Publications

Garden of Pomegranates

To celebrate Poetry Month in Canada in April 2026, Sean Arthur Joyce launched his 8th collection of poetry, Garden of Pomegranates, from Chameleon Fire Editions. With precise and insightful economy of language, the poet sketches poignant word portraits of people glimpsed in his travels or drawn from his personal life. This collection is one of Joyce’s most personal so far, with semi-autobiographical poems and a section that charts the tempestuous nature of romantic love—something everyone can relate to. Some of the poems explore landmarks familiar to Nelson, BC residents—Oso Negro Coffee, Lakeside Park and Gyro Park, written during the poet’s long residence in the city.

These poems are selected from Joyce’s earlier work, including excerpts from his 1994 chapbook The Shattered Icons and poems published in the late ’90s and early 2000s. The manuscript had nearly become a “lost” book but after three decades in the author’s archives, he decided they had stood the test of time and needed to be released.

For any garden to thrive takes close attention to detail and the weary task of weeding out the undesirables. In that respect, every poem is a garden. It should also grow new shoots of meaning with each reading—today, or 50 years from now: “In going over poems I hadn’t read in 30 years, I didn’t expect to like them,” Joyce explains. “Many have never been published outside of poetry journals. The pleasant discovery is that they’ve held up surprisingly well.”

Joyce’s 2024 collection, Pole Shift & Other Poems, was described by John Adams College Professor Carl Eric Scott as “the best poetry book of the year,” adding that “your poetry carries a punch and provides a balm like few other things can.

In addition to Garden of Pomegranates, Chameleon Fire Editions (established 1990) has published limited editions by poets Timothy Shay, Catherine Owen, Chad Norman and Margaret Hornby. These elegant editions are designed and produced by Joyce to eventually become collector’s items, with careful attention to paper textures, typesetting and original artwork. The press also publishes the Slocan History Series, including its most popular title, Sinixt in the Slocan. The author’s most recent limited edition chapbook, Solar Fire: Poems & Essays, was published by Chameleon Fire in December 2025—partially handcrafted, numbered and signed by the author.

Book launches for Garden of Pomegranates are scheduled for Silverton General Store (May 22, 4 pm), Nakusp Public Library (June 5, 1 pm), and Notably Books in Nelson (June 12, 7 pm), with more dates to be announced.

Garden of Pomegranates can be purchased at the author’s website, www.seanarthurjoyce.ca, or at local booksellers. Joyce’s books can be purchased at Raven’s Nest (New Denver), Silverton General Store (Silverton), Eurhythmy Books & Studio (Kaslo), Spiritwood Books & Gifts (Nakusp), Otter Books and Notably Books (Nelson).

Pole Shift & other poems

Sean Arthur Joyce and Ekstasis Editions are proud to announce the release of his 7th book of poetry and 12th book overall, Pole Shift & Other Poems. Joyce blends science and poetry to discuss the question: Could cosmological and terrestrial events be having an impact on human society during this time of worldwide sociopolitical upheavals? Given that we are electrochemical beings, are we being subtly affected by the current geomagnetic pole reversal scientists say has been underway for the past several decades and is now speeding up? What about other cosmological events, such as the Solar Maximum cycle currently spewing coronal mass ejections (a.k.a. solar flares) and the Milankovich cycles affecting the rotation of the Earth and possibly the climate?

We may not even be consciously aware these events are having an impact at both personal and societal levels. In the best Socratic tradition, Joyce engages these and other questions in poetic form, not to prescribe answers, but to stimulate thought and awareness. As always in his work, Joyce seeks not only to confront the pressing issues of the day but to offer the reader a spiritual uplift—one of the great gifts of poetry.

“Just got the book and it is fantastic! Kudos! Favorites so far are “Vertigo,” “Entropy II,” “To My Unborn Children,” and “House of Blues.” Great phrases throughout.” —Carl Eric Scott, Substack

To read more about the book and find order links, read the Introduction to Pole Shift published on Joyce’s Substack channel: https://seanarthurjoyce.substack.com/p/my-new-book-pole-shift-has-been-released

The author is available for interviews and requests for appearances. Reviewers may contact Joyce directly or Ekstasis Editions publisher Richard Olafson for review copies: ekstasis@islandnet.com or: ajoyce@uniserve.com

Blue Communion

North Carolina poet Nickole Brown has said that our first gods were animals. These “wild gods,” as she calls them, were part of every known aboriginal belief system, helping keep people in balance with the planet. Ekstasis Editions of Victoria has just released Blue Communion, Sean Arthur Joyce’s sixth collection of poetry and his 11th book overall. The “wild gods” of nature are at the heart of these poems—an attempt to bridge the gap between humans and our wild cousins, to see the world through their eyes.

Roger Lewis, Professor Emeritus of English Literature, Acadia University, writes of Joyce’s poetry: “Joyce has already distinguished himself as a poet of great range, brilliant technique and musical qualities. His poetry is always striking, structured and memorable.”

Blue Communion takes a hard look at humanity and our impact on the creatures with whom we share this planet. The poet’s natural starting point is empathy, imagining the post-climate change world from the perspective not only of bears, hummingbirds, crows and sparrows, but of our less glamorous cousins in nature such as insects. He celebrates the visionaries among us that keep beauty and hope alive—the poets, musicians and other creators—while keeping a vigilant eye on civilization’s corrupt charlatans.

Read more on the Blue Communion page

Visit http://www.ekstasiseditions.com to purchase your copy.

Farming in the Slocan: Past and Present

Although not obviously farming country, the Slocan Valley has attracted farmers for well over a century. When farming began in the valley, local markets were declining as mining markets failed, and distant ones almost impossible to reach. Nor could the valley’s small farms compete with far larger, more mechanized farms elsewhere. But times have changed. The ecological and social effects of industrial monocultures are widely criticized, the reliability of globalized marketing doubted. The local market has expanded with the rebound of farmer’s markets that are very popular both with residents and visitors to the valley.

Professor Emeritus of Historical Geography Cole Harris (UBC) produced Farming in the Slocan as the ninth and final booklet in the Slocan History Series, published by Chameleon Fire in 2022. In addition to including his own history of Slocan Valley farming, he invited local farmers Mick Wilson and Norbert Duerichen to contribute chapters. Abra Brynne, a longtime Kootenay advocate for locally produced, organic and affordable food, contributes a chapter on recent initiatives and the challenges for future farming in the Slocan. Professor Harris’s colleague Paul Williams provides a brief conclusion. This 45-page booklet is illustrated throughout with colour photographs.

Joyce’s method in this book of essays is to analyze the Covid Age through great works of literature, poetry and history, using them as a lens through which to focus critical thinking. Art is far more than mere entertainment, or some enjoyable but unnecessary frill. Even popular culture such as songs and movies—to the extent it relies on the great themes of art—can be a source of deep meaning. History itself began from the storytelling impulse, the basis of narrative. Essays are simply a more direct way of critically addressing the stories we tell each other in a culture. And it’s clear that now more than ever, the narratives we hear in the media are in need of challenging.

Joyce is following in the tradition of great essayists such as Montaigne, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. These writers didn’t see themselves as experts but as insatiably curious intellects using the Socratic method to explore anything that interested them. “From the start I resonated with the original concept of the essay, from the French ‘assai,’ to try,” writes Joyce in the Preface. “For me the open-ended form of the essay inspired a creative optimism, a confidence I could at least become conversant in the language. It left me free to play in the field of ideas.” Most importantly, Words From the Dead helps the reader cultivate a facility for pattern recognition based on the precedents of history and literature. “That is my hope for this book, to bring consolation, critical thinking and clarity to readers devastated in their various ways by the Covid Age.”

Read more on the Words from the Dead page

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