Page Fright: A Poetry Podcast

David Ly returns to talk about his new poetry collection, Ritual Interrupted. Andrew asks about form and imagery. It's a great time!

--David Ly is the author of Mythical Man (Anstruther Books, 2020) and Dream of Me as Water (Anstruther Books, 2022), both shortlisted for ReLit Poetry Awards, and the fantasy novel Not All Dragons (Poplar Press, 2026). He is co-editor, with Daniel Zomparelli, of Queer Little Nightmares (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022). David is Poetry Editor at This Magazine and serves on the editorial board of Poplar Press, the speculative fiction imprint of Wolsak & Wynn.--

Andrew French (they/them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently ⁠⁠⁠⁠Fists You've Called Home⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Pinhole Poetry, 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Blair Trewartha is here to talk his second full-length poetry collection, Half-Earth. Andrew talks about going through a writing drought. This one's a banger!

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Order Andrew's new chapbook, ⁠⁠⁠Fists You've Called Home⁠⁠⁠!

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Blair Trewartha's debut collection, Easy Fix (Palimpsest Press, 2014), was shortlisted for the Relit Award. He is the author of three chapbooks: Break In (Cactus Press, 2010), Porcupine Burning (Baseline Press, 2012), and Human Energy (Anstruther Press, 2022). Blair’s poems have recently appeared in The Dalhousie Review, Prairie Fire, andThe Fiddlehead. Born and raised on a farm outside of Clinton, Ontario (Treaty 29 Territory), Blair now lives in London, Ontario (Treaty 6 Territory) with his partner, two children, and their hyper Beagle. Half-Earth is his second full-length collection.

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Andrew French (they/them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently ⁠⁠⁠Fists You've Called Home⁠⁠⁠ (Pinhole Poetry, 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Misha Solomon drops by to chat about his debut poetry collection, My Great-Grandfather Danced Ballet. Andrew tries to remember what happens in LOST. It's a great time!

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Order Andrew's new chapbook, ⁠⁠Fists You've Called Home⁠⁠!

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Misha Solomon is a homosexual poet in and of Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. His work has appeared in journals across Canada and has been anthologized in Best Canadian Poetry 2024, 2026, and 2027 (Biblioasis) and in On Occasion: Poems for the People (Coach House). He is a student in Concordia’s Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD program. He is the author of three chapbooks and his full-length debut, My Great-Grandfather Danced Ballet, was released by Brick Books in March 2026.

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Andrew French (they/them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently ⁠⁠Fists You've Called Home⁠⁠ (Pinhole Poetry, 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Elizabeth Bachinsky is here to talk about her new poetry collection, REAL GROWNUP. Andrew is once again asking about the poetic obsession with birds. It's a fun one!

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Order Andrew's new chapbook, ⁠Fists You've Called Home⁠!

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Elizabeth Bachinsky is the author of six books of poetry, including Home of Sudden Service, which was nominated for a Governor General's Award, and God of Missed Connections, which was nominated for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, the KOBZAR Book Award, and the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature. She lives and works on the traditional, unceded territories of the Qayqayt, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, and Musqueam First Nations where she teaches creative writing at Douglas College.

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Andrew French (they/them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently ⁠Fists You've Called Home⁠ (Pinhole Poetry, 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Pujita Verma pops by the virtual studio to discuss her debut poetry collection, precedence. Andrew talks form and tough topics. It's a fluid convo!

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Pre-order Andrew's new chapbook, Fists You've Called Home!

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Pujita Verma is a poet and illustrator currently living in London, Ontario. Her work has appeared across the Toronto Transit Commission Network and CBC’s The National. She won awards from the League of Canadian Poets, the Toronto Arts & Letters Club Foundation, and the Eden Mills Writer’s Festival, and was runner-up for the Janice Colbert Poetry Award. Pujita was Mississauga’s Youth Poet Laureate from 2018-2020, and she studied Political Science at Western University. As an active member of London’s literary scene, Pujita is currently serving on the committee for Antler River Poetry.--

Andrew French (they/them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently Fists You've Called Home (Pinhole Poetry, 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Mallory Tater joins Page Fright to talk about her new poetry collection, Lockers are for Bearcats Only. Andrew's stoked about National Poetry Month. It's a great conversation!

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Mallory Tater is the author of four books, two collections of poetry and two novels: This Will Be Good, Lockers are for Bearcats Only, The Birth Yard, & Soft Tissue (forthcoming, 2028). She was the publisher of Rahila’s Ghost Press, a now-retired chapbook press. Mallory currently lives in Vancouver, where she teaches at the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing. --

Andrew French (They/Them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently Buoyhood (Alfred Gustav Press, 2025) and Fists You've Called Home (Pinhole Poetry, forthcoming 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Christina Shah is here to discuss her debut full-length poetry collection, if: prey, then: huntress. Andrew's wondering about how to stop yapping on and on in their poems. It's a fun one!

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Christina Shah lives in New Westminster and works in heavy industry, where she drinks from the firehose of knowledge. Her poetry has appeared in numerous Canadian literary journals, including The Fiddlehead, Vallum, Arc, Grain, PRISM international, EVENT, The Malahat Review, The Antigonish Review and elsewhere. Her poem, ‘they canned a good man today’, was shortlisted for The Fiddlehead’s 2021 Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize. Her poem, ‘interior bar, 1986’, was selected for Best Canadian Poetry 2023. She is one-fifth of the Harbour Centre 5 poetry collective, whose chapbook, Brine, was released in 2022. Her first videopoem, ‘rig veda’ (in collaboration with videographer Mark Mushet), was translated into Spanish and screened at the 2023 Cinemística festival in Granada, Spain, and the 2023 Versi Di Luce festival in Modica, Sicily. rig veda, her first solo chapbook (Anstruther Press), was released in 2023. if: prey, then: huntress (Nightwood Editions, 2025) is her first full-length collection. She has some strong opinions on soft pretzels.--

Andrew French (They/Them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently Buoyhood (Alfred Gustav Press, 2025) and Fists You've Called Home (Pinhole Poetry, forthcoming 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Kashayar "Kess" Mohammadi drops by to talk their latest poetry collection, The Book of Interruptions. Andrew asks about bringing new life to old poems. It's a blast!

--Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi (They/Them) is a queer, Iranian born, Toronto-based Poet, Writer and Translator. They  are the winner of the 2021 Vallum Poetry Prize and the author of  “Book of Interruptions”, out with Wolsak and Wynn. Their sixth full length poetry manuscript is forthcoming with Ugly Duckling Presse.

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Andrew French (They/Them) is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently Buoyhood (Alfred Gustav Press, 2025) and Fists You've Called Home (Pinhole Poetry, forthcoming 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Joanna Streetly joins Andrew to talk her new poetry collection, All of Us Hidden⁠. Andrew asks about staying curious in your poetry. It's a great time!

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Joanna Streetly is the author of five books. Her work is published in The Best Canadian Essays 2017 (Tightrope Books, 2017) and Best Canadian Poetry 2024 (Biblioasis, 2024). She is the winner of the 2023 FBCW Literary Contest Poetry Award, has been short-listed for the Van Isle Collective Prize, and The Spectator’s Shiva Naipaul award for outstanding travel writing as well as long-listed for the Canada Writes Creative Non-fiction Prize. She has lived in the unceded territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht for over thirty years and was the inaugural Tofino Poet Laureate from 2018 to 2020. Joanna’s first poetry book, This Dark, was published by Postelsia Press in 2008. Her 2018 memoir, Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast (Caitlin Press, 2018) was a BC Bestseller.

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Andrew French is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently Buoyhood (Alfred Gustav Press, 2025) and Fists You've Called Home (Pinhole Poetry, forthcoming 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.

Mary Dalton joins Andrew to chat about editing this year's edition of Biblioasis' Best Canadian Poetry series. Andrew listens in to three readings from featured poets Erin Moure, Kevin Irie, and Sue Sinclair while chatting with Mary along the way. It's a fun one to start the year!

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Mary Dalton is the author of six books of poetry, among them Merrybegot, Red Ledger, Hooking, and Interrobang, as well as a prose miscellany, Edge: Essays, Reviews, Interviews. The book version of her 2020 Pratt Lecture, The Vernacular Strain in Newfoundland Poetry, was released by Breakwater in 2022. She lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.

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Andrew French is a queer poet from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published four chapbooks, most recently Buoyhood (Alfred Gustav Press, 2025) and Fists You've Called Home (Pinhole Poetry, forthcoming 2026). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They have hosted this podcast since 2019.