Vallum Magazine

Sometimes the obvious is before us and we don't see anything. Something may or may not be present. At other times, we, ourselves, feel invisible. In our current world, people often fear that what is invisible is tangible, real, and perhaps a threat. At other times, the invisible may be something supernatural, a feeling, a movement to, or from, a dream-world. What are some of your encounters with the "invisible"?

We are very excited about the selection of work, and are proud to share it with you. This issue features an interview with Canisia Lubrin and excellent new poems by Leland James, Roxanna Bennett, George Elliott Clarke, Shazia Hafiz Ramji and more. The issue also includes poems from Vallum's Annual Poetry Award winners, j tate barlow, Mary Trafford, Esther Johnshon, Josh Fiet, and Michael Trussler, and sharp reviews by Bill Neumire and Jami Macarty. Photos from our winner of the Vallum Magazine Cover Contest, Antoine Janot!

Don’t miss out on this new installment of exceptional international and Canadian poetry—order the issue, or renew your subscription* today.

Due to the pandemic, we are experiencing some shipping delays. We sincerely apologize and thank you so much for your patience and continued support!

Vallum magazine is also available in digital format. Featuring additional content such as AUDIO and VIDEO recordings of selected poets, further poems, interviews, essays, and MORE! Click play to listen to Fanny Howe read "Time's Thought," from Vallum 16:1 "Connections."

Vallum News

FALL 2021 CHAPBOOKS NOW AVAILABLE

Only 100 copies of each chapbook are available.

2022 VALLUM COVER AWARD

"IT WAS TREATY/IT WAS ME" WINS bpNICHOL CHAPBOOK AWARD!

VALLUM ISSUE 19:1 BRIDGES | SUBMISSIONS OPEN

VALLUM SOCIETY FOR ARTS AND LETTERS

Reviews


NEW ISSUE: VALLUM 18:1 "INVISIBILITY" NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER IN DIGITAL! (SOLD OUT IN PRINT) Sometimes the obvious is before us and we don't see anything. Something may or may not be present. At other times, we, ourselves, feel invisible. In our current world, people often fear that what is invisible is tangible, real, and perhaps a threat. At other times, the invisible may be something supernatural, a feeling, a movement to, or from, a dream-world. What are some of your encounters with the "invisible"? We are very excited about the selection of work, and are proud to share it with you. This issue features an interview with Canisia Lubrin and excellent new poems by Leland James, Roxanna Bennett, George Elliott Clarke, Shazia Hafiz Ramji and more. The issue also includes poems from Vallum's Annual Poetry Award winners, j tate barlow, Mary Trafford, Esther Johnshon, Josh Fiet, and Michael Trussler, and sharp reviews by Bill Neumire and Jami Macarty. Photos from our winner of the Vallum Magazine Cover Contest, Antoine Janot! Don’t miss out on this new installment of exceptional international and Canadian poetry—order the issue, or renew your subscription* today. Due to the pandemic, we are experiencing some shipping delays. We sincerely apologize and thank you so much for your patience and continued support! *NOT JUST A PRINT MAG - VALLUM* DIGITAL EDITIONS!** Vallum magazine is also available in digital format. Featuring additional content such as AUDIO and VIDEO recordings of selected poets, further poems, interviews, essays, and MORE! Click play to listen to Fanny Howe read "Time's Thought," from Vallum 16:1 "Connections." Buy your digital copies HERE!		Sign up for Vallum News! Vallum News LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: _____________________________________ FALL 2021 CHAPBOOKS NOW AVAILABLE Erín Moure's Retooling for a Figurative Life and Heather White's DES MONSTERAS are now available for purchase, in print and digital formats! In Retooling for a Figurative Life, Moure blurs the physical and the linguistic. She conducts an investigation of material life and its linguistic manifestations: bridges, rivers, and punctuation marks all receive equal footing and care. Moure catalogues the joys and disasters of life, as well as the natural and political cycles that knit our lives together. Ultimately, she insists on possibility, and the importance of ground and sky: all that they generate, and all that returns to them. "Every bit of matter counts," she writes, "no matter / how small." Winner of the 2021 Vallum Chapbook Award, DES MONSTERAS records the hopes and humiliations of arriving somewhere new. Composed by phone, torquing formal constraints into solace, its fifteen notes trace both an insular retreat and an impulse to connect during the Montreal winter of the pandemic. The chapbook is a poptimist's account of moving and courtship that speaks to the thrill of beginnings, the threat of histories, the whims of grace, and the work of candour. Only 100 copies of each chapbook are available. They won't remain in stock forever! Order your copies now before we run out. Visit our print store to order your chapbook, or visit our online store for digital editions. _____________________________________ 2022 VALLUM COVER AWARD We are thrilled to announce the second annual 2022 Vallum Cover Award! *Win $500 and publication on the cover and interior of our Spring 2022 issue, Vallum* 19:1 "Bridges"! We are accepting entries of 5-10 images responding to the theme of "Bridges." One image from the winning entry will appear on the front cover of the magazine, and 4-8 images from that series will be selected to be published within the interior. The deadline to submit your work is March 5th, 2022. ENTRY FEE: $25 for Canadian entrants, $30 for U.S. and international entrants. Payments are processed through our Submittable account. Each entry fee includes a free one-year print subscription to Vallum! We offer a reduced entry fee for those for who the entry fee presents a barrier. Visit our Submittable page for details. _____________________________________ "IT WAS TREATY/IT WAS ME" WINS bpNICHOL CHAPBOOK AWARD! And is also shortlisted for the Nelson Ball Prize for poetry of observation! Matthew James Weigel's 2020 Vallum Chapbook Award-winning work was announced as the winner of the 2021 bpNichol Chapbook Award at the Meet the Presses event on November 25, 2021. In celebration of this win, we are issuing a limited-run reprint of Weigel's phenomenal work. 150 copies are available with a new, pale blue cover. Visit our online store to purchase your copy. Thank you to the judges for selecting Weigel's work! _____________________________________** VALLUM ISSUE 19:1 BRIDGES \| SUBMISSIONS OPEN The ability to move oneself towards future possibilities and potentials brings us to bridges, to principles of connection. Our current social and mental states can often seem to function on the premise of fragmentation, with past and present chaos always sweeping away a moment of coming together. The bridging of gaps and grounding in the wake instability is crucial to our personal, and collective, well-being. We're looking for poetry that speaks about these fractures and uncertainties, and/or about our abilities to overcome them, to build bridges. Our call is open to poems, essays, reviews, interviews, as well as audio or video peoms. Read more details on hot to submit through our Submittable! Deadline: December 15, 2021 _____________________________________ VALLUM SOCIETY FOR ARTS AND LETTERS VSEAL has upcoming poetry workshops on the horizon with our partners at Native Montreal, Unravelling in Rhymes, and new partnerships with organizations such as Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre in Fort Frances, Ontario, as well as the Sioux Lookout Adult Learning Centre at the Sioux Lookout Public Library in Sioux Lookout, Ontrario. Keep an eye out for forthcoming announcements about our workshop dates! To learn more about VSEAL's Poetry for Our Future! outreach program, partners, facilitators , please visit our outreach page here. _____________________________________ FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN - VSEAL/VALLUM ANNUAL LITERARY CAMPAIGN: Nov. 1, 2021 – Oct. 31, 2022 It has always been true that magazine sales, subscriptions, and, yes, even grants, are not enough to fund the operating costs of running a poetry magazine. We are asking you—our reader, friend, contributor—to make a donation. Here is exactly how far your money goes: $10: Cover the cost of printing and mailing one copy of Vallum $50: Pay one contributor for their poetry $125: Finance a poetry workshop for an underserved community in Montreal $500: Fund the artists whose work graces our pages $1000: Sponsor our internship program $10/month: Provide stability for operating costs We will reward your generosity with a charitable tax receipt and a mention on our donor page (if desired). Your contribution makes it possible not only for Vallum to continue publishing, but for poetry to continue to flourish far into the future. DONATE ______________________________________ Vallum's Mailing Address: 5038 Sherbrooke West PO BOX 23077 CP Vendome Montreal, QC H4A 1T0 CANADA ______________________________________



Reviews "Poems don't give answers to anyone—they are words on a page that you read and interpret, raising questions you have to answer for yourself...Nowhere is this truer than in the "Lies and Duplicity" issue of Vallum." - Newpages.com / Link to the full article "Surely there are words to encapsulate the whole of Vallum...an eclectic and colorful collection of original art, poetry, and essays that unravel the world from bizarre and fantastic perspectives ... a refreshing variety of style and range of voice." - Utne Reader / Link to the full article "What rewards and satisfies the most about the poems in Vallum is their use of language. I don't know how often I've read a journal containing poems of the same style that might have been written by the same poet. This is not true of Vallum where language is witty, startling, sardonic, obscene, often (and I can't believe I'm using this word) - lovely." *- Literary Magazine Review / Link to the full article* "…establishing this publication as one of the top poetry magazines in the country. The layout and design are fantastic, and the full-colour artwork is magnificent, both complementing the fabulous writing...a fabulous magazine, with the quality of a fine book." *- WORD* "This Canadian journal makes a bid to be international." *- Bloomsbury Review* "Vallum's mix of poetry, prose, and visual art is audacious and exciting.... If the vigorous writing in this journal is any indication it's only a matter of time before the world catches on... This new magazine has a beautiful artistic look and feel." *- The New Pages Literary Magazine Stand* "An impressive lineup of poets." *- The Montreal Mirror* "Beautifully printed and not a little self-willed." *- Literary Magazine Review* "Vallum is passionate, ethereal, realistic and provocative, responding to change and movement of time, raising questions of the reader and proffering various solutions." *- Incwriters Society*
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