Tessera

Jessica Lee McMillan

@jessicaleemcmillan.com

Poet, civil servant, music nerd | CV2, Malahat Review, QWERTY, ROOM, Crab Creek Review, The New Quarterly & others. jessicaleemcmillan.com 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 (Pinhole Poetry) https://pinholepoetry.ca/product/shine-like-a-dime/

1008 Posts638 Follower 593 Folgt

Royal City Literary Arts Society @rclas.bsky.social · 7h ago

Tonight at 6:30!

Royal City Literary Arts Society@rclas.bsky.social · 6d ago

We are excited to collaborate with SAPP for the next Poetry in the Park! Feature poets: Jordan Redekop-Jones & KJ Brydle Host: Jessica Lee McMillan Open mic after features August 5th 6:30-8:30 Centennial Lodge, Queen's Park rclas.com/recurring/po...

Aquamarine event poster with circular portraits of two feature poets and the host (vertical on left) and text on right:

POETRY IN THE PARK
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 6:30PM - 8:30PM
@ CENTENNIAL LODGE

Featured Poets:
Jordan Redekop-Jones & KJ Brydle

Hosted by: Jessica Lee McMillan

Logos on bottom right for partners SAPP, RCLAS
City of New Westminster, Arts New West

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 4d ago

Michael e. Casteels has outdone himself with STUMPT Ninth and accompanying treasures. I’m very proud to have a micro-poem within its pages. Order an issue or chap from Puddles of Sky Press and have an anaolg summer. #Chapbooks #Micropress www.puddlesofskypress.com/index.html/

White mailer envelope with many Canadian stamps, a comic book of collages (The Raw Id Kid issue 2, the second issue of his aesemic, cubist Western, hand-collaged by Michael e. Casteels) and hand-made micro-chapbooks (some in small envelopes) with stamped text, an art card with assembled photos arranged together on a wooden desk.

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 4d ago

Join us tomorrow @theriffmedia.bsky.social Album Club where @jthepisodes.bsky.social will present Keznamdi’s BLXXD & FYAH. Essential summer listening. All are welcome. Details in article. medium.com/the-riff/the...

The Riff Album of The Month (August 2026) — Blood and Fire

Join us Sunday, August 2nd, 5 PM EST/2 PM PST

medium.com

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 5d ago

New #BlondeRedhead youtu.be/ixzhSpkAG60

Blonde Redhead - Blood Spilled (Official Visualizer)

YouTube video by Blonde Redhead

youtu.be

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 6d ago

Grateful for @kevinspenst.bsky.social's “Chuffed about Chapbooks” in subTerrain💚 In #103, he reviews my chapbook @pinholepoetry.bsky.social as “big concept poetry” that “has its foot in the door of our everyday sensorial reality”. A true aim of mine (and to review more #CanLit)! www.subterrain.ca

Photo of subTerrain, Issue #103. Cover design has light beige background and geometric illustration--centred-- in faded blue, yellow, green, purple, with two abstract faces facing opposite directions.

subTerrain Magazine link: https://www.subterrain.ca/

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · last wk.

This Wednesday!

Royal City Literary Arts Society@rclas.bsky.social · 2w ago

Join us July 29th for Poetry in the Park with celebrated poets Jónína Kirton and Russell Thornton! Hosted by @jessicaleemcmillan.com July 29th, 6:30-8:30 Queen's Park, Centennial Lodge

Aquamarine poster with Feature poets and host’s circular portraits on left and text on right followed by collaborators’ logos

Text:
POETRY IN THE PARK
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29
6:30PM - 8:30PM @ CENTENNIAL LODGE
Featured Poets: Jónína Kirton & Russell Thornton
Hosted by: Jessica Lee McMillan
Community Partners: RCLAS,
City of New Westminster, Arts New West.

Jaeyun Yoo @jaeyunwrites.bsky.social · last wk.

Thrilled about my chapbook launch on Aug 15 (Sat) 5pm @ Dalina Main St! Sip a latte while listening to poetry ❤️ Join me and amazing guest readers: @jessicaleemcmillan.com @robin-susanto.bsky.social and Lauren Peat. Hosted by @christinashah.bsky.social www.eventbrite.ca/e/chapbook-l...

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 2w ago

3 events in 2 weeks! Looking forward to seeing you before fall hibernation. jessicaleemcmillan.com/upcoming/

Upcoming

U p c o m i n g P o e m s: – Poem in Pinhole Poetry Issue 5.2, July – Poem in Canadian Literature – Micro-chapbook via sider0xylon press -Poem in STUMPT issue nine, Puddles of Sk…

jessicaleemcmillan.com

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 2w ago

Join us for the launch of Jaeyun Yoo's @jaeyunwrites.bsky.social chapbook “when a country teaches you” along with Robin Susanto @robin-susanto.bsky.social, Lauren Peat and host Christina Shah @christinashah.bsky.social August 15 (Sat) 5pm @ DALINA 687 Main St. Vancouver

Event poster with pale blue, grey & cobalt hues and central, monochromatic illustration of women crouched in a meadow.

Text:

HOSTED BY: Christina Shah
GUEST READERS: Jessica Lee McMillan, Lauren Peat, Robin Susanto

August 15 (Sat) 5pm
DALINA Main St.
687 Main St
Vancouver

QR code for RSVP

Rhea Tregebov 🇨🇦@rheatregebov.bsky.social · 3w ago

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 2w ago

“In It” from Jeff Blackman’s chapbook In The Briny via Puddles of Sky Press for #smallpoemsunday @jeffblackman.bsky.social www.puddlesofskypress.com/index.html/

In It

Honestly
I want less to do
with my body

but the body
has a poem
I want

(poem is rubber stamped on beige, toothy paper).

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 3w ago

4 more sleeps until I see the 25th Anniversary show at The Rio Vancouver and meet JCM⚡️❤️⚡️

Widow's Bay DSA@gonebabygone.bsky.social · 2mo ago

@aileenwuornos-stan.bsky.social ‘s incredible John Cameron Mitchell profile is up!

Pinhole Poetry @pinholepoetry.bsky.social · 3w ago

@jessicaleemcmillan.com joins us today to share her poem ‘Relative Distance,’ along with something she’s been inspired by lately. Thanks Jessica! www.facebook.com/share/p/198e...

In the gaps you appear. An afterimage,
your smile, the first to light my eyes. Then inherited migraines.
Outbursts.
Meteor showers that come and go.

Relative Distance
I survived the mother of storms,
those holes that smashed
Your mind stashed away our livelihood buried strayed
and merge
not understood
the rifts in your reality, until your centre caved.
no longer able to house me
in Earth's grip
and you
while continents continue to migrate in a tectonic rhythm over durations
by the span of our lives.
At tether end, I feel you-
another continent inching closer
each year. I wait
as planets line up, slow to the naked eye.
In the meantime, there is calm in duration, between push-pull.
I feel for the centre. Ponder the meaning of continental drift and cosmic alignment. In the gaps you appear. An afterimage, your smile, the first to light my eyes. Then inherited migraines.
Outbursts.
Meteor showers that come and go.
Planets vanish,
roving the Milky Way,
then bead the sky in gems on a line, set to one gravity.
And the ocean deepens
and spreads
new floor-all the while tightening its shores. As the core
gathers rocks to gravitate Earth
smashes us into wholes.
Concatenate stones, our bodies shared heat and parted ways and the planet inhales and
exhales atmospheres,
switches poles, with you at the other end. How could I not find calm in duration, between still
and quake?
You stand at the paradox of continental drift and hugging shores, of conjoining and opposing planets.
You, the first
ocean and singular gravity that reunion in my loving eye.
How can I not help but think, even though you're lost,
that one day, in this lifetime,
you'll return?

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 3w ago

Inspired by @raoulfernandes.bsky.social another rain poem for #SmallPoemSunday by #Rolli rollistuff.com/wp-content/u...

Sketch of man on bend in rain with poem under:

Central Park, 9 a.m.

Dear Diary:
In the green of spring
and the rain
(of a sudden)

the watercolor walkers running
for cover

one man lay down
his green brief-
case

stretched
on a bench

his tongue thrust
out now

and tasted the rain

- Rolli

Raoul Fernandes@raoulfernandes.bsky.social · 3w ago

reposting for #smallpoemsunday

Raoul Fernandes @raoulfernandes.bsky.social · 3w ago

reposting for #smallpoemsunday

Welcome
by Raoul Fernandes

Every flag
in the rain

becomes a flag
of the rain.

When we brief
each newborn

on what has
transpired so far

oh how they cry
and cry.

Raoul Fernandes@raoulfernandes.bsky.social · last mo.

Pretty thrilled to have this lil' shorty up at the very cool @onlypoemsmag.bsky.social Thanks to the editors! 😊

The Quietus @thequietus.com · 4w ago

'‘Ghost Town’ propelled The Specials back to number 1, capturing the air of England’s discontent, thick with the fumes of molotov cocktails which hung over the nation that summer...' ‘Ghost Town’, ‘At The Club’ & Britain’s Summer of Discontent #LongRead buff.ly/yZfso9u

The Specials - Ghost Town single cover. A skeleton sat a piano with another skeleton slumped in a seat nearby. Black and white photo.

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 4w ago

I love wandering the Alouette watershed while kiddo is at horsecamp. Good for the soul to return to these ancient rocks in the middle of the river. I forgot my poetry & notebook. I just sat, listened, dipped my feet, with no book, no scrolling. Nothing can capture that blessed feeling.

Still Alouette River with large rock on right.

Exposed rock and still water with tall trees lining river basin.

Smoothed stone overlooking moving river and fallen tree with roots exposed.

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · last mo.

Come out for some poetry this summer. I’ll be hosting Jul 29 & Aug 5. Can’t wait to see you! #poetry #NewWestminster

Post nicht verfügbar.

knife | fork | book @knifeforkbook.bsky.social · last mo.

Jim reads his latest, "Tornado" @nybooks.com www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Tornado | Jim Johnstone

I know less and less about who I am. Touching down, I lifta nail, a plank, take an entireyard and dress up like I’m going to spend the night dancing.

nybooks.com

Jaeyun Yoo @jaeyunwrites.bsky.social · last mo.

My debut chapbook "when a country teaches you" is available for pre-order now at Baseline Press! Thank you to Karen Schindler for making my dream come true, Emily Jung for the beautiful cover art, and @thisisannick.bsky.social for being super editor! Pre-order link: share.google/0xpO2rGMgW43...

Pinhole Poetry @pinholepoetry.bsky.social · last mo.

We're pleased to present our 18th issue, a collection of poems around themes of subways, subtext, undercurrents & all that lives underneath. It features the work of 23 poets and one pinhole photographer, & a chapbook love letter. Many thx to contributors! pinholepoetry.ca/current-issu...

Alligatoring: A Love Song
Daniel Bourne
Lunar Reflection
Catherine Graham
Is it true our civilization is on the brink of collapse?
Carol Alexander
Gives Way
Raoul Fernandes
Inherited Current
Attri Dey
Two Pinhole Photographs
Alex Skorochid
Eight Weeks
DJ Bennett
The Fort
Marc Perez
Your Sonar
Laurie Koensgen
Jonah Doubts the Plan
Mairin Catriona Landis
The River Buried Beneath Everything
David Lee
Colour Theory
Jody Baltessen
Retro Gaming
Gavin Foster

you, you, you: an erasure
Y S Lee
growth hormone by puncture
Alessandro Merendino
open the mouth for light
Shannon Lintott
Elegy for I Know Not What...
Susan Robertson
Relative Distance
Jessica Lee McMillan
Icarus Makes a Stop...
Cristalle Smith
Residue
Elowen Dovren
I Know You Are Somewhere: an erasure
Afternoon on the Back Deck
Lynn Tait
Teratology Underground
Paul Moorehead
Mobile
Frances Boyle
Central Air
Binoy Zuzarte
Notes from the Chapbook Love Letter Club From Kim Fahner to Hollay Ghadery's the blades of grass are dreaming

Stereogum @stereogum.com · last mo.

Madonna’s third album ‘True Blue’ came out 40 years ago today 💙

isabella mori @moritherapy.bsky.social · last mo.

#writingcommunity #poetry

isabella mori@moritherapy.bsky.social · last mo.

Winners & honorable mentions for the 2026 Muriel's Journey Poetry Prize DTES 1st The Cost of Home Ishkode Manidoowag 1st Just for Today Jane Harris 2nd The Orchard Kamila Rina Fortuna’s Choice This Conversation Never Happened Natalie Lanoville 1/2 moritherapy.wixsite.com/murielsjourn...

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · last mo.

Join us TODAY for “Album Club" @theriffmedia.bsky.social to discuss Blackwater Holylight’s lush and expansive triumph, Not Here Not Gone. 2pm Pacific/5pm Eastern All are welcome. Come to chat or just listen. Details & Zoom link below: medium.com/the-riff/bla... #MusicSky #BlackwaterHolylight

Blackwater Holylight | Not Here Not Gone

June’s album of the month discussion

medium.com

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · last mo.

Andrew French will launch their Pinhole Poetry chapbook TONIGHT at Cross & Crows Books (on The Drive) in Vancouver with guests Aidan Chafe, Lauren Peat and Natalie Lim! @allegorically.bsky.social @pinholepoetry.bsky.social

Event poster with ivory background, curvilinear border with simple flower illustrations on each side of chapbook cover. Chapbook, “Fists You’ve Called Home” is image of beaten-up sideboards of hockey rink.

TEXT:

CHAPBOOK LAUNCH
"FISTS YOU'VE CALLED HOME"
BY ANDREW FRENCH

FEATURING GUEST READERS
AIDAN CHAFE, LAUREN PEAT, AND NATALIE LIM

7PM, JUNE 27TH
CROSS & CROWS BOOKS
2836 COMMERCIAL DRIVE, VANCOUVER

Polaris Music Prize @polarismusicprize.bsky.social · last mo.

The 20 nominee 2026 @socanmusic Polaris Song Prize Long List has arrived. -- La longue liste des 20 chansons en nomination pour le Prix de la chanson @socanmusique Polaris 2026 est arrivée.

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 2mo ago

One of my many dad poems. Published in The Malahat Review, Issue 228

David Avallone @davallone.bsky.social · 2mo ago

After four years of work in secret, today the news is out: I adapted Cassandra Peterson's memoir into a 150 page graphic novel. It features incredible work from Mariano Benitez-Chapo, and tells the story of Cassandra's long and winding road to Elvira. Take a look! bleedingcool.com/comics/elvir...

Elvira's Real Life Story About Coming Out, Now As A Graphic Novel

Elvira's Real Life Story about coming out, now a Graphic Novel by Cassandra Peterson, David Avallone and Mariano Benitez-Chapo from Dynamite

bleedingcool.com

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 2mo ago

😍 Happy birthday, Chico Buarque. ELLE Brasil did an homage to the legendary women who sang his songs over the decades. 😍 #ELLEBrasil #ChicoBuarque #ElisRegina #GalCosta #NaraLeao #DanielaMercury #CassiaEller #MariaBethania #MariaGadu #Mart'nalia www.instagram.com/p/DZxZHvWEUWI/

ELLE Brasil on Instagram: "Faltam palavras para explicar a magnitude que a discografia de Chico Buarque (@chicobuarque) representa para a música popular brasileira. Cantor e compositor nascido no bair...

5,816 likes, 163 comments - ellebrasil on June 19, 2026: "Faltam palavras para explicar a magnitude que a discografia de Chico Buarque (@chicobuarque) representa para a música popular brasileira. Cant...

instagram.com

Jessica Lee McMillan @jessicaleemcmillan.com · 2mo ago

Check out our new site: #SAPP #NewWest #CanLit www.sappzine.ca

SAPP | a poetry + art zine

In addition to publishing an annual zine, SAPP hosts regular community arts events that give writers and artists the opportunityt to connect in person and build relationships with other creatives.

sappzine.ca