In 2002, Nightwood published Where the Words Come From: Canadian Poets
in Conversation, a successful first-of-its-kind collection of
interviews with literary luminaries like Margaret Atwood, Michael
Ondaatje, Margaret Avison, Patrick Lane, Lorna Crozier and P.K. Page,
conducted by "the younger generation" of poets of the day. Sixteen years
later, What the Poets Are Doing brings together two younger
generations of poets to engage in conversations with their peers on
modern-day poetics, politics and more. Together they explore the world
of Canadian poetry in the new millennium: what's changed, what's endured
and what's next. An exciting "turn of the century" has evolved into a
century characterized by social and digital media, the Donald Trump
presidency, #MeToo empowerment and scandal, and Indigenous Truth and
Reconciliation.
Should we look to our poets as our most articulate analysts and critics
of these times? Are they competing with social media or at one with
social media?