Now Available | Memento Mishka by Jennifer Baker & Dave Currie

Apt. 9 is delighted to announce that Memento Mishka by Jennifer Baker and Dave Currie is now available to order.

I worked with Dave previously on Apt. 9 favourite Bird Facts, while Jennifer Baker is the author of excellent chapbooks from Trainwreck Press and above/ground press. I count them both as old friends, as I did their beloved dog Mishka whom the poems in this chapbook are about.

Full details and link to buy here.

Now Available | Artie Gold & George Bowering

Romantic Wounds by Artie Gold and George Bowering is now available from Apt. 9 Press.

The chapbook is the latest published installment in Bowering’s ongoing project of “poetic exchange” with Gold’s long-lost manuscript, Romantic Words. Previous installments have appeared in Mouse Eggs, and from above/ground press. It is an honour to publish both Bowering and Gold, two of my favourite poets. I can’t wait for people to be able to read this book, and selfishly I hope that the entire manuscript sees print someday soon.

Full details and link to buy here.

Pearl Pirie wins the 2022 Nelson Ball Prize

Apt. 9 is delighted to be able to announce that Pearl Pirie has won the 2022 Nelson Ball Prize for her Apt. 9 chapbook, rain’s small gestures. It was a privilege to work with Pearl on this chapbook in 2021, and I couldn’t be happier to see it recognized with this prize (and for it to be the first chapbook to win the award). Congratulations, Pearl!

A small number of copies remain available for purchase.

You can watch the prize presentation here, which includes readings from all five shortlisted poets:

Apt. 9 thanks the prize committee and this year’s judges, Beverley Daurio and James McDonald.

Available Soon | Jo Ianni

Jo Ianni’s new chapbook, inside inside inside, is complete and will be available to order shortly.

It has been such a pleasure to work with Jo on these poems and this book. I am delighted to say it will be released at an in-person event this coming Saturday, October 22, in Toronto, 3pm at Knife Fork Book / The Remote Gallery (568 Richmond Street W.), where I will also be launching my own new book. Jo’s inside inside inside will be available to order online as of next week.

As always, review copies are available, please contact us here.

Now Available | Marilyn Irwin

Marilyn Irwin’s ghost ships is now available from Apt. 9 Press.

Apt. 9 had the great privilege of working with Marilyn Irwin back in 2015 on her chapbook the blue, blue there, which went on to be shortlisted for the bpNichol Chapbook Award. It was a pleasure to work with her again, and I am excited for people to be able to read these new poems from her. Full book details here.

Review copies are available, please contact us here.

Justin Million | Ejecta: The Uncollected KEYBOARDS! Poems

New from Apt. 9 Press, and now available for pre-order, is Justin Million’s Ejecta: The Uncollected KEYBOARDS! Poems. Read about the book (and about KEYBOARDS!) here.

The book launches in Ottawa at VerseFest on Saturday, March 28, at 1pm in the In/Words and Blue Mondays Showcase.

Pre-orders will ship in early April, and further launches are being planned. Contact Justin Million (or Apt. 9) if you want him to read from the book in your town.

Nelson Ball (1942-2019)

Nelson Ball died on Friday August 16, 2019.

Apt. 9 had the great privilege of publishing three chapbooks by Nelson, including Small Waterways (winner of the bpNichol Chapbook Award) and most recently, A Letter to Amanda Bernstein and a Checklist of Weed/Flower Press. A Letter to Amanda Bernstein was only published in June, and has now become his final publication during his life. I have put a pdf of the entire book online for those interested.

Thank you for your trust in Apt. 9 and for your life of small press work, Nelson. We miss you already. I have collected some inadequate thoughts and memories here.

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Nelson Ball, Mount Pleasant Nature Park, August 2013.

New: Nelson Ball, “A Letter to Amanda Bernstein and a Checklist of Weed/Flower Press”

Apt. 9 Press is proud to announce the publication of Nelson Ball’s A Letter to Amanda Bernstein and a Checklist of Weed/Flower Press, Ball’s third chapbook with Apt. 9. This non-fiction account of Ball’s work as publisher of the legendary Weed/Flower Press is a vital contribution to the ongoing documentation of Ball’s small press work. It will be available for sale at the Ottawa Small Press Book Fair on June 22, 2019 (details here), and online thereafter.