Professors Paul Vermeersch and Alex Hollenberg Launch New Poetry Books

In spring and fall, two CW&P faculty, professors Alexander Hollenberg and Paul Vermeersch each launched new collections of poetry. In addition to their individual book launches, a joint event was held at HMC campus on November 5, 2025 to celebrate both.

Alex Hollenberg’s Human Story will not Consume the Cosmos, published by Gaspereau Press, is a probing book of poetry exploring humanity’s relationship to nature and the role of the imagination and the humanities in constructing that relationship. Written in a poetic voice that fuses the chatty, plain-spoken voice of a poet like Billy Collins with nods to modernist writers like Wallace Stevens, and contemporary ones like Kate Beaton, the collection is a positively-reviewed, engaging treatment of how we can re-imagine our relationship to the world around us.

Dr. Hollenberg launched his collection at King West Books in Hamilton on July 3 at an event hosted by Canadian writer and former CW&P Writer-in-Residence Gary Barwin. The bookstore was packed with Sheridan community members, including current and former CW&P students and FHASS faculty.

Paul Vermeersch’s book, NMLCT (pronounced “animal city”), published this fall by ECW, is his eighth book of poetry, coming five years after his Shared Universe: New and Selected Poems 1995-2020.

Paul launched NMLCT on September 24 at The Piston in Toronto, hosted by acclaimed poet Stuart Ross. The launch was a festive affair, in a packed venue with Canadian literature and publishing giants in addition to Sheridan faculty and students. Legendary poet Dennis Lee, to whom the book is dedicated, could be seen sitting up front, and when Paul asked, the crowd recited  Lee’s own widely known and impeccably remembered poem, “Alligator Pie” to him.

Carrying on Paul’s longstanding interest in monstrosity, imagined animals and crytpo-zoology, and the need to resist dehumanization and automation, the book traces a journey from “machine city” (MCHNCT) to “animal city.” Poems hidden in barcode, poems with binary numbers, poems crossed out, poems filled with instructions–the book exhibits Vermeersch’s incredible range of experimentation and flexibility of voice.

NMLCT has been well-received and celebrated, appearing as a CBC Books “Top Pick” for the second half of 2025. Paul has been promoting the book at festivals far and wide, in London, Montreal, Kingston, and Vancouver.  You can read more about the book on Paul’s website and purchase it here.

Paul and Alex’s joint launch on November 5 saw both authors give joyous readings to a lively crowd. Alex cajoled us out of our post-season Blue Jays slump with a poem about baseball, another reminiscing about his grandfather’s pajama factory in Montreal, among others. And Paul grew antlers as he read one poem. He also revealed that the barcode on one poem would yield text.

Afterwards, the poets sat down with CW&P coordinator Owen Percy to answer questions about their methods and the experience of developing the concepts that make for a unified collection. The event was well-attended by faculty, staff, and many students who left feeling a little more inspired than when they’d entered.

Congratulations to both authors! We’re proud to have you in our community.