NEWS

2 January 2012

A bit of light-hearted cheekiness is being offered in the creation of this bookmark, an obvious take on the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' propagation from WWII Great Britain. Since the very beginning, on cue from the publisher, writers and friends of rufus books have taken to verbifying 'rufus' so that when one is ever so busy in all things rufus, one can be said to be 'rufusing'. Contrary to curmudgeonly constructive opinion, this verbification is not an impoverished or lazy slippage, but a play on all the red, ruddy, and russetty contemplations and actions – hence the verb form – of what it is to rufus or to be rufus, or if you like, Rufus, which is the Latin for 'red-headed'. Red in the head means red in the mind too, No? Red all over: outside and in. Indubitably. It was actually the very redness of a nephew's favourite stuffed animal lobster brought back from Nova Scotia and a happy adaptation by designer Julie Knapp that turned the original soldering-on adage into the impossibly silly 'Keep Calm and Lobster On' that inspired this rufusy version. There may be thousands of adaptations out there, but hers is the one that prompted this one, so think it worth crediting: you can see her stroke of playful brilliance online at her Etsy shop here. One might note, however, that while it's anyone's guess what to 'lobster on' might actually amount to, to 'rufus on' is to carry on – just with rufusy things as opposed to other things. Capisce? Helpfully quipped by poet Michael Lee Rattigan too: "There's a real carry to the term 'rufusing', a ruddy determination and push-through". Capisco. PLEASE NOTE: The bookmarks will not be sold separately but if you've just ordered a rufus title and would like one, we'll be happy to slip one in – and will hope you realise you've experienced true 'rufusing' in making this very request! Welcome to the new language.

10 December 2011
The Small Press of Toronto Winter Book Fair took rufus back to the old stomping grounds of Hart House where it all began in the loveliest rufus-hued library (shown below, left), and with the event taking place in the Great Hall (at right), two rather glorious rooms in which anyone would be happy to while away the time in sheer delightful bookishness. And that is exactly what happened, with a kindly look-in from John Reibetanz and a lovely surprise visit from artist Rudolf Kurz who made the drawings for A. F. Moritz’s Sound of Hungry Animals (although in all the excitement I didn’t have the wherewithal to pick up the camera at my elbow and take their photos, crikey). Talk, shop, and smiles were the order of the day – a success in all manner of ways. Looking forward to the next!

8 November 2011
An official handing-over of Eton poet in residence Jeremy Clarke's 'Praise' manuscript (140 handwritten pages and three early editions of the printed booklet), took place at the Eton College Library today.

Following lunch with Head Librarian Michael Meredith, his assistant Rachel Bond, and Head of English Jonnie Noakes, a visit to the College Library unearthed other manuscripts from their Modern Collections where the 'Praise' manuscript will take its place, including: a small red leather notebook of Percy Bysshe Shelley "showing his neat tiny hand" and in particular an unpublished love poem from Shelley to a female companion; the final draft pages of Thomas Grey's 'Elegy Written in a country Churchyard'; as well as early and late drafts of a poem by Robert Graves.

It is the intention of the College Library to present and teach from the 'Praise' manuscript on occasion to senior boys, sessions to which Jeremy Clarke will also be invited to sit in and speak on.

When the day comes – an unexpected one to be sure – it will certainly be a privilege to add to the 'Praise' collection now archived in the Eton College Library the upcoming rufus books publication due 2012.

27 October 2011
An Artist. A Poet. An Editor. Péter Cserháti. John Reibetanz. Vajay Emőke Cserháti. A Meeting. The Artwork. Stories. Discussion. Espresso and cakes. More Artwork. More Stories. More Discussion. More espresso and cakes. More More. As the book will be. Hidden Treasures no longer. A glimpse here. Woodcarvings. Sculpture. Sketches. Ekphrastic Poems. A sharing of Aesthetic sensibilities. Of Life sensibilities. A Significant day.

17 October 2011
Award-winning Hungarian poet and translator András Imreh has agreed to translate 'Fugitive Circles', a sequence of two sonnets by John Reibetanz written for the upcoming publication of Péter Cserháti: Hidden Treasures in Woodcarving, Sculpture, and Sketches. The original ekphrastic poems and translations will be published separately in pamphlet form in December 2012.

13 October 2011
This is the first mention of a project that will bring to light in 2015 a multilingual publication of the Hungarian Arany János' ballad 'A walesi bárdok' or 'The Bards of Wales', a work that was written in 1857 in defiance of a state visit by Franz Josef I of Austria to Budapest. Refusing to write a panegyric to honour a ruler he viewed as Hungary's oppressor, Arany János instead wrote the poem based on the execution of 500 bards who had refused to praise England’s King Edward II upon the invasion and conquering of the Welsh in 1277. Clearly intending it to be a criticism against the Habsburg Emperor and written in the Welsh framework to avoid censorship, Arany János' poem was only published six years later, disguised as a translation of an Old English ballad.

What is quite astonishing is that the poem, ostensibly about Wales, is one that is learned by heart by all sixth-grade school children in Hungary, and has been for generations, a fact mostly unknown in Wales but gaining in consciousness, most recently by way of a symphony written by the renowned Welsh composer Karl Jenkins that was premièred in Budapest this past June.

What is also of key interest is that the first translation into English was done by a Canadian, Watson Kirkconnell, poet, translator, scholar, and the ninth President of Acadia University, that was first published in Winnipeg in the Kanadai Magyar Újság Press in 1933. Having received permission to reprint this Canadian translation, two others have now been commissioned by rufus books: a more contemporary translation into English by the highly respected Hungarian-born English poet and translator George Szirtes, as well as a translation into Welsh by Gwyneth Lewis, the first poet laureate of Wales who has published collections in both Welsh and English, two of which were shortlisted for the Forward Prize and one that won the prestigious Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Prize.

Thus, with the original Hungarian + first English translation + contemporary English translation + Welsh translation, we are looking at a 4-part book that will be printed in a limited edition of 300 copies and published in celebration of rufus books' 10th anniversary, its release date to coincide nearest to the dates of 22 October that marks Arany Janos' death and 23 October that marks the rise of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet regime.

And it is from this latter point that the impetus for the project arose insofar as the publisher's parents having escaped from the tyranny of communist rule in 1969 – quite literally escaped on their second attempt as jailed on their first – and immigrating to Canada after a short stay in a refugee camp in Latina, Italy, where their first child was born. This, mixed in with a life-affirming four-day solitary trek along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in Wales during a year's study in London, and the very obvious fact that this could not at all have been possible had my parents remained in Hungary, is what is bringing such a publication into being.

Additionally, there will be a companion book containing works of poetry and short fiction with reflections on how 'The Bards of Wales' is as relevant in the world today as it was in 1857, along with another smaller publication containing excerpts from letters and conversations between the publisher and her parents as the project proceeds, which will bring the total number of publications for this project to three. After all, as they say in Hungary, "három a magyar igazság".

5 October 2011
NEW RELEASE

On the first anniversary of the book's publication, an audio recording of Devon Hymns being read by author Jeremy Clarke is now available to purchase in compact disc or downloaded from iTunes, Amazon, or CD Baby. This is an exciting foray for rufus into a new area of publishing. Please see the Devon Hymns: nineteen poems page for more information.

15 September 2011
NEW RELEASE

Pig Nuts & Peacocks by Anthea Simmons is now available to order. It is a collection of poems and illustrations inspired by and chronicling her life amidst the animals and natural surroundings in the depths of the East Devon countryside where she lives. "Pig Nuts and Peacocks is a collection of quiet beauty. In this hymn to nature and to life, Anthea Simmons introduces us to her rural home, and the creatures she shares it with. Through the warmest of words, and the author's own most delightful and delicate line-drawings, we meet herons and hens, bracken and bramble, an apricot fox… This jewel of a book is both a celebration of the countryside and a finely-crafted exploration of the emotions engendered when we align our hearts to nature." Malachy Doyle

27 June 2011
With regard to the chapbook mentioned in the previous news entry, we've added an essential element that will lend it literary credence by way of John Reibetanz who has agreed to write ekphrastic poems that will appear throughout the collection in response to a number of the artworks depicted therein. This is a very exciting prospect and one that might see him traipsing to a Toronto church or two in which are found some of my father's earliest hand-carved interiors, and to my parents' home where the artworks I've grown up with - more than that, imbued - will be seen afresh. This will be a project both privileged and inspiring for rufus and something that I hope will be able to give back a bit to my parents what they've gifted me in the course of our (creative) lives, and in turn, present that gift to those who are not yet even aware it exists. The addition of John Reibetanz's voice will help bring these "hidden treasures" to light in a way only he can, with his particular mode of vitalis and grace. I'm thinking this will be quite the journey all 'round. A meeting of aesthetic sensibilities, though one be written with chisel or clay or charcoal and the other in stanzas, lines, words. A significant work.

23 June 2011
Here's another surprise addition to the rufus line-up, a chapbook for publication next spring. It's a surprise in more ways than one. First of all, it's not quite poetry or even short story, but will be a narrative more of a visual kind. It will speak to the senses like poetry and will impress like a short story, but will do so through a series of photographs. However, it won't be a photographic collection either. So what in the world will it be? Okay. Here it is. It will be a collection of artwork by Péter Cserháti, mainly woodcarving with some sculpture and sketches. In an age where woodcarving is extremely rare as an art form, you'll be taken into a world that at once harkens back to Grinling Gibbons (that's no exaggeration) but also extends into the modern in a way not quite seen before. Thing is, for myself, I have seen much of it before - I grew up surrounded by it - but to the outside world it's been a hidden treasure, so that's the title it's going to take. And it's going to be edited by Vajay Emőke Cserháti. If you haven't figured out by now who I'm talking about, it's my parents. So although I was going to welcome them to the rufus family, how do you do that with those who welcomed you into their own family first? Is that a paradox? Sort of? I'm too busy thinking about the design aspects to sort that out. Sort of, sort, so.

8 June 2011
In the last few years rufus publications seem to have been largely concentrated on UK poets. Given who they are and what their publications have become, this was perfectly fine from a certain standpoint ("fine"? "fine"? what kind of word is that? inadequate, inadequate.. "certain"? "certain"? what’s "certain"? damned remarkable is what..), but some turning of tide back towards Canadian shores was going to happen, and soon.

With Erin Soros' chapbook due out next year, we’re dipping back into Canadian territory again, and what's more, with the short story form. All exciting.

But looking forward we haven't really added paint to this roughly-hewn canvas. Not until now.

With a splash of intellectual blue, say, we’ve firmed up on John Reibetanz's "riddlu" chapbook set for 2013. Remember (from four years ago.. yes, that long ago), that "riddlu" is a word he ingeniously coined for metaphorical poems that are riddles in haiku form? We threw one at you then, but now try another:

Bloom in two hues on
pale, leafless stems at evening
and fade within hours.

Then for 2014 we're excited to announce plans for a chapbook by up-and-coming poet Ben Meyerson, entitled Menagerie. Thoughtful and erudite, these poems traverse and transcend such diverse spheres as: Roman poet Martial's epigrams about Nero's Games in the Colosseum; Lot's flight from Sodom in Genesis, when his wife turns to look back and turns into a pillar of salt; Tintagel, said to be the birthplace of King Arthur; Oisín, the warrior-poet who appears in Irish mythology as the son of Finn McCool; and 'Gitano', referring to the usage of the gypsy in the poetic mythology of Federico Garcia Lorca, the Spanish lyric poet. These and others besides.

For 2015..? Well, we're still in the planning stages but definitely working towards a full-length Canadian publication. More on that when we too know more ourselves.

2 June 2011
Looks like we’re revisiting our roots, that is, of our first publication, Whereabouts. In the last entry there was mention of a new direction for rufus, namely that of producing audio recordings by poets reading from their own works. I had recalled some long-ago trading of loose thoughts with Matthew Francis about this idea, but with things now being what they are, pitched it to him more directly. In short, he's said 'yes' to recording all 35 sestets of Whereabouts and, in addition, has offered seven new similarly-themed poems that will be made into 'bonus tracks'. We’re aiming for a November sort-of-sixth-anniversary release. Elated at the prospect of working with Matthew again!

23 May 2011
The Victoria Day long weekend (in Canada) was spent largely on the computer whilst sun, fog, and rain did their bits to liven things up weather-wise for the outside world. The inside world – this very ruddy rufusing one – brought into being much talk and even more actual work on but a mere twelve projects or doings (ahem, that's rather ambitious for one lone person, methinks)… Let's see… 1. With Gill Gregory's In Slow Woods it was a matter of sending out review submissions, and, 2., being spurred on to figure out what rufus can do about distribution in the UK in the hopes of being able to arrange for Gill to do readings in certain not-necessarily-independent bookshops… Then there's 3., which is a second printing of Jeremy Clarke's Devon Hymns (yes, we've nearly sold out the first 300) that needed a new contract sorted, and then still with Jeremy, there’s 4., the publication of the chapbook Incidents of Travel next month, and now 5., a new idea of having rufus produce a recording of the poems therein to be available on CD and downloadable as well… Jeremy took on the recording aspect himself some time ago (and the results have been quite brilliant) but now we'll be putting the rufus stamp on it too… 6. is a further recording by Jeremy of Devon Hymns and all the previously mentioned considerations… And with all this planning of voice recording going on, 7. came up, which is to do the same thing for Anthea Simmons' Pig Nuts & Peacocks due out in September. And so because of points 5, 6, and 7, we have 8., which is that a new batch of UK ISBNs for the CDs had to be ordered… Hm… What’s 9? Oh, yes, of course, it was the no small matter of much beaverly tinkering on the overall design of Pig Nuts & Peacocks… we need to have that set asap so that Anthea can get a start on the drawings for the chapbook… 10. is exciting word back from award-winning graphic designer Carleton Wilson that he's agreed to design the cover of Michael Lee Rattigan's upcoming collection of original poems Between Places that we just added to the listing and will have out in 2012… 11. is a whole other matter of another publisher wanting to reprint Michael's translations of the complete poems of Fernando Pessoa's heteronym Alberto Caeiro (that rufus did in 2007, and then in 2010 for a newly discovered poem) and the technical and legal ramifications re permissions and publishing rights that go with that – all new territory for rufus, whew(!)… Finally, we've made it to 12., which is a matter of welcoming Ben Meyerson to the ever-expanding rufus family, who will be working over the summer as a student intern (our first such appointing), covering ground in writing an in-house review of A.F. Moritz's Sound of Hungry Animals (about time) and doing a textual analysis on the two already-published versions of Claire Keegan's short story "Night of the Quicken Trees" in anticipation of its publication by rufus in single-book format in 2013… So, then.. Certainly many marvellous new workings… A whole lot of things on the go at once… Go, Go, Go!!!, I'm told. Wish me luck. (Kerplunk.)

22 May 2011
Just before setting down to the design work on Anthea Simmons' forthcoming chapbook Pig Nuts & Peacocks, a delightfully unexpected birthday gift was waiting for me from her in my inbox… Here I was, determined to ignore an unwelcome birthday by being more contentedly occupied in this particularly demanding aspect of rufusing, and suddenly being gifted a wonderfully writ poem that captures more than anything else I've read just the way I see myself when at work rufusing – or at least what I aim to live up to. So one could suggest that rufus is The Birthday Girl (and not just on this one day)… Think of it that way, if you’d like. I’d like you to.

Ah! The Birthday Girl! See how she sits, engrossed, Intent, Diligent, Assiduous. Not for her the giddy harum-scarum, The grass-hopper-brained skip Around the kingdom of the clouds; Nor the abstracted wool-gathering Or bird-witted, flighty caprice Of a heedless daydreamer, today, On her day of days. No. She is riveted. Rapt. Meticulous; Punctilious. Wakeful, sharp-eyed, Missing nothing. Except a cake, Maybe?

"Birthday Girl" © Anthea Simmons, 2011

2 May 2011
Some good words from John Heald of Jeremy Clarke's Devon Hymns printed in The Betjeman Society Newsletter (No.81, April 2011): "I have found dozens of Betjeman or Betjeman-related items on the shelves [of the secondhand bookshop Any Amount of Books in Charing Cross Road] and the pleasure is enhanced for me by a chat with the knowledgeable staff behind the counter - and the sight of their adorable and most bookish puppy. Described in The Daily Telegraph as 'the pious poet of St Pancras', [Jeremy Clarke] recently published Devon Hymns, his first volume of verse. I strongly recommend it to you and am not remotely surprised that, in January, he became poet-in-residence at Eton College and is admired by the likes of John Berger and Ronald Blythe. A brief quotation would not do the work justice but I have no doubt that Sir John would have loved it - and so will you. I suggest you buy it (cost £12) when you next visit the shop, or order from Rufus Books". 

14 April 2011
NEW RELEASE

In Slow Woods, Gill Gregory’s debut collection of poems is now available for purchase. "Gill Gregory's first collection is luminous and suggestive. If these subtle, intelligent and sensory poems have a seductive quality, they are equally poems tempered by a strong awareness of people, and the world, and of histories that are both owned and imagined. They are poems that surprise and resonate." Deryn Rees-Jones Please see the In Slow Woods page for more information.

18 February 2011
The London Magazine's Feb-March 2011 issue has just hit the stands. This is worth noting if only because two poems (well, three, but I don’t want to confuse matters) from Jeremy Clarke's forthcoming Incidents of Travel, "House" and "Gifts", have been published therein (pp. 122-123). Be one of the first to peruse these samplings before the chapbook's own Spring publication.

10-12 February 2011
Another gust of wintery wind welcomed Claire Keegan back to Toronto, courtesy of the University of St Michael's College's Celtic Studies Speaker Series. We were all treated with a wonderful reading and lively discussion of Claire's award-winning story Foster, which after appearing in The New Yorker had been published as a stand-alone book by Faber & Faber last year. The short visit afforded a night out to experience Canadian cinema with the viewing of Denis Villeneuve's stunning Incendies, and then a quick lift up the Manulife Centre to the 51st floor of the Panorama, to… well… look at the panorama of the Toronto skyline. While going up the elevator a sly comment came from the Irish writer about rufus having a thing for taking her up to high places... It was the CN Tower last time... Well, why not? Lofty ambitions and all that…

2 February 2011
Somehow, January has blurred into February… And a new writer has blurred into being amidst the rufus clan. We are delighted to add British poet and artist Anthea Simmons to our listing. This is a surprising addition as rufus had no intention of stretching beyond its carefully numbered existing and upcoming projects. Well, we've made an exception. You'll learn why soon enough. At this time rufus is keenly pursuing design concepts that will see a chapbook entitled Pig Nuts and Peacocks published in the autumn of this year. (Yes, we've moved quickly on this one!) Given the season, here’s a very apt poem for a taste:

The wispy braid of winter's wind-whipped briars Twists between puckered and wool-patched fields. The rooks' nests sway, cradled carelessly by stricken branches, Gothic black against a pewter sky. The carapace of winter shrouds the land, The colour leached, the texture gone. I stand, skin scorched by cold, And watch my landscape, my piece of Dorset. And, even as I watch and wait, Frost-fractured earth begins to split. Upstart shoots of green appear Insistent, wilful. Life tints the seam which splits the hill As Winter yields to headstrong Spring.

“A Piece of Dorset” © Anthea Simmons, 2011

28 January 2011
We are delighted to discover (okay, a bit late) that a lengthy review of Michael Lee Rattigan’s Alberto Caeiro translations was published in PN Review 185, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 64-65 (January-February, 2009). Feel free to visit the Alberto Caeiro webpage to read the full review.

30-31 October 2010
Now, this really did come out of nowhere… Jeremy and rufus whirled into the better part of the weekend, spurring each other's creative energies on, coming to the best possible design of the chapbook that has finally been given the name Incidents of Travel. It was a marathon of wills, relentless pursuit, no matter the bitter cold outside (though warmed by gulp after gulp of nourishing hot chocolate on the Toronto side anyway). No matter the demands of time or energy (and remember, there's a 5-hour difference between time zones), every ounce of imagination, inspiration, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and vision, was channelled to this one end. Neither let up. Not once. Easy fixes and compromise were not an option. The thing got done. Well. You’ll get to see it soon too.

27 October 2010
A flurry of emails begun on this day, between just-published Jeremy Clarke and rufus proper, very quickly morphed into a new project – a chapbook for Spring 2011! How did this happen? We blinked and then there we were, on the edge of something new, unforeseen, unanticipated. Astonishing.

5 October 2010
NEW RELEASE

Devon Hymns, Jeremy Clarke’s debut collection of poems is now available for purchase. This is a beautiful first edition book with cover artwork by John Berger and drawings by Yves Berger. “Written with both wit and a profound sense of the time passing, Devon Hymns takes us to what he calls ‘the great mismatch / of man and field’. A place where the cattle themselves are recognised with a new vision of their existence. Witty and moving, reticent and self-revealing, harsh and lyrical by degrees.” Ronald Blythe Please see the Devon Hymns page for more information.

2 September 2010
A new poem of the heteronym Alberto Caeiro was discovered penciled on the flyleaf of a book in Pessoa's personal library. It probably dates from around 1920. On 22 June 2010, at the Bridewell Theatre (just off Blackfriars), Richard Zenith first brought this new discovery to Michael Lee Rattigan's attention. The poem was translated by Michael Lee Rattigan on 20 August 2010. It is now available as an insert to the book in the effort to ensure that the collection remains truly complete.

5 January 2010
We are excited to relay that Canadian artist Wesley W. Bates has agreed to a collaboration with Claire Keegan to make original wood engravings for her book-length short story "Night of the Quicken Trees".

17 June 2009
rufus books resumed publishing activities in the form of participating in the Toronto Small Press Book Fair on Saturday 13 June. The event had more than 90 exhibitors selling their books and over a dozen authors reading from their works. This included Maureen Scott Harris, who is listed with rufus books for a future project. It's good to be back doing rufusy things again.

3 June 2009
Congratulations to A.F. Moritz on his winning the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize for The Sentinel (House of Anasi Press). Some of the poems from rufus books' own Sound of Hungry Animals were later included in the award-winning The Sentinel. Please click here for more details about the prize.

15 December 2008
As per the announcement of 5 March 2008, rufus books will be taking a hiatus from publishing activities until further notice. In the meantime, all available titles may still be purchased through the website. Keep in touch!

5 December 2008
NEW RELEASE

Thomas Joachim Kingston's debut collection of poems, Out of Mind, is at last released. Worth the wait.

15 March 2008
NEW RELEASE

Sound of Hungry Animals by A.F. Moritz with drawings by Rudolf Kurz. This is a special limited edition of 125 copies with letterpress images and hand-binding.

5 March 2008
ANNOUNCEMENT: CESSATION OF PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES
After the release of Thomas Joachim Kingston’s poetry collection, Out of Mind, in the coming months, rufus books will not be adding any new authors to its listing or publishing any new titles until further notice. Available titles may still be purchased online.

17 January 2008
Astute readers may have picked up on a new book being added that had been published in 2006. I do not defend nor relay why this has occurred. It makes sense to rufus and to the author and that's just the way it is. More to the
point, Nature Notes: fragments for an elegy is now available for purchase. Don't fuss that it's two years later.

31 December 2007
Another flow of good words about Whereabouts is found in The Guardian's Saturday issue. Too bad this collection is described in diminutive terms as a "pamphlet" (it may not be your standard Faber but it is with its 52 pages, by definition, a book of over 48 pages), but these words make up for the slip: "Francis's astonishingly assured manipulation of the narrow confines of the sestet in his breathtaking 2006 pamphlet [2005 book], Whereabouts, showed his formal dexterity".

28 October 2007
Mid-October proved to be fruitful for rufus with the launch of Echoes of Shadow by Jeremy Harman with a reception held in the PIMS Common Room at the University, and readings by visiting poets Thomas Joachim Kingston and Michael Lee Rattigan on consecutive Tuesdays at the Art Bar.

Also, a meeting with Claire Keegan (a busy in-between time for her, from a Celtic Studies conference at St. Mike's to the literary festival on the West Coast) reached a definitive agreement to publish Keegan's short story, "Night of the Quicken Trees" in a single volume. It need not be emphasised that rufus is more than just a little bit thrilled. What a whirlwind month it has been!

15 September 2007
Regrettably, the autumn book launch to have featured readings by Jeremy Harman, Thomas Joachim Kingston, A. F. Moritz, and Michael Lee Rattigan, along with an exhibition of original artwork used in the publications, has been cancelled. Production of Kingston’s and Moritz’s books have been postponed until 2008.

Jeremy Harman’s Echoes of Shadow however, will be launched on October 15, 2007. The event will take place in the common room of the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies (PIMS) at the University of Toronto’s St. Michael’s College campus, beginning at 7.00 p.m.

The readings at the Art Bar by UK poets Thomas Joachim Kingston and Michael Lee Rattigan will also go ahead as scheduled, with copies of Rattigan’s translation of the complete collection of Alberto Caeiro available for purchase. See the Events section for complete details.

11 September 2007
Canadian writer, Erin Soros, is the first to brave the waves with rufus books with a unique two-volume collection of short stories. Many ideas abound (with prints or distorted photographs, one with the stories, and the other with quotations complementing the artwork), but it is likely that the collaboration won't be published for a number of years. (More time to buy more hats!) Nevertheless, it is heartening that rufus is finally adding the short story to its list of publications as originally intended.

5 September 2007
NEW RELEASE

Unearthed from the legendary trunk containing Fernando Pessoa’s literary oeuvre, the poems of one of his most celebrated heteronyms, Alberto Caeiro, are now available for the first time in their entirety in a bilingual Portuguese-English edition.

“To exist is enough to be complete.”

At the core of Caeiro’s philosophy is the “shocking reality” that everything in nature is individual and distinct—valuable in and of itself without need for embellishment or comparison—be it a flower, a river, or the setting sun.

Maintained in Michael Lee Rattigan’s careful and alert translations, Caeiro’s distinct philosophy is faithfully rendered and subtly re-worked so that the balance between anticipation and lived reality in the moment is expressed with the greatest tenderness and clarity.

Thomas Crosse, a lesser-known English heteronym of Pessoa’s, was entrusted the task of gathering the poems of Caeiro into one for the English-speaking public. Capturing Caeiro’s unique voice with an immediacy that is true to the original, Rattigan’s sensitive translations have at last succeeded in carrying out Crosse's task.

28 July 2007
Currently in the last phases of design and copy editing, Michael Lee Rattigan’s translation into English of the complete poems of Fernando Pessoa’s heteronym Alberto Caeiro is generating ripples of interest. As the first complete collection and only Portuguese-English bilingual edition available to the world en masse, rufus books has neatly stepped into the spotlight with this first dip into translation. With the release date set for 5 September 2007, be ready to dip your own toes – well, fingers – into this highly anticipated publication. What Thomas Crosse, Pessoa’s English heteronym, was instructed to do in compiling the poems of Alberto Caeiro for the English-speaking public, this living and breathing Brit has finally done. Talk about treading in someone else’s footsteps.

13 July 2007
The final ink drawings by Rudolf Kurz have arrived! These have been commissioned for A. F. Moritz’s chapbook entitled Sound of Hungry Animals. These aren’t your usual breed of animals though, so don’t expect any cuddly pets here. Not in the poems, nor certainly in the drawings. Just for a taste, consider the enthralling euphonic-cacophonous copularum of these lines from The Shiver: “…tritons,/ and cod swarms on a black wave/ smothering in their congress/ of mortised and tenoned bodies, and graeae/ lassooing the grampus and narwhal,/ mermen mating with and sating/ mealy tunny”. And yes, there is an extraordinary ink drawing inspired by this poem waiting to send a shiver up your spine – after you’ve felt the first shiver in reading the poem, that is.

15 June 2007
NEW RELEASE

Echoes of Shadow, Jeremy Harman’s debut collection of poems and photographs, is now available for purchase. This is a beautiful limited edition chapbook. “Throughout this deeply accomplished, deeply significant collection, Jeremy Harman offers us a profoundly satisfying conversancy between the movements of nature and those of poetry. Illuminating our losses and holding us, the poems of Echoes of Shadow are poems to hold onto.” John Reibetanz Please see the Echoes of Shadow page for more information.

9 April 2007
rufus books is delighted to announce the addition of John Reibetanz to our author’s listing. It’ll be some light-hearted quizzical poems to look forward to. Quipped as ‘riddlu’, these metaphorical poems are riddles in haiku form, hinting upon anything from wine glasses, a pencil, or a coat hanger. Try your hand at this one:

This hook trails after
its line. It catches no fish,
but pulls the line up.

4 April 2007
The discovery of another complete collection being translated into English of Fernando Pessoa’s heteronym, Alberto Caeiro, has spurred rufus books into action. Slated for publication in the spring of 2008, Michael Lee Rattigan’s translation is now being pushed forward to the autumn of 2007 for the simple reason that seven years of honing the manuscript ought to be awarded the chance for it to see first light into English – that is, releasing our translation a goodly ten days before the other one. Also, the rufus books publication will be a Portuguese-English bilingual edition, the only one of its kind.

16 March 2007
A visit to the Toronto Art Expo happily accomplished two things: acquiring the rights to use the transcendental, form-flowing artwork of Andrea Maguire for the cover of Thomas Joachim Kingston’s upcoming publication, Out of Mind; and a chance glance at some startling etchings opening up the possibility to have drawings commissioned for A. F. Moritz’s Sound of Hungry Animals by artist Rudolf Kurz.

6 March 2007
rufus books is pleased to announce the addition of Gill Gregory to our author’s listing. Hailing from London, England, Gregory’s debut poetry collection is intended for publication in the next few years. Perhaps it’s the snow we’re (still) having in Canada, but more likely it’s the poem’s own gentle and soft-white snowiness that lends itself to the mind’s eye and ear:

5 November 2006
Another excellent review of Matthew Francis’s Whereabouts has appeared in PN Review 172, vol. 33, no. 2, November-December issue. David C. Ward describes Francis as "a poetic Houdini, escaping into a locked box in order to liberate his subject self." rufus couldn't agree more.

12 August 2006
An excellent review of Matthew Francis' Whereabouts has appeared in The Guardian. Just for starters: "Matthew Francis already has an impressive pedigree. With this outstanding volume, his place among contemporary British poetry’s aristocracy is confirmed…in this brief, beautiful book…`'

27 July 2006
The first UK review of Matthew Francis' Whereabouts has appeared in The TLS. It's short but to the point: "Part of the pleasure of the book comes from the freshness of the poems' observations, such as a spider's 'dry/posy of legs', the determination in a dead animal's stillness, and dogwood trees each 'adrift in its // vanilla float' to name only a few."

26 May 2006
rufus books is excited to announce the addition of Colin Carberry to our author’s listing – as a translator, in this case. An accomplished poet in his own right, it is planned that Carberry will be publishing an extensive collection of the Mexican poet Jaime Sabines in a bilingual Spanish-English edition.

15 May 2006
West Coast artist Richard Tetrault granted permission for rufus to use a woodcut of a crow for the cover of Michael Lee Rattigan’s collection, Nature Notes: fragments for an elegy. Quite a cocky little crow given the tilt of his head.

3 May 2006
rufus is delighted to add Jeremy Clarke to our listing – twice, actually – first, for a collection of poems entitled Devon Hymns with artwork by John Berger and Yves Berger, and then for an edition entitled The Four Seasons of Solitude with artwork by sculptor Emily Young.

9 February 2006
rufus is surprised and humbled to have A. F. Moritz, from Hart House days, now listed with this small press for a publication entitled Sound of Hungry Animals. Expecting this one to be a chapbook in collaboration with an artist (yet to be found).

24 January 2006
Jeremy Harman is finalising a collection of poems and photographs that will be published in the near future. This is where collaboration with the poet/photographer gets to be lots of fun for rufus.

5 November 2005
NEW RELEASE

Whereabouts, Matthew Francis Please see the Whereabouts page for more information.

28 October 2005
Matthew Francis arriving in Toronto!

4 September 2005
rufus is pleased to welcome Thomas Joachim Kingston to its author's listing. With a collection of poems entitled Out of Mind, Kingston's insightful poems are imbued sometimes with an assured certainty, or else with a joyful playfulness, and sometimes with both. "Calculating the Risks" perhaps encapsulates this ambiguity:

CALCULATING THE RISKS

Overnight the stem has split.
I had not seen it coming,
nor with eyes nor hands.

And now I buckle under the weight
of the shiny axe
securely embedded in my head.

Its thereness bewilders but
feels, I think, not out of place.
I should remove it.

But I am learning to balance deftly
under its weight
(I admit the handle impedes my

vision upwards)
but I am comfortable.

In my dreams I hear
the thud-suck of the thick blade’s
severance from my head,
perceive the gaping imperfection
of my head,
the split-gap,
the geyser-pain
there to mock my bereftness.

No, the axe stays.
Let them call me the axeman!

© Thomas Joachim Kingston

24 May 2005
The Canadian Victoria Day holiday presented the opportunity to fly out to Nova Scotia and specifically to Gaspereau Press in Kentville to discuss the printing of Whereabouts and hopefully of many more books to come. It was also a perfect (and legitimate!) excuse to finally visit the East Coast and wave across to Ireland and Great Britain via the resounding Atlantic. A terrific storm picked up overnight on the last day of the short break, pounding and rattling the windows of the B&B to such an extent that sound sleep was out of the question. Instead, wind and horizontal rain beckoned the weary traveller in the wee hours out to Peggy’s Cove and the famed lighthouse to take in the full fury of wave and spray. Not another soul around. Glorious!

25 November 2004
Hanlyn Davies – lithograph, permission.

23 June 2004
Is this really where it all begins in earnest? Rhetorical question.
Matthew Francis – pop-up poems – permission…granted.

In the beginning…
There was Hart House, with its wood-panelled library and deep-hued leather couches and even deeper rufus-red carpeting, and its myriad literary happenings. Then sometime later a year in London, travelling around Great Britain between studies, an epiphanic hike along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in Wales, a somewhat bedraggled return to Toronto, a tripping over the tail and unexpected dip into Matthew Francis’s Dragons and “The God of Paths” therein, and then the daft idea of starting a small press in earnest. Followed by a return visit to London and a skip over to Ireland and Sligo in particular for a reading by Seamus Heaney. Back to Toronto expectant and purposeful. And rufus tucked close.