Tramping thru the Trilliums

Big congrats to Pasha Malla and Jeramy Dodds on winning Trillium prizes. Always nice to see good people and good writers, moreover, doing well in these lotteries. Pasha says that the pot, to a poor fellah like him, feels like a fortune, but I'm always struck by how little money is involved, compared with, say, CC grants. A writer with a couple of books under the belt can take home two $20K grants in four years--and stands a much better chance of winning the grants than a prize. Even the Griffin seems not so ritzy--one wonders just how much gets spent on all the hoopla surrounding that one-- when put in this perspective.

Speaking of Jeramy Dodds, after some Canada Post misadventures I've finally got my copy of Riddle Fence #3, which features a snappy Norse translation by Mr. Dodds. Mark Callanan and co. have done a very nice job with RF. I can't think of many mags with as much interesting content as this little east coast upstart. Besides Jeramy's translation and two poems by yours truly, #3 features a couple of poems each by Starnino, Guriel (if you haven't read his new book, Pure Product, you really should; it's delightful) and Babstock, an excellent trio by James Langer and very good reviews by Patrick Warner and James Pollock. There's some fiction and non-fiction, too, which I've not yet got to.