sorea rea blog: valentine poems for him

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Snare Books, launched in the spring of 2006, was founded by Robert Allen and Jon Paul Fiorentino. With the death of Allen in the fall of 2006 Fiorentino became the owner, operator, publisher, and editor of the company. The reason behind starting this small Montreal based literary publishing company was due to the result of a discussion between Allen and Fiorentino based on Canadian literary arts. Through their work together on Matrix Magazine, they had developed a fan base consisting of young writers. Many of these writers had trouble getting their new, innovative and experimental manuscripts published. While other small publishing companies, similar to Snare Books, are moving on to publish commercial fiction, general fiction, and mainstream poetry, Snare Books believes that they are the home for the young, innovative poets and writers of Canada. After their launch in 2006, some of the first published works they produced included: Melissa Thompson's Dreadful Paris, Zoe Whittall's The Emily Valentine Poems, Angela Carr's Ropewalk, and Jason Christie's Canada Post.

Robert Allen, born in 1946, died in November, 2006 just months after the founding of Snare Books. He is the author of three novels, nine poetry collections, and one work of short fiction. Allen was a mentor to co-founder and owner of Snare Books, Joe Paul Fiorentino. Robert Allen worked alongside Joe Paul Fiorentino at Matrix Magazine.

Robert Kroetsch, born in 1927, is a Canadian novelist, poet, and non-fiction writer. He has been called names like "The Father of Canadian Postmodernism", "Mr. Canadian Postmodern and the "Prairie Poet". Majority of his works have been received with praise and in 1969, he won Canada's Governor General's Award for The Studhorse Man. In 2004 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is also an accomplished poet. Both his poetry and critical writings are postmodern in that they subvert tradition, fragmented and opened ended." Kroetsch's work has been important in Canadian literary advancements.

Update. is the second book Kennedy and Wershler have created together. Kennedy also runs the media consultancy, Stop 14 Media and is the Artistic Director of the Scream Literary Festival in Toronto. Darren Wershler is a Professor of English at Concordia University and is the co-author of twelve books.