Back in the early days of the current century, my friend Michael Finner and I had the idea of starting a small publishing house here in Calgary. Our plan was to publish poetry and plays and other books of interest to the literary community. We called it B House, for reasons too diverse and obscure to go into at this time.
One of our early projects was an anthology of poetry written by the denizens of Caffe Beano. Beano is a special place for many of us who live in the Beltline neighbourhood of Calgary (and beyond). It has a diverse clientele — zillionaires from up the mountain to the south and a real mixed bag of folks living more modestly in the immediate vicinity. You never know who you might be standing next to in line when you’re waiting to place your order.
At any given time, should you venture into the place, you might find a number of people working away in paper notebooks or on laptops. Others might be reading. It’s populated by patrons (as well as staff) from various artistic communities of Calgary — literary, visual arts, music, photography, etc. etc.
As I said in my introduction to our first anthology, “If you’ve ever wondered what those of us who like to write in a public place like Caffe Beano are actually writing — here’s your answer.”
We published the first Caffe Beano poetry anthology in 2008 and followed with a second a few years later. As we haven’t done all that much since then in the area of poetry, other than three beautiful books by the indefatigable Kirk Miles and another beauty by Tyler Perry. I’ve come to refer to B House as a “boutique publisher.” Make of that what you will.
On any account, a few months ago one of the current employees at Beano came across the original anthology. We were looking at it, and with the help of Emily, the manager, and the blessing of Keaton, the owner, we decided to do another — 18 years later! We’re being assisted by Stephanie who edited the original volume. And we have a great young graphic designer, Charlie, who will be creating the look of the book.
Some of the contributors to the original anthology will be back, some have disappeared, at least one has sadly passed away during the interval. We are curious as to how the poems (and in some cases, drawings) we receive from not only established writers but from a new generation of younger poets will differ from those we collected so long ago, and how they will remain the same.
Anyone with any kind of association with Beano over the years is welcome to submit a poem or two or a drawing for the book. The poems don’t have to be about coffee. In fact, they should probably be about something else.
If you’re interested, the information for submission is on the poster above. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I’ll be sure to get back to you.
In the words of Allen Ginsberg: “Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.”
Thanks for reading!
eugene stickland 