Book Reviews

Alpha Beta Gammas

bp Nichol (Author), Darren Wershler-Henry (Editor), Lori Emerson (Editor),
The Alphabet Game: a bpNichol reader. Coach House Books
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Reviewed by Kit Dobson

Those who have lamented the passing of the previous bpNichol reader, An H in the Heart, rejoice! The Alphabet Game is here to introduce a new generation of readers to the work of one of Canada’s most eclectic and exciting poets. An H in the Heart, Michael Ondaatje and George Bowering’s assemblage (McClelland & Stewart, 1994), was the staple introductory text—but it went out of print. The Alphabet Game, edited by Darren Wershler-Henry and Lori Emerson, steps into the game as an accessible, intelligent, and deeply felt compendium of Nichol’s work, from his ephemera to The Martyrology and more. At three-hundred-plus pages, it is heftier than the earlier reader, and published by Coach House Books, which is a better home for Nichol’s work, since they publish much of his other writing.

There are notable differences. An H in the Heart was edited by two of Nichol’s friends, and their admiration and personal connection is displayed in the way that they produced that work. Darren Wershler-Henry and Lori Emerson, however, are part of a new generation of scholars working on Nichol, and they produce their reader with a mix of academic rigour and care. It demonstrates a respect for Nichol that is both intellectual and emotional. They are not without prior connection to Nichol’s work, either. Wershler-Henry published, in 1997, one of the first books from the revamped Coach House Books (previously Coach House Press). Entitled Nicholodeon, it is a clever book of what he calls “lowerglyphs,” poems and concrete pieces that pay homage to Nichol and others. Emerson, currently a post-doctoral fellow in Georgia, has published on poetics and media and technology, and has worked on Nichol online, archiving his sound poems. Both are well-suited to this publication, as well as to the companion web site that they promise—bpnichol.ca—which was not yet online at the time of review.

The Alphabet Game is a well-produced book, and a pleasure to read. It includes bp favourites—excerpts of Selected Organs and “Blues,” for example—alongside well-chosen passages from longer works, and many lesser-known pieces. Notes at the back and footers indicating the source of texts keep readers grounded and aware of what’s at stake in both reading and editing Nichol. I don’t agree with all of the choices—I would have chosen the part from book two of The Martyrology about the dog Terry, for instance—but this sampling is both representative and excellent. Poet jwcurry has spent many years assembling what he calls a Beepliographic Cyclopoedia, which covers all of Nichol’s works and works about Nichol. It will clock in at three-thousand-plus pages in eight volumes, and is still in progress. Assembling the absolutely prolific bpNichol into a single package is a gargantuan effort, and Wershler-Henry and Emerson should be applauded for this work. Distilling Nichol is impossible, but The Alphabet Game does just that, and brilliantly.

This review originally appeared in Canadian Literature #197 (Summer 2008), Predators and Gardens. (pg. 171 - 172)

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