New poetry in CV2

Every writer has their publishing origin story.

Mine began with a single poem in Event magazine, quickly followed by another in Canadian Literature. But by far, the magazine that had the biggest impact on my early days as a writer was Contemporary Verse 2.

CV2 once ran a first book manuscript competition called “Show me the Book” (yes, that’s a Cuba Gooding Jr. reference) and by chance, I found an ad for this contest while researching publishers for my first book, To Speak. As luck (maybe skill, but certainly some luck) would have it, CV2 and The Muses’ Company Publishing selected my book as the winner. Grand Prize was $400, a book deal, and a feature in the magazine (I ended up on the cover). Almost ten years later, I can see how rare that generous and celebratory environment was for a nobody poet making their earnest debut.

What you can’t see in the cover photo is my sheer terror and the glass of straight liquor that the photographer gave me in effort to calm me down enough to capture this lopsided grin.

In the years that followed, I became more involved with the magazine. I worked in circulation, brought CV2 on a coast to coast tour for their 35th anniversary celebration, and read at the 40th party five years later. This mighty magazine, originally founded by Dorothy Livesay, has been made stronger by the leadership of editor/poet Clarise Foster and the many brilliant young women working in design, circulation, admin and socials. I’m so excited to have two new poems in the Fall issue. Thanks CV2, for fostering poets (like me) and for putting out such a great magazine.