Thrillows & Despairos
Chris Chambers
April 2015
70 pages | ISBN 9781894987981
Like Frank O’Hara in New York or Carl Sandburg in Chicago, some poets draw their creative energy from the city around them; Chris Chambers is such a poet. But he is also a nature poet. Revealed through his poetry, Toronto is a city of equal parts nightlife and wildlife, a crucible and a chrysalis, a vessel in which things smolder and transform. What would Toronto look like through the lens of a visionary Polish filmmaker? How does a city dream? These poems are generous with imagery and verve. They speak lovingly about a connection with a place, and in their whimsy and good nature, ascend to the universal.
Advance Praise
“Every time you reach your hand into the gut of Chris Chambers’ new book, you pull out something writhing, surprising and fresh. But also rare – rare in that poems so damn wit-filled and well-crafted can also be so deeply human and moving: just check out the magnificent centrepiece ‘Kieślowski’s Toronto.’ Chambers insists that every poem needs a bassist – his is equal parts Flea and Jaco Pastorius.”
– STUART ROSS, author of You Exist. Details Follow.
Articles
"Most Anticipated: Spring 2015 Poetry Preview" (Kerry Clare, 49th Shelf, 26/01/2015)
Reviews
"The Surreal Quotidian: James Lindsay and Chris Chambers 2015 Buckrider Titles" (Catherine Owen, Marrow Reviews, 01/11/2015)
“Chambers is way more wacky, his forms sliding all over the place into ellipses, exclamations and loopy utterances…. Barely a single poem looks the same from page to page which is refreshingly discombobulating.”
Interviews
"Poets in Profile" (Grace O'Connell, Open Book Toronto, 09/09/2015)
“Thrillows & Despairos is filled with urban version of the nature poem, where squirrels face off against Honda Civics, seagulls against gale force winds. In the collection, we watch Toronto dream of itself, crystallized in the powerhouse images we've come to expect from Chris.”
Excerpt
Videos
Chris Chambers reads the fantastic poem "Dave Cook" from Thrillows & Despairos at the spring launch.
Chris Chambers reads "Original Thought" at the Toronto Spring 2015 Buckrider Books launch at the Monarch Tavern.
About the Author
Chris Chambers is the author of Lake Where No One Swims and Wild Mouse (with Derek McCormack), which was nominated for the Toronto Book Award. These poems have appeared in Taddle Creek, Jacket, This Magazine, The Literary Review of Canada and were awarded the K. M. Hunter Artist Award.
