Vannessa Barnier, Sample Platter

The poems—some lineated and some prose—from Toronto-based poet Vannessa Barnier’s Sample Platter walk that almost impossible line between completely relatable and super bizarre. You’re in a bodega on a hot day grabbing a Melona popsicle and you’ve almost accidentally stepped on a dog. You’re panicking in a laundromat because you’ve misjudged the temperature setting. Your therapist has just dropped her earring onto the ground mid-session. These are some too real moments that Barnier retells with a sharp defamiliarization. They are, as the author’s bio insists, all “true stories” that you’ll read while interchangeably cringing and nodding. This is the horny, awkward, anxious (post?!?!)pandemic book you’ve been waiting for.

This chapbook was published in two print runs of 50 and 30 copies each. It was printed at Product Photo and typeset by Dani Spinosa with a cover design and custom illustration from Steven Lourenço.