Poetry by James Dewar
Published by Hidden Brook Press
The Garden in the Machine is the culmination of many years of developing the craft of poetry and represents the best work that I’ve done as a poet.
The oldest pieces were originally critiqued by Irving Layton in 1973. Some of the poems were written in the long desert years when I was not a poet and was living and working outside any artistic community. However, once I left the corporate world a few years ago, the many poems I had written over the decades called out to me like a siren on the rocks of the Aegean.
Immersing myself in the poetry communities of Toronto and Durham quickly revived my sleeping Muse. Before I knew it, I was writing poetry again and refining the techniques of editing and performance that I learned from the many poets and editors that I grew to know and admire. I found myself immensely happy and satisfied.
On the urgings of other poets and editors who had not only heard me read my poems during the many readings I attended and gave, but also read my poetry in chapbooks and anthologies, I was convinced to submit a manuscript to publishers. I was very pleased when Hidden Brook Press advised me that they were interested in publishing my book.
So many artists and writers toil in obscurity too shy to present what they’ve discovered even though they know their eyes have seen a unique truth about what it means to be human. I wrote in seclusion for so long, but when I was welcomed into the artistic community, I remembered what Irving Layton had said to a young struggling artist many years ago: Listen to your Muse, translate what you see and hear into intelligible art and then speak up and deliver it to the world. I am proud of this book and I am proud of myself for taking the steps needed to feel this good about it, but I am especially thrilled to be a part of this vibrant community of artists and to have contributed to it in ways that I hope will inspire others to join us on this important journey in search of the human capacity for truth.
James Dewar
Comments on The Garden in the Machine:
“This poet is a fearless explorer in his art: uninhibitedly crossing boundaries and stretching horizons…. Dewar’s imagination won’t be bound to mundane matters or things the media tell us….. he carries the right equipment: well aware how poems must be molded, and transmuted, if they are to bear the stresses of adventurous words and harness their energy.”
from the foreword by Allan Briesmaster.
“Two poems that really stood out for me and kept reverberating long after I’d read them – and re-read them – were “I never hug my Dad” and “Leaving the Edge”. Very powerful poems, the kind you want to go back to many times.”
Glen Sorestad, Vice President of the League of Canadian Poets, noted in his invitation to Dewar to become a full member of the League of Canadian Poets as a result of this publication.
To purchase a copy of the book please email me at james@creativejames.com with the caption
‘book purchase’ in the title line.
or via paypal through the publisher http://www.hiddenbrookpress.com/bookshbp.htm
EARLIER PUBLICATIONS
Renaissance Conspiracy Poetry Anthology
8 poems
2004
Guys in Garages chapbook
9 poems
2005
Renaissance Reloaded Poetry Anthology
8 poems
2006
