing poetry month again, following the #napowrimo prompts online. This one was somewhat inspired by Stephanie Bolster’s poem “Many Have Written Poems About Blackberries.” It’s a Thimbleberry tanka!

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Stormie Wang-Hoskins @isabellawangbc.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Make your voices heard like we are doing at the Phoenix Poetry Prize. and wait, if they start supporting Canadian poets again does the Phoenix poetry prize report them for impersonation? Or simply demand a copyright fee? 😂

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Awesome! Tom Wayman and I live in the same rural valley. He’s been a very supportive mentor to me (and he’s an excellent poet, too). Congrats to both poets!!

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Nightwood Editions @nightwoodeditions.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Congratulations to Joseph Dandurand and Tom Wayman! I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU (Nightwood Editions) and Out of the Ordinary (Harbour Publishing) have been shortlisted for the 2026 Al and Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize. The winner will be announced on April 21.

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

I don’t take the bus anymore because I live in the middle of nowhere, but I find great joy in knowing that others get to be illuminated by poetry on their commutes! LOVE Poetry in Transit ❤️❤️❤️ @readlocalbc.bsky.social

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

One year away from this honour and still going strong!

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

I love this series, How Does a Poem Begin. This just in from Em Dial: “It is the where that contributes to a poem’s possibility and how it opens up something in the reader. It is the where that decides which side of history the poem lies upon.”

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

It’s Friday night and I’m definitely taking about poetry 🙌🙌

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

my favorite topic of conversation is poetry. like, i'm not kidding! i want to talk about poetry on a friday night! i will! also, i love talking about food while eating different food

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Terrill Tailfeathers @terrilltf.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

“We’ll keep them in the ghetto as long as they want” Pierre Eliot Trudeau stated as his 1969 white paper on Indian policy was rejected by First Nations. Canada wants certainty for resource extraction. This is why they’re in a rush to legislate First Nations inherent rights under crown sovereignty.

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Sean Michaels @swanmichaels.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

This piece by @meghanor.bsky.social nails the big problem looming for literature and AI, and it isn't any of the problems (copyright, homework, slop, bias, energy) most people spend their time worrying about: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/o... A fantastic and well-informed essay.

nytimes.com

Opinion | The Seductions of A.I. for the Writer’s Mind

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

“Trump is using military forces to stop a protest — I want y'all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us.” Doechii at the #BETAwards

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

This is precisely correct.

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Heather J. Witchy🧙 Wood @rollwithheather.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Canisia Lubrin wins the 28th annual Danuta Gleed Award for her short fiction collection Code Noir #CanLit writersunion.ca/news/winners...

writersunion.ca

Winners Announced for the 28th Annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award | The Writers' Union of Canada

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Ontario Book Publishers Organization @obpoofficial.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Congratulations to Valérie Bah (Vehicule Press), winner of the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award, and to Vicky Zhu, winner of the Youth Short Story Award. Check out our full coverage of this majestic evening here! #AmReading #Novel #CanLit #ShortStory #Prizes open-book.ca/News/The-Win...

open-book.ca

The Winner of the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award Has Been Revealed!

The winner of the 2025 Amazon First Novel Award is Valérie Bah, author of Subterrane (Esplanade Books/Véhicule Press), as revealed in yet another majestic ...

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

The name for this essay came to me in a dream, so I followed that dream until I found Wordsworth above Tintern Abbey in the jaws of a goth snake… Intrigued? Thanks for reading! #poetry #essays #writing #canlit #writingcommunity

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Some days are random AF: in the past hour I have helped a dude push a 35 foot power pole down a bank into our backyard and edited a poem about the Neptune Equester. Now I feel like I should write a poem about a 35 foot power pole 🤣 #writing #poetry #rurallife

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Someone asked me two days ago at an event why I write and I was like, to save myself. I think they were expecting more, but that is the most accurate three-word summary I can think of 🤷‍♀️ #blueskywriters #writingcommunity #writing

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NeWest Press @newestpress.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Celebrate Asian Heritage Month with these NeWest classics!! #NeWestPress #AsianHeritageMonth #CanLit #CanadianLiterature #Canadian #AlbertaReads

A stack of books sits on a concrete ledge in front of a bright green bush. The books are: Ezra's Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose
Hiroshima Bomb Money by Terry Watada
The Cine Star Salon by Leah Ranada
The Chorus of Mushrooms by Hiromi Goto
Diamond Grill by Fred Wah
Disappearing Moon Cafe by Sky Lee
Coconut by Nisha Patel
Dreams of the Epoch & the Rock by Jaspreet Singh
How to Hold a Pebble by Jaspreet Sing

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Writers' Trust of Canada @writerstrust.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Congratulations to this year's #BertonHouse writers-in-residence! ◢ Jesse Keith Butler ◢ Cody Caetano ◢ Krista Foss ◢ Helen Knott ◢ Angela Long ◢ Rebecca Thomas Learn more about this year’s residents here: bit.ly/4k3schN #CanLit #PierreBerton

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Barbara Tran @staranise99.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Deadline: May 30. Poems in dialogue with other poems. Edited by Kyeren Regehr @byallmeanswrite.bsky.social & @zoeidadickinson.bsky.social planetearthpoetry.com/after?ss_sou... #canpoetry #canlit

planetearthpoetry.com

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS OPENS Jan 1st 2025 — Planet Earth Poetry

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

“Death steals everything except our stories.” ― Jim Harrison

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Bid your hearts out for an important cause and a jazzed up bookshelf!

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Gaspereau Press @gaspereaupress.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Two recent titles: Natalie Rice's Nightjar and Sean Howard's Overlays

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Gaspereau Press @gaspereaupress.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Two most recent spring titles: John Terpstra's A Carpentry of Words and Wood and Sue Goyette's Future Howl

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Wolsak & Wynn @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

We've a wonderful excerpt up from Saad Omar Khan's Drinking the Ocean at the Miramichi Reader: miramichireader.ca/2025/05/exce...

miramichireader.ca

Excerpt: Drinking the Ocean by Saad Omar Khan

Excerpted with permission from Wolsak & Wynn Press

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Feeling very excited about this, yet another gem from the inimitable @danilabotha.bsky.social 😍😃😃

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

I was lucky to catch Dale Martin Smith’s reading in Vancouver at SFU a few weeks ago. He was so astonishingly humble about the power of his work. Highly recommend this book; it’s a gem @knifeforkbook.bsky.social

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Barbara Tran @staranise99.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

@knifeforkbook.bsky.social should get a prize simply for making the longlist for the Griffin Poetry Prize. A phenomenal achievement for any press, let alone a young micropress. Get your copy of Dale Martin Smith's stunning "The Size of Paradise" and celebrate #canpoetry on the world stage. #canlit

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Currently working on a craft essay titled “Poetic genesis: goth girl swallows Wordsworth like a snake”. #poetry #essays #writing

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

When you are only half listening to everyone all day long for days because you were up late writing a novel 🤷 #writer #writinganovel #blueskyauthors

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Another list of great books! I just want to say Code Noir took me months to read and re-read. I didn’t want to miss a single brilliant nuance. Highly recommend!

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

This is such a great longlist. Was also pleased to see so many @gaspereaupress.bsky.social books included! Congrats to all the nominated poets 👏🙌

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Thanks to all the bookstores that have hosted authors like me over the years, sell our books, keep the vibe alive. You mean the world to me ❤️ #CIBD25

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Quill & Quire @quillandquire.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Poetry-only press Brick Books marks its 50th anniversary, celebrating the “unlikely feat” of publishing nothing but verse for half a century. bit.ly/44CDJAc

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! Go tell you favourite bookstore owner(s) how important they are to you and buy some great books while you’re there ❤️

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Writers, are you listening to this podcast? @hollay.bsky.social brings on the most interesting guests. This is another great episode with @sawpoet.bsky.social !!

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Happy to share this poem which is from my forthcoming book, Interstitial (spring 2026). It’s about my mom who after having polio needed to wear a metal brace. My grandma used to have to tighten the cage every morning. Thanks @chaudierebooks.bsky.social and @robmclennan.bsky.social !!!

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Oh man, two of my fave poets in conversation 😍😍. Hell yes 👏 👌

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Hollay Ghadery @hollay.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

In this @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social Literature episode, I speak with @robmclennan.bsky.social about his extraordinary collection of stories, On Beauty (University of Alberta Press, 2024). Listen here: . newbooksnetwork.com/on-beauty 📸 Photo credit: Marc Perez #literature #shortstories

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Kathryn Mockler @themockler.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

I'm starting a new interview series with writers called I've Been Meaning to Ask You. I'm not putting my guests through something I won't do, so I've kicked off the series with a self interview answering these strange and personal questions myself! sendmylovetoanyone.substack.com/p/ive-been-m...

sendmylovetoanyone.substack.com

I've been meaning to ask you

Interview | Kathryn Mockler

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

It has been heartbreaking to say the least to see post-secondary institutions (in particular Humanities programs) be eroded or flat out gutted this year. Some countries have figured out subsidized education; why can’t we?? #canpoli #educationforall

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Leesa Dean @leesadean.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Like what actually would we do without @naomiaklein.bsky.social ? Seriously

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