Hushed voices filled the small, upstairs room of the Carleton Tavern as everyone waited in anticipation before Jesslyn Delia Smith took the stage. The Carleton graduate opened the night with her strong, intimate poetry for the Small Press Action Network-Ottawa (SPAN-O)’s readings and book launch Sept. 23.
Everyone listened intently and quietly sipped their drinks as Smith, standing at the front of the small room, read some of her most recent work, including “Over.”
“And on our way back he collapsed, a lopsided smile . . . A man searches/ But knows/ He is a navigator/ A beach of grains of shards/ Of glass, unholy lamp of /Moon above the hill/ A sound, far off/ Of guns to bring me down to home/ He knows/ He’s just taking his time,” she read aloud.
Smith, who graduated with an English degree in June, said she’s planning to put out a chapbook based on what was read at Dennis E. Bolen and Hugh Thomas’ book launch.
“I have a few publications behind me and now I want to move out beyond Carleton and start publishing with presses in the city. If I stay here, then I stay here and if I move somewhere else, I want to continue doing what I’m doing here,” she said.
SPAN-O allows Ottawa residents to experience local and Canadian talent. Smith said small presses are essential for independent writers.
“They are the only way for a lot of people to publish their writing. Some people just want to get their voice heard without the stress, commercialization and the superiority of major publishers.”
Before graduating, Smith said she was able to grow as a writer by attending writing circles, workshops and most importantly publishing three chapbooks through In/Words, a Carleton-based magazine and publisher.
“I completely credit In/Words with allowing my writing style to develop. Being able to publish through a university press and having people edit my stuff and give me feedback allowed me to further develop exactly what I wanted to say. I felt there is a lot more to what I write now than before.”
Her most recently published work is a chapbook called Rescue Poems, published in the In/Words magazine in January 2011.
“The theme of this chapbook is wanting to be rescued versus being the one doing the rescuing. I think everyone has been in that situation where they are in a place that they want to get out of but they feel like they’re responsible for somebody else.”
Smith’s poetry is very personal, delving into nostalgia with subjects like her childhood and relationships, she said.
“I find that a lot of what I write is about me trying to find a way to connect my mind to the physical world around me. I usually try to do that by placing myself within the boundaries of the city: its streets, its bridges, its buildings, using that as a way to explore what is happening inside my head.
“I feel that there is a connection between the emotional world and the physical world that a lot of people try to shut out,” she said. q
