Interchange is a fascinating read that the authors describe “as an artsy conversation”. The interplay between Cognito’s poems and Carson’s prose musings in response reads like literary jazz with words echoing and soloist riffing in response. Jazz Sonata describes it well: “two crickets/ melding their respective voices/ like arthropod jazz musicians/ playing into the wee hours “. Interchange is delightful and an encouragement for writers to exchange words across genres. The book is fun and thought-provoking. -- Daniel G. Scott, author of Aftertime & Random Excess, Artistic Director Planet Earth Poetry (2016-2220)
Although I do intend to re-read the book in its entirety at a slower pace, I want to offer the benefit of my powerful first impressions. Bottom line – I’m a total fan. I love beauty and authenticity and multi-faceted complexity, and Interchange is all of that: an absolute gem. -- Hilary Laidlaw, author of Mind the Gap
Interchange inspired a waterfall of personal associations I would have gleefully offered-up for the sheer pleasure of extending the journey of a single thought, expertly guided by the strokes of a poet’s quill and a writer’s keyboard. The rhythm of their individual voices and the combined melody of their connected thoughts create lyrical magic. Interchange sings to the soul. It sparkles with humour and wisdom, stings with desire and nostalgia, and celebrates the authors’ own story, a touching illustration of the connectedness.-- Hilary Laidlaw, author of Mind the Gap
Fun! So much of what we all need right now. Not just a deft pairing of poetry and prose, each responding to the other, but a transmutation too: one riffing off the other, picking up an image or motif, soloing for a few bars, trading fours as it were, creating word jazz in the response to the other, musing on our crazy, constrained domestic lives. A clarion call to nature – and our inner natures -- our desperate need to return to the garden. Observant, witty, humorous, satiric in equal measure. -- Richard Stevenson, author of Live Evil: A Homage to Miles Davis
In Interchange, Ian Cognitō and Anne Marie Carson remind us that not only is reading not unidirectional, but it can also serve as a jumping off point – a provocation, even – for all manner of creative decisions. Ian’s poetic musings on a refreshingly wide range of subjects (from middle age spread to mole hills) serve to inspire Anne Marie into reflecting on her own experiences in unexpected and gratifying ways, leading us down as many rabbit holes as there are poems in the book. All poets would benefit from a reader as engaged as Anne Marie, and all readers would benefit from a poet as engaging as Ian. -- Richard-Yves Sitoski, Owen Sound Poet Laureate 2019-2022, author of No Sleep ‘til Eden
Interchange is a fascinating read... The interplay between Cognitō’s poems and Carson’s prose musings... reads like literary jazz with words echoing and soloist riffing in response. “Jazz Sonata” describes it well: “two crickets / melding their respective voices / like arthropod jazz musicians / playing into the wee hours“. Interchange is delightful and an encouragement for writers to exchange words across genres. The book is fun and thought-provoking. — Daniel G. Scott, author of Aftertime, and Random Excess
Interchange is utterly engaging, unique yet familiar. A conversation between two intimate friends who have yet to meet. Poet Ian Cognitō, and prose author Anne Marie Carson come to know one another through a footpath of words—at times a tactile touch of paper, other times through ethereal emails. Introspection, revelation, and sharing drive not only this friendship but a depth of duality—the creative output of two highly skilled, insightful observers of the world’s limitless wonders. — Bill Arnott, author Gone Viking: A Travel Saga, The Miramichi Reader’s 2021 “Very Best Book!” Award (Nonfiction)
Ian Cognitō and Anne Marie Carson have removed the barrier of the book cover in their new collaboration, Interchange. Ian's witty and elevated writing gets lively written feedback, piece by piece, from Carson, who is clearly not just a fan but also a skilled raconteur in her own right. One book gets you inside two remarkable heads. With this shared billing, Repartee Press is blazing a fascinating new trail others will surely follow as the literary world looks for innovation in a world of immediate responses. — Jacqueline Carmichael, author of Heard Amid the Guns: True Stories from the Western Front 1914-1918