Poetry Only

In this issue, we are very pleased to be able to feature a selection of poetry and drawings (including the cover art for this issue) by the late Inuit artist and writer, Alootook Ipellie. These pieces are from a travelling exhibit entitled Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border, which includes Ipellie’s poetry, drawings, political cartoons, and serial comic strips. The show ran at Gallery 1C03, located at the University of Winnipeg, from February 27 until March 13, 2020, when the exhibit closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’d like to thank Gallery 1C03’s curator, Jennifer Gibson, for facilitating the opportunity to share the words and artworks of this important Inuit artist.
This year’s Poetry Only instalment also collects new poetry by 34 writers including Leslie Joy Ahenda, Jaeyun Yoo, Marc Perez, Jennifer Zilm, Christine Wu, Isabel Yang, Catriona Wright, Yelibert Cruz Roo, Manahil Bandukwala, Meredith Quartermain, and many others. A special CV2 congratulations goes out to Therese Estacion, whose fine poems in this issue represent the first professional literary publication of her poetry.