yes. i put the coffee on when i found he was shot yes

i put my feet on where i found he was shot

—From “Shop Kill” by Paul Zits (Exhibit: University of Calgary Press, 2019)

The Alberta Reads Provincial Book Club just announced Exhibit by Paul Zits, published by the University of Calgary Press, as their selection for March-April 2021! The Alberta Reads Book Club is an online, province-wide book club that profiles the rich culture of books that are published right here in Alberta and we are so excited to read this beautiful and unsettling collection of poetry along with them. This is true crime at its poetic finest. Join us! Here’s how:

1. Read the book description below and then head to your local library or bookstore to borrow/buy a copy.
2. Follow the Book Publishers Association of Alberta on Facebook and Twitter as they post discussion questions each week. Join the ongoing discussion by following #ABReads and #ABBooks.
3. Stay tuned to our channels for an exclusive excerpt and interview with Paul Zits! 

About the Book

In the winter of 1926, Margaret McPhail was accused of murdering her brother in a small shack outside Drumheller, Alberta. Put on trial, she maintained her innocence throughout claiming Alex died by suicide despite multiple bullet wounds to his head and chest.

Paul Zits reaches into the archives to tell this forgotten true story in visionary poetry. Throwing out the conventions of true crime and trial narratives, he centres Margaret and Alex, their emotions and their experiences, refusing to render a verdict of guilt or innocence. Exhibit is a work of stunning collage poetry, a piece of Alberta history, and a challenge to the ways we have learned to consume murder.

Paul Zits is a teacher and poet who lives in Calgary, Alberta. He is the author of Massacre Street, which won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry, and Leap-seconds, which won the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry.