Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets – Al Purdy
This is the book that inspired me to start writing. Whether Purdy is or isn’t your cup of tea, he certainly inspired me to get into poetry when it had no relation whatsoever to what I was doing at the time.
From the Poplars – Cecily Nicholson
Reading this book resulted in one of the first times I experimented with form, it really inspired me to think about how things are laid out on a page. I also ended up getting to meet and chat with Cecily, with whom I’ve stayed in-touch, and I consider her writing to be some of the best out there right now!
Let Us Compare Mythologies – Leonard Cohen
Cohen was another writer I came across early, and whose poetry in particular keeps me coming back. I’ve done a lot of archival work surrounding Cohen’s early manuscripts for this book, so it holds a special place in my heart and on my shelf.
Little Wild – Curtis Leblanc
Curtis’ writing blew my mind, ’nuff said. When I try to describe this book to people, I tell them it’s written in the exact way I wish I was able to write.
Song & Spectacle – Rachel Rose
I picked out Rose’s book at a library at Western and fell in love. Her unique ideas for poems continues to push me to try and come up with innovative premises for my writing.
Andrew William (A.W.) French is a poet and academic who was born and raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia. French holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University, and is pursuing an MA in English at UBC. Andrew writes poems and book reviews that have most recently appeared in PRISM, the Hamilton Review of Books, and Cascadia Rising. In his spare time, he hosts Page Fright: A Literary Podcast.