Over the course of its four issue existence, Jones Av has successfully demonstrated how lively, accomplished poetry belongs not just to poetic experts and their followers, but to every one. Editor Paul Schwartz consistently assembles an inspired publication, and #4 is not different in that respect — the largely unknown, mostly Canadian poets he selects obviously reflect his vision; these are poems that act, however inadvertently, to include the reader in the poetic process. Even though, or perhaps because, the poets are of varying tone and voice, the overall effect is that of a very potent reality being expressed with care and responsibility. This inauspicious chapbook deserves attention because of its sparse simplicity, its obvious belief in the muse, and its love of just being able to exist. It is not that this collection of poets demands less from the craft or from the reader; it is just that Schwartz selects poetry that speaks to the human, rather than around it. This latest issue sports a strange, gnarled pen drawing of an elderly woman supporting herself with an umbrella on the cover. It is the first issue to have any sort of graphic on the cover. As well, the poetry is getting slightly longer — though there is nothing over one page, nothing self indulgent or ponderous in its length. Clearly, Jones Av continues to evolve. A recent study suggested that Canadians are actually reading more books of poetry than a few years ago. The numbers are in the whopping five-hundred per publication. Let’s assume that this is indeed the case. Let’s assume that everybody who buys a book of poetry in Canada also buys Jones Av. Let’s assume Paul is selling ten, twenty thousand chapbooks…
lit chapbook / publisher: OEL Press / main creator: Paul Schwartz (editor) / $2, $8 for 4 / 88 Dagmar Ave., Toronto, ON, M4M 1W1