Why poetry dedicated to a specific area?

Souwesto, popularized by James Reaney and Greg Curnoe decades ago, has a rich, artistic history & present day. Without conveying an affront to larger areas such as the GTA or American border cities, Souwesto has a unique, lived experience akin to relatively smaller metropolitan areas and rural communities. Of course, this has dramatically changed in the 2020s, with an ever-burgeoning growth in population for cities such as London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Windsor; and with folks from Toronto choosing this region to reside in, as well as the obvious influences of our shared, online culture, our distinctiveness may no longer be as readily apparent, but yet the geographic perspectives remain. Focusing on a particular region provides much less travel stress for the organizing of future events, as well as keeping the costs of producing physical titles at a minimum. From the start, SPR will produce a digital/print anthology. Poetry is a craft the editor/publisher is well acquainted with, so the venture will be engaged with presenting new and unpublished verse in a published collection. Thank you for coming aboard.

—Andreas Gripp

   April, 2026