The Poetry of Bernard Alain

a short biography

          Born in 1959, Bernard Alain resides in Ottawa Ontario, Canada where he has spent most of his adolescent and adult life. His writing started at a young age in the late 70's as a musician and songwriter performing in the local clubs and bars. It was here he likely festered his contemporary voice, influenced by various artists like Cohen and Dylan, attracted to the raw and kinetic tones of folk music. During this time work in the local entertainment industry was sporadic and unrewarding and Bernard left the dead-end bistros of the Ottawa Market area for the west coast in search of a more appreciative audience. After a brief and unsuccessful campaign with the clubs and promoters in Vancouver B.C., Bernard left the arts altogether, returning to the security of a thriving computer industry in his hometown. He did not start writing again until the age of forty, giving up song writing to tap the inner-workings of the silent psychotherapist, channelling his artistic energy into poetry, a powerful aesthetic he has come to respect as a universal grammar.
          There were many stylistic changes as Bernard's poetry evolved, from the artistic and minimalistic to the verbose and microscopic. Though finding his experimentation with various genres rewarding, he regards most of his earlier work as no more than lyrical etudes, having fallen into the same trap as Voltaire time and time again, satisfying prescribed form as opposed to expositing fact and realistic emotional textures. Bernard feels he has redeemed himself as a contemporary poet in recent years, reacting to day-to-day events with a feral blend of urbanalia and abstract text. The change in style most evident in 'At Different Points in the Triangle' as he revisits the Golden Triangle where he documents the events of a compressed metro lifestyle. Bernard hopes to find a home for this collection with a publisher in the near future. His current book 'Mammoth Bones and Contemporary Beef' has been accepted for publication and will be made available this year. The anthology is a humorous take on the thoughts of a budding poet coping with a lack of acceptance and understanding for contemporary poetry in a pregnant and unjustly opinionated online community.
          Bernard believes expression should not be inhibited by form and reflect honestly, though enjoying a wide scope of appreciation for the many shapes the art provides, it is a personal mandate of his to increase readership for contemporary poetry by encouraging more organically formed and conversational text that reacts to and captures everyday events. He is the founder of two online sites, 'The Ink Blot' and 'The Cartier Street Review' where artists can submit their contemporary art and poetry for publication and feedback.

Bernard Alain has been published and/or featured in a few online journals recently such as the Orange Room Review, Madswirl, Pirene's Fountain, Mississippi Crow Magazine/RiverMuse Press, International Poet, The World Poets Society Electronic Catalog, Bywords, Bywords Quarterly Journal, Smoking Book and others with an upcoming publication in Wood Coin.

Bernard will be a guest on talk radio with Stone Reality Media Productions November 13, 2009, please check it out.

Above is a poster selected from the upcoming 'The Notes of a Digital Ghost' collection by Don Schaeffer, the words on the poster are hard to read in this resolution so I have provided the text below:


Diane Recapitulated

So heavy 
when she lifts herself 
from the electric 
legs into a flesh and blood chair. 

"This damn corpus," came 
into my mind from hers. But then 
her face opened at the corners of her broad mouth, 
like a deep Irish red-head. 

And she could dance 
memories of Diane 
next door in our Pennsylvania days, 
before we found paradise.

*Don's blog is listed on the right along with some other favorites.

The scoop on Yamrus these days

John Yamrus was my first real influence for contemporary poetry. I remember asking myself who was this guy who brought the American public into his livingroom and talked about his dog and wife. I've come to respect John's mastery of conversational mechannics and no doubt believe he is one of a only a few that have successfully layed a corner stone for the conversation poem. I frequent a few online haunts where he drops in occasionally, he's still pounding the pavement, beating the floorboards of school halls and universities with his microscopic views of day-to-day living. John continues to be a fixture in American poetry having been published many times and associated with other greats such as Bukowski. His latest book New and Selected Poems has been published by Lummox Press, check it out at lummoxpress.com

Recent Publication

One of my poems has just been accepted for printed publication in the Byrwords Quarterly Journal. A great compliment given that they only accept 6% of the total submissions so again a great way to wrap up the year.

Bywords (www.bywords.ca) was founded in the Fall of 1990 by a group of editors, staff, students, and alumni of the University of Ottawa. The group was brought together by Heather Ferguson of Agawa Press, Seymour Mayne of the Department of English, and Gwen Guth, a doctoral graduate in the Department. The current managing editor is Amanda Earl

The dramatist's art Milner says...

Every now and then I take my edgy packets of IU to familiar haunts on the net, practice parlor etiquette with the guys and gals who donned their steeds as far back as the 60's,"the dramatist's art" Milner says and the most devoted of thoughts sail out the window on a paper airplane. Not to fret though, the dramatization of poetry continues to win the vote, evolving with more conversational and psychographic text, extorting three-dimensional views from reflex. As a contemporary shape, the conversation poem seems to be gaining the most readership, offering more accessible content with more gut-level reaction to day-to-day circumstances. Somewhere between the journalistic and the artistic, this colorful median is developing an engaging tenor, slowly dispensing with the arcane, allowing readers to participate on their own terms.

on Don Schaeffer

I remember stumbling on Don Schaeffer's poetry a little over a year ago, after reading about hundred poems from his stash it became apparent there was more behind the voice. The simple construction and vocabulary often leading to a wealth of three dimensional views comprised of psychographic text and references to unexpected shapes. Along with being prolific among poets Don shares another interesting dimension with his poster art, earthy distortions that merge easily with the warm human element in his poetry. Don, much like Yamrus and others has layed a corner stone in contemporary poetry being another exemplar for the three dimensional view. He has a book right now called The Body Event and availabe at Barnes and Noble, a worthy read and I recommend it as a great entry point into his collection. Notes of a Digital Ghost is slated for release by PA early this year, the book launch is in Winnipeg May 13 and to be available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble after May 16, keep an eye out for it, I will keep the details posted on this site.

My Recent Poetry

Sunday, November 1, 2009

paparazzi eyes

Shopping Mall Playland

Diane Recapitulated

the acclaimed erbacce-prize for poetry

to follow blog directly

Ira Lightman Collaboration

Links To Other Poetry Related Sites

Other Bloggers I like