Edited by derek beaulieu and rob mclennan, and designed by Chaudiere co-publisher Christine McNair, The Calgary Renaissance highlights some of the diverse and astonishing experimental poetry and fiction that has emerged out of the past two decades of Calgary writing. An essential portrait of some of the most engaged and radical of Canadian writing and writers from one of the country’s most important literary centres. You can order a copy directly, here.
For further (ongoing) interviews with contributors to The Calgary Renaissance, check out the link here.
Jordan Scott is the author of three books of poetry.
Q: How long were you in Calgary, and what first took you there?
A: I went to Calgary to pursue the MA in Creative Writing. I lived in the Sunnyside neighborhood for three years.
Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community in Calgary?
A: Before I moved to Calgary, the always wonderful and generous Lisa Robertson introduced me to Derek Beaulieu at a reading in Vancouver. Derek then published my first chapbook A Walking History of Wladyslaw’s Body in Parts through housepress. When I moved to Calgary, Derek and I already had a relationship. On my first day in the city, Derek and Maddie (his incredible daughter) made me a huge spaghetti dinner. Everything seemed to happen from that moment on …Through Derek I met Jason Christie, Paul Kennett, Jill Hartman, Chris Ewart, Cara Hedley, Ryan Fitzpatrick … the whole gang. I also got to know Aaron Giovannone and Natalie Walschots while taking Christian Bök’s creative writing workshop. It was Christian’s first poetry class at the U of C. Oh, and the staff at the Kensington Pub – they’re as much part of the Calgary writing scene as anyone else …
Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all? What did Calgary provide, or allow?
A: Calgary shifted everything for me. I would say that much of the education came from being around such great friends and talented writers – the folks I mentioned above. Christian and Nicole Markotić were also very influential and extremely generous and supportive. I found the poetic shift from Vancouver to be quite difficult at times. I learned so much from growing up around SFU and the KSW, that shifting more into language poetry / conceptualism was a difficult move that I initially resisted. However, I think this resistance was tremendously helpful for me as a writer and thinker. But, as I said, there was the classroom and then the poets / writers in town. I learned so much from those people.
Q: What do you see happening in Calgary that you don’t see anywhere else?
A: I think it’s fairly similar to the other scenes / communities I’ve been part of over the years in Vancouver and Toronto. One difference is perhaps the Creative Writing program and the relatively small size of the city. I think this tends to concentrate artists in a specific area and promotes an intimacy that maybe does not happen in Vancouver or Toronto. I’m not sure. Like any community, we also had our issues. The toxins came in waves and many of us still feel the impacts of damaged friendships even after all these years. I think it’s important to acknowledge that as well.
Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your engagements there? How did the city and its community, if at all, change the way you approached your work?
A: Well, many of the people I met in Calgary are still my readers and editors. I rely on them for advice and for developing as a poet.
Q: What prompted your move away, and what kind of effect has the shift made in your work?
A: I got a job flipping canoes at Pitt Lake, BC so I left. Well, I wrote blert while in Calgary so that represented a major shift in my work that still lingers.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Fatherhood. Empathy and a 5km lake swim in July.