The Paper Street Journal; issue & launch

Like many local readers, I welcomed the formation of a new literary journal in Hamilton. “Welcome to the future of Canadian arts,” read The Paper Street Journal's mission statement, so you know they’d set the bar pretty high. But as the summer wore on, my interest doubled as I sensed the emergence of a publication that seeks to engage with other journals and media around Canada. Their Editor’s Picks and senior editor James Puntillo’s separate review of Jeffrey Donaldson’s Slack Action (Porcupine's Quill, 2013) felt like steps in the right direction; that TPSJ won't be yet another isolated platform of new writing but a conversation with work they’re reading elsewhere.

So I feel lucky to have a poem included in this first issue, and this poem especially; “A paradox wreath,” was the first thing written after we’d moved to Hamilton during the last week of December 2013. It’s exhausted from the year that was and inspired by a first walk around town. To complete a trifecta of firsts, "A paradox wreath," was the first selection taken from my in-progress manuscript, "A green horseshoe," (although a handful of others have been picked up since). Please read on and enjoy the whole inaugural issue.

Paper Street Journal are celebrating with a social mixer January 13th at The Strathcona, Hamilton's new cocktail bar. Not as new as the one on Locke South, mind you, but newer than the one on Aberdeen. It's at 306 King Street West and a live music afterparty will follow, courtesy of The Casbah next door! Come out and support a new chapter in Hamilton's small press scene!