starting with the roof of my mouth is Claren’s first chapbook, published by Gap Riot Press. It’s a long form illustrated poem about being alone. It uses the hobby of noticing as an antidote for being isolated and bored, and invites the reader to participate in the noticing. It measures and documents warping distance and time over the course of 2020, journeying through bed-bound boredom and pining as pastime. The drawings and text feel raw, immediate and deeply personal.
Printed in a limited run of fifty full-freakin’-colour copies at Product Photo in Toronto, this chapbook is written and fully illustrated by Claren Grosz. Typeset by Dani Spinosa.
“An incredible effort. Tight and ever so slyly invasive, this collection bypasses expectation and gets straight to the point.”
— Corporeal Lit Mag
“perfectly executed”
— Kirby, Knife Fork Book
“TALK. ABOUT. GORGEOUS. This book from multi-talented super interdisciplinary Toronto-based artist Claren Grosz is going to impress the heck out of you.”
