Little Wild explores the performance of masculinity in contemporary Canada, with a focus on how toxic masculinity relates to mental health, aggression, substance abuse and crises of identity. Through the reimagining of family histories and personal experiences, the poems in this collection exact a representation of a young man in conflict with outdated ideals of virility, struggling to redefine himself on his own terms. Little Wild is a provocative and revealing portrayal of masculinity as it is understood—and misunderstood—in a contemporary and ever-changing context. The poems are as powerful and unsettling as they are stark, combining unsentimental imagery of the natural world with first-person commentary, while exploring narratives of boyhood, adolescence and adulthood.

Curtis LeBlanc was shortlisted for the Walrus Poetry Prize in 2016, received the Readers’ Choice Award in Arc’s Poem of the Year Contest and was shortlisted for CV2’s Young Buck Poetry Prize. His writing has appeared in The Malahat Review, Eighteen Bridges, Prairie Fire, EVENT, Geist, Arc, NewPoetry.ca and Frog Hollow Press’ The City Series: Edmonton Anthology. He’s Managing Editor of Rahila’s Ghost Press, co-host of Tonic Reading Series, Web Editor at Nineteen Questions and an occasional hockey columnist for NHL Numbers. He served as Executive Editor of Promotions at PRISM international in 2016-2017. His poetry chapbook Good for Nothing was published by Anstruther Press in 2017. LeBlanc lives in Vancouver, BC.

Curtis LeBlanc's profile page

“In lines like “that fire happened / he was twelve / got his leg burnt / that day / he never wore / barefeet in his skates…,” we see the sort of conversation you could imagine the Leblancs having around the kitchen table. This dialectic, impersonal and yet revelatory in its look at hockey culture middle-section and the bond it provides makes this excellent collection all the better.” Clayton Tomlinson, Broken Pencil, Winter 2019

Broken Pencil Magazine

“... these elegiac, conversational poems consistently assemble evocative scenes before the speaker makes a startling, poignant observation or a surprising, brazen assertion. Reading Little Wild is like thumbing through a family album where every photograph, when flipped, is labelled differently than expected. As the book proceeds, one can’t help but be amazed by LeBlanc’s knack for suddenly shifting focus, so that familiar occurrences shine in new and peculiar ways, or chronicled events relay unexpected lessons.” - Canadian Literature, Reviewed by Neil Surkan, November 14, 2018

Canadian Literature Quarterly

“If ever there were a collection of poetry that would interest a young man, this would be it. The poems are stylish yet straightforward, concerning a range of topics familiar with teens… Though it all LeBlanc maintains such a believable stance, it’s impossible not to love him, foibles and all (sneaking beers, believing pronouncements from a Ouija board.) Street hockey, basketball, an assortment of bad jobs- there are no pretensions here, only a thoughtful look at the real world, full on, amazed.” - BC Books for BC schools catalogue 2018-19

BC Books for BC Schools Catalogue 2018-2019