Stephen Bett has had twenty-three books of poetry published: Lift Off: a journey of future tense(Salmon Poetry, 2019); Shall We Dance That One Around Again (Finishing Line Press, 2018);Back Principles: a book of spiritual fatigue (BlazeVOX Books, 2018); though we are incredibly small (Phafours Press, 2017); Our Own Stunned Heads (Nose in Book Publishing, 2017); Un/Wired (BlazeVOX Books, 2016); The Gross & Fine Geography: New & Selected Poems(Salmon Poetry, Ireland, 2015); Those Godawful Streets of man: a book of raw wire in the city(BlazeVOX Books, Buffalo, N.Y., 2014); Breathing Arizona: a journal (Ekstasis Editions, Spring, 2014); Penny-Ante Poems (Ekstasis Editions, 2013); Sound Off: a book of jazz (Thistledown Press, 2013); Re-Positioning (Ekstasis Editions, 2011); Track This: a book of relationship(BlazeVOX Books, Buffalo, N.Y., 2010); S PLIT (Ekstasis Editions, 2009); Extreme Positions: the soft-porn industry Exposed (Spuyten Duyvil Books, NYC, 2009); Sass 'n Pass (Ekstasis Editions, 2008); Three Women (Ekstasis Editions, 2006); Nota Bene Poems: A Journey (Ekstasis Editions, 2005); Trader Poets (Frog Hollow Press, 2003); High-Maintenance (Ekstasis Editions, 2003); High Design Refit (Greenboathouse Books, 2002); Cruise Control (Ekstasis Editions, 1996); Lucy Kent and other poems (Longspoon Press, 1983).
A recent nonfiction book (three prose memoirs) is also available: So Got Schooled: in the tower, on the field (Ekstasis Editions, 2017).
His work has also appeared in well over 200 literary journals in Canada, the U.S., England, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, and Finland, as well as in seven anthologies, and on radio.
Stephen Bett is a widely and internationally published Canadian poet. His earlier work is known for its sassy, edgy, hip... caustic wit―indeed, for the askance look of the serious satirist... skewering what he calls the 'vapid monoculture' of our times. His more recent books have been called an incredible accomplishment for their authentic minimalist subtlety. Many are tightly sequenced book-length 'serial' poems, which allow for a rich echoing of cadence and image, building a wonderfully subtle, nuanced music.
Bett follows in the avant tradition of Don Allen's New American Poets. Hence the mandate for Simon Fraser University's "Contemporary Literature Collection" to purchase and archive his "personal papers" for scholarly use.
He is recently retired after a 31-year teaching career largely at Langara College in Vancouver, and now lives with his wife Katie in Victoria, BC.
Interviews:
- August 2022: Checking in: With Stephen Bett - Pearl Pirie
- December 24, 2015: Chin Wag at the Slaughterhouse, Richard Godwin.
- December 2015: Those Godawful Streets of Man - An Interview, Front Porch.
Stephen Bett
Associate Editor & Circulation Manager,
Pacific Rim Review of Books
http://www.prrb.ca/