Martyrology Books 3 & 4

By bp Nichol

All of Nichol's work is stamped by his desire to create texts that are engaging in themselves as well as in context, and to use indirect structural and textual devices to carry meaning. In The Martyrology different ways of speaking testify to a journey through different ways of being. Language is both the poet's instructor and, through its various permutations, the dominant 'image' of the poem. The [nine] books of The Martyrology document a poet's quest for insight into himself andhis writing through scrupulous attention to the messages hidden in the morphology of his own speech.' - Frank Davey

• Language: English
• Publisher: Coach House Books
• Release date: Jan 1, 1998
• ISBN: 9781770561441

bp Nichol

bpNichol was one of Canada’s most challenging and innovative poets. His writing spans a remarkable range—from concise allegories on a single letter, on through to sound poetry, fiction, theoretical investigations and culminating in his nine-volume poem The Martyrology. Nichol’s curiosity and his care of language provoke his readers to embark on their own explorations into the language frontier. Meanwhile: The Critical Writings of bpNichol (2001), bpNichol Comics (2001), Rational Geomancy (1992) and Selected Writing: As Elected (1980) are also available from Talonbooks. A celebration of Nichol’s work, Tracing the Paths (1988), edited by Roy Miki, was published by Talonbooks shortly before Nichol’s death in 1988. Writing by bpNichol also appears in Imago 20 (1974), edited by George Bowering.

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