My friend Julie just released her second book of poetry and Nick and I were at the event to help welcome it to the reading world. The book is called Lady Crawford and was published by Palimpsest Press.
The brief description of it reads, “Between imperial dinners and managing investments, Lady Crawford offers a rare glimpse of the inner-life of a woman who has married into a royal lineage. Chronicled in a series of metamorphic poems, Julie Cameron Gray reports from a world filled with parties and art before revealing the cost of an identity shed, as so many married women before her. Heartbreaking, drunken, and lavish, Lady Crawford is a powerful second collection from one of Canada’s finest poets.”
(In case you’re having a feeling of déjà vu, I recently wrote about another friend Nyla’s poetry book launch in this post — I have two friends who are gifted poets and they both launched a book last month.)
The event was held at one of Toronto’s few remaining independent bookshops, Another Story, located on Roncesvalles Avenue.
Four new books were being launched that evening so the place was packed with people. Being relatively tall we stood near the back of the crowd, not wanting to block anyone’s view, while each author read from their creations. Each was enjoyable, but of course, waited in anticipation for Julie’s turn. What a treat it was to hear her read a few of her fun and interesting poems. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face the whole time she read.
↑ An introduction by Palimpsest Press Editor, Jim Johnstone. ↑
↑ Getting our copy signed. ↑
If you’d like to see and hear Julie reading a couple of her poems, there of videos of her doing just that at the All Lit Up blog.
Lady Crawford by Julie Cameron Gray is available in many Canadian Bookstores, including Chapters, and is also available online via the publisher or Amazon – here.
After that wrapped up, Nick and I went out for dinner at Barque Barbeque, just down the street from the bookstore on Roncesvalles.
The food was very good but didn’t photograph well, so photos of my drink, a locally made cider that I order whenever I see it on offer, called Pommies, and the bucket of complimentary seasoned popcorn it will be
Thanks very much for visiting,
xo loulou
