Conspiracy Theory Brings Out-of-Print Poetry Book New Life
When a psychic TikToker woke up from a dream during which a man asked, “Is the fifth window open?” she had to investigate. What Oh Marni and the Canadian literary community didn’t expect was for this search to escalate into a full-on hunt for an out-of-print poetry collection published in Saskatoon over 20 years ago.
She posted a video on TikTok appealing to her followers to help her track down Russell Thornton’s The Fifth Window after she discovered that it wasn’t accessible except through the reserved sections of major universities, which of course piqued her curiosity. Things got viral and began to flirt with conspiracy—you know, the fun kind—to the bewilderment of Vancouver writer Russell Thornton.
Thornton’s The Fifth Window was published in 2000 by Thistledown Press in Saskatoon and was difficult to access simply because it was out of print. Thorton’s subsequent work has been shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Poetry and the Griffin Poetry Prize. Thornton doesn't know much about TikTok, but luckily his teenage daughter helped him with figuring out why other teenagers were suddenly desperate for his poetry. He has since sent a copy of his book to Oh Marni who had made more videos about her vision and desire to read the poetry collection.
The publishers at Thistledown Press said they would reprint The Fifth Window if there was enough interest, and the orders poured in. Now with the book getting a reprint, Thornton says he is happy that his book and Canadian poetry are getting attention, but also expressed concern that those looking for secrets or conspiracies will be disappointed by the book.
To him, we say, collect the money. You earned it and deserve it! If TikTok can get more eyes and coins to Canadian writers and independent presses, we are all for it.
To Oh Marni, we say, may we recommend exploring other amazing but little-known gems that most definitely have secrets and would feature well on your Tiktok?
If you’d like to order your copy of the reprinted and possibly mysterious poetry collection, head to the Thistledown Press site here.
Arjun Singh
is an emerging writer located in the Greater Toronto Area. He writes prose and screenplays and is currently hard at work on a novel, screenplay and a short story collection. He is also an avid reader and has an ambitious goal of reading 60 books every year. Arjun was published in the Humber Literary Review's Spotlight edition in Spring 2022.