Launch event for Big Wilson

ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be reading from Big Wilson, my new poetry chapbook, as part of an online launch party for Emergency Flash Mob Press, run by the wonderful Ian LeTourneau. The event is happening next weekend, Sunday, November 26, at 2 pm EST. My fellow EFMP authors, Sue Sinclair and Kim Fahner, will also be there to read from their amazing books, and you'll also get to learn about this new chapbook press as well. Please come! See the Facebook invitation for more details, and email emergencyflashmobpress@gmail.com to register and receive the Zoom link to attend.

Big Wilson Is Here!

Well, I've done it - I have published a chapbook! Big Wilson, a narrative long poem, was published last week by Fredericton, NB's Emergency Flash Mob Press, run by the tireless Ian LeTourneau. Here's a little description of what this little book is about:

Music and literature collide in this long poem about grief, loss, and the family bonds that constrain us as much as they hold us together. The hero of this narrative-in-verse rejects the siren call of the stage for a solitary life of authorship, even as he grapples with death – first his brother’s, then his wife’s, and finally his own. Big Wilson is a tender examination of how place, ambition, and those we choose to love ultimately shape who we become. 

Interested in ordering a copy? The best way to do so is through EFMP's website above. This limited-edition chapbook comes hand-numbered and beautifully designed by Ian himself. Don't delay - order your copy today!  

Upcoming Event: Tartan Turban Reading Series #40

Upcoming event alert! Folks, I'm back at the Tartan Turban Reading Series on Friday, September 22 at 7 pm. The evening, hosted and curated by fellow author Lisa de Nikolits, will include readings from Dr. Anita Jack-Davies, myself, and Rummana Chowdry, as well as an interview with Deaf visual artist Peter Owusu-Ansah. 

This will be a hybrid event. If you're in Toronto, you have the option of joining us in person at Barrett and Welsh, 577 Kingston Road Suite #301. The event will also be live-streamed for those who cannot attend in person. Either way, register by picking up your (FREE) ticket from Eventbrite here. 

Hope to see you all on September 22!

Virtual Launch: Rebecca Rosenblum's These Days Are Numbered: Diary of a High-Rise Lockdown

It's been a (slightly) crazy and (very) action-packed summer around here, and I'm excited to plug an event for my wife's new nonfiction book! The virtual launch for Rebecca Rosenblum's These Days Are Numbered: Diary of a High-Rise Lockdown is just about a week and a half away. Join us on Sunday, September 10 from 2 to 4 pm EST when I interview her about the memoir she wrote about the pandemic, in which I'm a major character! It's going to be wild!

Pick up your FREE ticket using the Eventbrite link here. We'll send out the Zoom link a day or two beforehand. See you there!

Announcement: Forthcoming Poetry Chapbook - Big Wilson

Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? It has been FOREVER since I've added a new post to this little blog, and forever since I've had anything noteworthy to share. But finally there is a bit of news on the Mark Sampson front: 

I'm incredibly excited to announce that I will have a poetry chapbook, called Big Wilson, out with new chapbook publisher, Emergency Flash Mob Press, based in New Brunswick, in the next month or two. This is my first book since 2020 and my first chapbook ever. EFMP is run by Ian LeTourneau, one of the mighty forces behind the beloved Poetry Weekend event in Fredericton. Through his chapbook press, he has already published one book, Sue Sinclair's At the Frog Pond: On Ecological Beauty and the Climate Crisis, and has another on the way, Fault Lines and Shatter Cones, by Kim Fahner. I'm so chuffed to have my long poem, Big Wilson, included in the press's inaugural list.

More news to come soon, including how to order your copy, but in the meantime I want to extend a big thanks to Ian for taking this little book on. I can't wait to see the final product!

M.