West Ambrose

Full-Length Works

  • The Last Hurrah. Bottlecap Features at Bottlecap Press.

    A haunted indie film in a tiny, ornate chapbook. Some assembly required.

    What if ghosts from the past… still loved you back?

  • The Last Boy on Earth. Rebel Satori through Queer Space Books.

    The world’s only underwater absurdist opera…now in aquamarine!

Upcoming

  • “fuck me a mouthful of blood” The Morgue. 2025
  • A Simple Madness. A new novel about poisonous earth, toxic schools, and deadly love.

Awards and Acclaim

  • A Simple Madness was awarded a generous grant from the Ontario Arts Council for development. 2025-2027
  • Rhysling Award Nominations: “Dr. Jekyll” and “St. Sebastian Goes to Confession”
  • Elgin Award Nomination: “INFERNAS”
  • The Tent was awarded a generous grant from the Ontario Arts Council for development and exhibition. 2024-2026.
  • Poem of the Month at ONLY POEMS: February 2024 “Nisus and Euryalus at the Louvre”
  • SFPA Poetry Contest: Honorable Mention: “In Which I Tell You…”

Past Publications

INFERNAS

Part one of an epic poem. A novel in verse. An infernal trio falling in and out (and in and out and…) of love again. Toxic love. Total love. Trippy Eros–fully untranslatable. Love at lastworstugliest possible sight. 

Triptych guidelines for first time readers as per Aristotle’s principles and the Agon: 

I. overcoming the self-hatred instilled in you by the world.  
II. now you are in love but the world still hates you.  
III. >???? profit  vs. our beloved’s latest oil painting heist.

First in a triptych about crumbling literary canons, petty academic feuds, bodily autonomy, and other philosophical musings. As much of a satire on Western imperialism as it is a love letter to underread and underqueered Italian Literature. 

INFERNAS features nine fresh hellish circles for you and your lovers2enemies2lovers to thoroughly puzzle over, annotate, muse upon, and possibly even enjoy. Designed in lyrical, breathtaking terza rima. Illustrated versions and mini chapbooks in the Hellscape also will appear in the future. 

“It’s my Merrily We Roll Along.” – West Ambrose

Oscar Anderson

Editorial Work

  • The Tent was awarded a generous grant from the Ontario Arts Council for development and exhibition. 2024-2026
  • Full editorial work on all of West Ambrose’s published poetry, fiction, and plays– unless otherwise credited.

Events

WORKSHOPS

We are always looking for opportunities to present our innovative, one-of-a-kind workshops. Please enquire about potential subjects and content via the editorial email.

CONFERENCES FEATURING THE PRESS

  • Romancing the Gothic- 28th November 2026
  • Frank*ology, or the Thoroughly Modern Prometheus: A Re-vision of Sensualities in Romanticism from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (virtual conference) December 2025.
  • Queerexile: Infernas, infernal trios, and exploring natural pathways of sexuality from The Divine Comedy- Always Here: Global Middle Ages Conference (c. 250–1650). October 24, 2025.
  • “I don’t even know what they’re reading!”: Moral Panics surrounding Gregory Maguire’s Wicked and Fringe vs Mainstream.- One Short Day, An Online Symposium Celebrating Wicked. June 27, 2025
  • Two Paths “DIE-verged”: Faustian Bargains, 19th Century Crossroads, and Queering the Gothic Musical- Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University, 25th-27th June, 2025.
  • “Why is it you walked into the sea?”: A Phenomenological Study of Voice and Venice’s Queer Canals in Anne Rice’s Cry to Heaven- Unquiet Shores 2025, Edinburgh Napier University. 18-20th June, 2025.
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If you are ever interested in discussing topics presented at conferences, feel free to reach out editor@westofcanon.com

Alternately if you were AT a conference and we didn’t get to say hi, reach out!