Nikki Reimer

Nikki Reimer's picture
Photo credit: 
Joanne Gervais
Biography: 
 
A former member of the Kootenay School of Writing, Nikki Reimer writes from, against, out of, under and across the internet, the (m)anthropocene, the capitalocene, the poetry scene, the settler state, the literary industrial complex, and the on-going apocalypse, from trauma, grief, rage, and the oil-based economy of Calgary, AB.
 
Primarily known as a poet and non-fiction writer, Reimer also experiments with digital media and collage, and was raised with dance and music training.
 
Reimer explores found and remixed methods for generating material, including n+1 and blackout methods. She often seeks to combine the personal lyric with political commentary and absurdity. She is the sister of late Calgary-based musician Chris Reimer, and she carries his spirit with her always.
 
Reimer is a member of the Alberta Writers Guild and the League of Canadian Poets.

 

Micro-interview: 
Did you read poetry when you were in high school? Is there a particular poem that you loved when you were a teenager?: 

I read poetry in high school, and used to inscribe my favourite song lyrics in my exercise books, and one particularly punk pair of jeans. My very favourite poem from late adolescence is Frank O’Hara’s “Song (Is it Dirty),” which made it’s way into my first book of poetry as an epigraph. O'Hara's tone is both exulting and blunt, poetic, but anti-whimsical. "That's not a thought, that's soot." The city is dirty, and we love it.

When did you first start writing poetry? And then when did you start thinking of yourself as a poet?: 

I’ve been writing poetry since I was a child, and started thinking of myself as a poet when I was in high school.

What do you think a poet’s “job” is?: 

A poet’s job is to challenge mainstream culture’s definition of the world, to explore the world as they see it, and to define new possible worlds.

If you had to choose one poem to memorize from our anthology, which one would it be?: 

“Trust Fund Witches” by Emma Healey. I love the assonance, alliteration, sensual glittery imagery. The scene Healey weaves is as gritty as O'Hara's odes to New York, but Healey reminds us about the capital that underpins bohemian luxury. These witches have "glittering auras," they're fashionably lo-fi, but with wealth that allows them to move through walls. Who belongs? Who owns? Who stays?

Publications: 
Title: 
DOWNVERSE
Publisher: 
Talonbooks
Date: 
2014
Publication type: 
Book
Title: 
[sic]
Publisher: 
Frontenac House
Date: 
2010
Publication type: 
Book
Title: 
My Heart is a Rose Manhattan
Publisher: 
Talonbooks
Date: 
2019
Publication type: 
Book
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