The Blasted Tree is ten years old as of this summer! It seems like only yesterday I was registering the domain name and asking my fellow creative writing students for short stories and poetry collections to publish as chapbooks. From its founding in Montreal in 2014 to the present day, The Blasted Tree has chased that special something that makes text fun to read and a page fun to read from. Now, I am delighted to present two new, fully-illustrated visual poetry books by ground-breaking Canadian authors, each available in a limited edition of 100 copies. Take a closer look at these titles below, and please consider participating in our 10-year anniversary fundraiser in support of these, and future, publications.
Game Genie Poems
Game Genie Poems takes the limited set of letters available in the Game Genie cheat code cartridge to its poetic extreme. Selecting only from words compatible with the code entry system, Stebner has crafted a collection of poems that treat topics as diverse as politics, gastronomy, sex, and literary formalism with rigorous precision and ribald humour. This volume presents photographs of Stebner’s code words entered into the Game Genie interface alongside textual versions to give readers an idea of the laborious process, not only of composing these poems, but of entering them letter-by-letter into a 1980s video game console.
HAVANA SYNDROME
by Sacha Archer
Slicing through genre and convention like a razor through celluloid, Sacha Archer’s HAVANA SYNDROME is a grimy, ink-splattered adventure in the hinterlands of typographic representation. Like a clandestine dossier of photocopied documents, these poems disclose themselves in furtive fragments, drawing the reader into a conspiracy of text and visual detritus. Which fingerprints are Archer’s and which are left by the reader? Whether you’re a detective or the culprit, HAVANA SYNDROME will enlist you into a secret agency of interpretation.
To celebrate ten years of small press publishing, The Blasted Tree is hosting an anniversary party and funding drive. Full details about the party are coming soon. Meanwhile, check out the fabulous offerings available through the funding drive over on The Blasted Tree’s online store, including book and chapbook bundles, one-of-a-kind art, out of print publications from our back catalogue, and more!
The Blasted Tree is looking to raise $2500 over the next couple of months to cover the production costs of our new books. Purchasing any of these bundles (or the books themselves) will be a huge help in meeting this goal. There are only 1 or 2 of each bundle available, so act fast! If you miss your shot at a bundle or just want to support the funding drive, The Blasted Tree also accepts donations. Any amount donated to the cause is greatly appreciated!