The End is Coming

In which I tie off the tattered bow of 2025...

What a terrible year. Glad to see the end of it. The world is burning and society is burning with it. I weep for our children who will reap the poisoned fruit of this time in a way we’re only predicting now. I’m sorry for my part in it, my loves.

That said, we’re all still here and even have some tidbits of good news, which is what I’ll concentrate on here with a few updates from my life and work:

Family

Most everyone is thriving. The last of the kids is headed off to university next year and suddenly my 25 year identity of “Dad” is in jeopardy. I know logically it’s just a change of relationship, but it’s weird to think I can now do things like “apply for a residency” or “travel for more than a few days” without anyone missing me.

Elisabeth has been plugging away at some amazing things, but I’ll let her tell you about them in her own time. She always amazes me. Professor, editor, executive director of a magazine, novelist, screenwriter, mentor, etc etc etc. She does it all. I am lucky if I can walk and chew gum.

I spent most February in small-town Ontario where my father was sick with leukemia. Taking care of the house, etc. Weird to be in the space I grew up in, but thankfully I didn’t really bump into anyone I knew from the old days. I can’t even imagine returning to live there, much less having never left.

Fiction

I finished my novel late last year and a good friend who is a successful novelist went through it and offered comments and suggestions for changes and I’ve been so overwhelmed, and frankly slightly scared of it, since February that I haven’t even looked at the notes.

I’ve also been writing short fiction for the first time in 25 years. My short story “One Last Thing” was longlisted for the Camel magazine prize, and has just been accepted at The New Quarterly. Other stories have had some near misses at some great journals, so I at least know they’re not garbage. Feels good.

Poetry

In 2025, I had poems appearing at The Walrus and the Madrid Review, while in 2026, I have poems coming in Bad Lilies, Event, Prairie Fire, and a couple others I can’t mention right now.

I also posted some poems here on Grain of Salt — ones I felt were more timely than useful for the journal/book cycle. Considerations for Building Your Own Guillotine and Red Flag are both here.

Right now, I’m writing mostly in form and rhyme. I know. Wild. I’ve always been an advocate of form/constraint as a generative force in literature, but I’m finally listening to some of my own advice. And what’s been coming out has been both fascinating and fun.

NewPoetry

I restarted NewPoetry.ca this summer past and have been posting a poem every Monday since. The idea of the site is to highlight (in a minimalist way) the poem over the business end of the craft — so just the title, author, and poem. No bios, no pics, no links, etc. The aesthetic is also driven by how I choose the authors, which I do by “snowballing”… Each author who is published is asked to recommend two or three others they think I should ask. It’s a great way to get outside your circle and any calcified ideas you might have about style/form/etc.

Aphorisms

I’ve been plugging away slowly the last few years at a third and probably final book of aphorisms, but this year my perseverance was rewarded with an invitation to speak at the world’s first International Conference on the Aphorism, held at Magnum in Parvo in Wroclaw, Poland in October. I delivered my paper (Aphorisms as Poetic Essence) in English as one of three North Americans invited (other official languages were German and Polish, but there were people from all over Europe), including aphorisms expert and addict, James Geary, who was the keynote. Gave us a great excuse to tack on some time in Prague and see that part of the world. Pretty touristy, gorgeous nonetheless. The paper is forthcoming as a publication as well. I’ll post where once the details are solidified.

Reading

I’ve read some great books this year. Mostly fiction. The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien is, frankly, one of the best books I’ve read in years. It’s like David Mitchell and Kazuo Ishiguro decided to work together on one book. Incredibly compelling, but also with sentence-level language that has done more to rekindle my love of lyric poetry than most poetry books I’ve read.

I’m also glad to see some of the poetry books I worked on during my time in publishing coming to light. Craig Francis Power’s Total Party Kill is a gut punch of a collection. Prose poems that explore addiction recovery through the lens of D&D. He’s literally fighting monsters and improving his character. Also this year was Paul Moorehead’s Green. Paul started writing poetry in one of my classes and, like everything he does in life (he’s been a theoretical mathematician, pediatric oncologist, musician, etc.), he’s thrown himself into the deep end. A book that spares no complexity but is also tinged with humour and deep thinking. Very Paul Muldoon.

Media

Watched a bunch of decent TV this year. Not as much as my screenwriter wife would like, but more than usual for me. Silo, Pluribus, and Vox Machina were standouts. In terms of movies, we saw lots, including local production Skeet, which was quite good. Just watched the latest “Knives Out” with Daniel Craig and it was also good.

Gaming

Been playing mostly Dune: Awakening, but with dips into my longtime boyfriend of a game, Cyberpunk 2077. Before Dune, I was playing The Witcher 3, which I couldn’t get into before, but finally cracked the code of and loved to bits. When we were in Poland, I was wearing my Samurai t-shirt (from CP2077), but no one noticed, I don’t think.

In terms of D&D, my group had to pause due to one member’s sudden health issue and another’s work crisis, so we’re probably going to restart in the new year. Adulthood blows.

Anyway, I hope you have a great year end and that 2026 brings some respite from the insanity that is the ocean current in which we all swim.

George