The acclaimed poet Russell Thornton discusses his latest collection Answer to Blue (Harbour Publishing, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Answer to Blue by Russell Thornton (Harbour Publishing, 2021). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Answer to Blue

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Russell Thornton joins me again. The acclaimed poet recently published a new collection, Answer to Blue. The poems therein are lauded for his imagery, his depth, and clarity. They’re poems that reflect on memory, the natural world, family, and more. I’ll ask Russell about his poems, how he writes poetry, and the recent news of one of his previous books, The Fifth Window (Thistledown Press, 2000) going viral on Tik Tok. Russell Thornton’s 2014 collection The Hundred Lives was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize, and his 2013 collection Birds, Metals, Stones & Rain, which he was first on the program with, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, the Raymond Souster Award, and the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. He’s appeared in a number of anthologies as well. Answer to Blue is from Harbour Publishing. This will be the first in a number of shows I’ll be doing featuring poets and their collections, as April is National Poetry Month. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Russell Thornton; Mr. Thornton, good morning.

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