Bending The Continuum
Bending The Continuum
By Dane Swan
The poems in Bending the Continuum are slave to no genre. Science-fiction, alternative realities, and time are fluid. Form, voice and space in this collection borrow from multiple canons. Dane's first book is equal parts CanLit, Harlem Renaissance, the Caribbean oral tradition known as Griotism, Roddenberry, hip-hop and dark-humour.
Details
Details
Guernica Editions (First Poets Series)
9781550713398
60 pages |
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Reviews
Reviews
Dane Swan is a wordsmith social scientist. His poems are a cross-section of humanity: Black, immigrant, working-class poor. His words are nostalgic one instant and futuristic in the next. The complexity of his poetry is quiet, never grandiose. While his work often resides in a moody and antiseptic urban context, it simultaneously exudes a sensibility that is fertile with hopefulness. His collection defies expectations and asserts the author as a discerning critical voice on the plight and redemption of our generation.
Anna Saini, Poetry Editor, aaduna
The human comedy of the supermarket line. Vignettes of family life. Things you do when alone in your apartment. And yet, the poet is able to transform these experiences into scenes of beauty and chaos that are anything but ordinary. While forwarded by the need to find justice, and break apart the capitalist stranglehold of our culture, Dane's poems -- executed with much grace -- are ones we connect to, as we embark on a journey to the full awareness of the "miracles [that happen] by opening our eyes". Dane is "the guy learning new languages", and telling us like it is. His poems are ones that must be read and heard as they traverse the borders of page and stage.
Adebe D.A., author of ex nihilo (Frontenac House)Swan’s craft is tight, his politics are right, and his poems take flight. He takes you on a journey as he writes about family, drink, discrimination, love, spirituality, and the most important thing in his life: poetry. Swan is a word warrior and he’s fighting the good fight.
Black Coffee Poet
Awards
Awards
About the author
Dane Swan's second book, A Mingus Lullaby (Guernica Editions, 2016), was a finalist for the 2017 Trillium Book Prize for Poetry. A past Writer in Residence for the Open Book Foundation of Ontario, Dane has been short listed for the Monica Ladell Award (Scarborough Arts). His first book, Bending the Continuum (Guernica Editions, 2011), was a mid-summer recommended read from Open Book Toronto. Dane is the editor of Changing the Face of Canadian Literature: A Diverse Canadian Anthology.
Dane is also an accomplished slam poet and touring spoken-word performer, placing second at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, third at the Rust Belt Regional Slam and touring the US Midwest and West Coast regions. He has graced numerous festival stages, including: IFOA, Hillside, Lab Cab, Parkdale Arts, Junction Arts, and Pitter Patter festivals. For four years Dane and Dan D'Onorio hosted Toronto's $100 Slam series.
His poetry has been taught in schools and has been published in France, the UK, Bahamas, and Canada.