michael dennis

ottawa based poet michael dennis is one of my favorite writers & human beings.  i've written about him before & reviewed two of his books here,  one of the many things i admire about michael is his goodness & his practice of kindness.  the poet says in a poem that kindness is more important than poetry.  to which i say, oh fuck yeah.  still, even better is when a good poet is a good person.  michael dennis is that & more.  over the last few years we've also become good email friends.  we've not met in person.  i think we talked on the phone just once.  & yet, like the poets of old, it is by correspondence upon which our friendship is made.  thank god too for the interwebs otherwise i'd probably never have discovered michael's poetry.  anyway, i just wanted to point out this brilliant interview by another of michael's great friends, his own brother from another mother, poet stuart ross.  together they talk about friendship, kindness, poetry, garbage collection, & michael's recently shuttered review blog, today's book of poetry, which is still up & can be found in my links to the right, & also by clicking here.  i agree with stuart & michael that poetic ego is a cornball attitude toward the art & life.  if you like a poet's work say so.  write a little about that poet.  drop the poet a line via email, or twitter, or instagram, or whatever social media of your choosing.  most of us have some online presence.  just a good word here & there about the poets & poetry you love makes a huge impact for all of us in the art.  & it is something i need to do more of too.  we got just this one go at life & creation.  make it count.  

so please click on this link to read an interview with the poet michael dennis done by his great friend stuart ross.