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From the archives

Between Words

Anne Carson’s new book-without-a-spine, and the spiritual experience of centrelessness

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

A postmodern elegy from our most original writer

Boredom as a Political Weapon

Saul Bellow fought banality—and taught us to look hard at the world

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The magic of Bill Bissett

Emily Mernin

Last fall, I found myself happily stuck on “the offishul web site 4 bill bissett.” At the centre of its burgundy landing page is a seventeen-year-old photo of the octogenarian Toronto poet — blurry, askew, and mid-speech. Hovering around the image are more than a few options for further exploration. Other than the lime-green “hi — my name is bill” in the top right corner, almost everything is clickable. You can “email bill here” or press directly on his email address. His portrait divides a seemingly impossible choice between “nu CD” or “nu book,” though both will bring you to the same page where nothing is exactly new. Bissett, who was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2024, makes no assumptions about intrepid users scanning the various fonts cast in pinks and oranges and yellows for some kind of direction. “i am a poet nd an artist,” he explains, with two more hyperlinks that will take you to samplings of some of his poems and drawings. One of them is where I go to assure...

Emily Mernin is a senior editor at the Literary Review of Canada.

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