Leaving Mile End is Jon Paul Fiorentino’s seventh collection of poetry and tenth book-a collection of poems that documents the daily din and clatter of cafés, galleries, and dive bars that make up Mile End in Montreal, perhaps the most artistically vibrant neighbourhood in the world. But this is no ordinary tour-we take a sharp turn and go online as Fiorentino mines the peculiar linguistic resources of a new world of doxxing, swatting, snarking, trolling, catfishing, and shaming. While addressing the disconnect between the way we treat each other online and the way we treat each other IRL, Leaving Mile End provides a new framework for understanding what it means to be home in 2017. Praise for Fiorentino’s poetry: “[Fiorentino’s poetry] is the embodiment of an imagination so wild, a wit so sharp and a sense of humour so dark.” (Montreal Gazette) “There is no mistaking Fiorentino’s sharp wit and precise vocabulary, which are entirely individual-something far too few writers can claim.” (Quill & Quire)
