"Just Sayin' / Not Saying": An Interview with Stephen Collis (Part 1)

Season 3, Ep. 27

In this episode, Linda interviews Stephen Collis about his most recent collection of poetry, A History of the Theories of Rain (Talon Books). The next episode is the second part of that interview. For now, just a couple of points of clarification: SFU, the acronym that Collis and Linda use in this interview, stands for Simon Fraser University. Also, they refer to the SLAPP suit by which Collis was confronted. For those of you who may have never heard of this before, a SLAPP suit is a civil lawsuit or counterclaim that alleges defamation but is really initiated for the purposes of intimidating, burdening, punishing, or harassing – and usually it is filed against people or organizations who speak out about issues of public interest. 

Linda and Stephen cover several topics, including

• 10.40 his activism

• 13.13 Kinder Morgan

• 14.00 Collis’s poetry as used in a legal setting

• 16.12 A History of the Theories of Rain

• 16.23 grief

• 19. Greta Thunberg and recent political shortcomings

In the Takeaway portion of the podcast, Linda introduces her listeners to the young poet, Isabella Wang, whose collection, Pebble Swing (Nightwood Editions), and the poetry that appeared in The Capilano Review, showcase a burgeoning talent.