New anthology takes a deeper look at Windsor’s waterfront art

When you look at something day after day, it can start to blend into the background of your life — whether it’s a piece of art, or a book you’ve been meaning to read.

Thirteen local authors challenged Windsorites to take a deeper look with a new anthology of poetry and stories examining the art of Windsor’s waterfront.

“Being somebody who was born and raised in Sandwich Towne and spent a lot of time at the river around the art down there, unfortunately the art can become just part of the backdrop,” said Teajai Travis, Windsor’s multicultural community storyteller.

“As a storyteller, to sit down and really spend some time with these works of art that have been present for so much of my life was just a really great opportunity.”

In the Middle Space debuted Thursday, featuring 50 poems from 13 local writers exploring Windsor’s waterfront and public art.

The anthology draws its name from one of poet Rawand Mustafa’s pieces, examining the “middle space” that exists between “physical sculpture, art and poetry, the middle space between Windsor and Detroit, between artist and audience.”

“The students were very excited to … bridge the gaps between written art and visual art that we have in our city,” Mustafa said.

The anthology was produced by Black Moss Press with students in the University of Windsor’s publishing practicum course, overseen by Mustafa as a graduate assistant at the university who also contributed poetry.

“The professionalism and the vulnerability of the the task of creating such a work is amazing,” Travis said. “The students were … really taking a leadership role in bringing this work together.

“It was a real delight for me to be able to spend some time writing about these public works but then to (have) that collaborative relationship when creating shared art, community art. (It’s) something that I really, really appreciate and something that really represents the community of Windsor as I know it.”

Mustafa, Travis and a third poet, Peter Hrastovec, were set to perform from the anthology Thursday night at Mackenzie Hall. It was a chance to get a glimpse into not only this book, but many others.

“It’s a beautiful book with amazing illustrations and a beautiful cover,” Mustafa said. “But what’s special about this launch is you (see) what goes into a book …you’ll never see a book on the shelf the same way again.

“It’s a way to appreciate not only the public art in Windsor all over again, to see them again in a new way instead of passing by them so quickly, but to see books in a new way again, and to really appreciate what we have on our shelves and in our stores and in our hands all the time.”

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