Local author launching two new books

Local poet and recently retired Lethbridge College English and Creative Writing instructor, Richard Stevenson is launching his two latest books, “Rock, Scissors, Paper” and “A Gaggle of Geese.”

The book launch is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. in the University of Lethbridge book store. Admission is free.

“Rock, Scissors, Paper: The Clifford Olson Murders” is a true crime long poem sequence prompted by the discovery that one of the serial killer’s victims was one of the poet’s first students. It is a heavily researched novel-in-verse, weaving imagist and narrative pieces with dramatic monologues in the voices of the various principals in the case: victims, parents, police, priest, lawyers, etc.

“A Gaggle of Geese” is a collection of English language haiku and other Japanese form poems and sequences. It both honours and plays with the haikai tradition, bringing a beat/jazz sensibility and jazz chops to the page. Largely urban, the themes, and imagery, sometimes follow the man-innature tradition, and sometimes veer off with bemused candor to consider the human circus.

To keep the presentation light, Stevenson will also read from a new collection he is working on called “Cryptid Shindig,” poems about various cryptids (hidden creatures which may or may not exist), Fortean and ET lore, and just plain strange, unexplained phenomena.

The author will sign copies and offer time for a questionand-answer session after the reading.