8 March 2005
An Open Letter to Canadianistas and other lovers of contemporary Canadian poetry...


You can see and hear my Poem for Peace in Two Voices and sixty translations on http://mytown.ca/poemforpeace/. We are now up to 99 translations, and still looking for more, if you have any suggestions!

We have been very busy publishing 12 fine books of poetry through Pendas Productions! You can read samples, with audio, on http://mytown.ca/twelfth/. And see photos galore, on http://pennkemp.bebo.com.

Pendas Productions is a small publishing company that has happily relocated to London. Our niche is hand-bound poetry book and cd combos. Pendas Poets are reviewed here by Norla Antinoro.

The Pendas discussion list is available at Pendas Discussion and you can join in anytime.

"Pendas Publications are works of beauty. Edited with purpose and clarity, they are exquisite to hold and behold. The care taken to create the books speaks loudly of their soul life." Mary Hamilton, MEd, BodySoul Rhythms

"It is always exciting for poetry lovers when a new publisher emerges on the scene, and when the name Penn Kemp, a poet best known for her evocative, experimental sound work, is associated with that press, it is safe to assume that work that is both innovative and challenging is in the mix.

Certainly, more than a dozen new works offered up by Pendas in 2004 fulfill that assumption. Most of the books in Pendas' catalogue offer some visual treats and may be purchased as a book alone, as a compact disk or as a book/cd set.

Pendas Productions' Wizard of OZ, Gavin Stairs, who acts as designer, prepress technician, printer and binder, has long felt that poetry, unlike other genres, could benefit from the innovations of desktop printing. Pendas' aim is to use short print runs, both to meet demand and to keep initial costs to a minimum, while ensuring that titles stay in print for as long as possible. That kind of commitment is music to poetry lovers' ears."

RONNIE R. BROWN is an Ottawa freelance writer/broadcaster. This review in another form will appear in Canadian Bookseller: The Magazine of Book Retailing.

An interview with Penn is archived on Flaunting The Arts, Oct. 5, 2004: INTERVIEW

Some of you might wish to write on this work from Pendas Productions, or my own, see below. So much is up on mytown.ca that it is easy to find, and any of this work could be reviewed. We especially wanted to make the poetry available to students who might not be able to afford the books and CDs. If we can't travel any time soon, the work now can!! Please do send us any reviews.

Some new work of mine on the web...

My book on teaching writing is up in MyTown at What Springs to Mind.

http://www.poetism.com/poetry/2005/January_24.htm
Facing the Epicentre Poets for the Tsunami Victims
http://www.mothertonguepress.com/kemp.html
Penn in Cooked and Eaten dot com
Walking on the Moon in Moulay Ibrahim
Honouring Mothers
in Goddess Pages
in As Best We Can
Toss the bouquet and run
Where do you get your ideas?
http://www.musicnorth.com/beginningless.htm
Audio on Scars.tv

Here are some of my poems and pieces against war and violence.
Work Against War Essay in Womedia
Poem for Peace at Voices in Wartime
Arms And The Boy in As Best We Can
"Calling All Calling" in As Best We Can
PIECE BY PIECE in As Best We Can

BINDING TWINE with its intro: AT STAKE
SIOLENCE: Essays on Women, Violence, and Silence.
"Siolence is a word coined by Penn Kemp to encapsulate the blending that so often occurs between violence and the silence enabling it."

Books and cds can be ordered from Pendas Productions.

Lovely to be in touch.

Peace,
Penn

Penn Kemp
Pendas Productions
525 Canterbury Road, London ON N6G 2N5
519.434.8555

e-mail: Pendas@pennkemp.ca
PennKemp.ca
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/kemp
http://www.womenarts.org/network/profile_704.html


Pendas Proprietors, Penn Kemp and Gavin Stairs, February 11, 2005.




Photo of Penn with the sparkling ring is by Christopher Blythe.

Photo of Penn and Gavin is by Shelly Siskind.