ALEXIS, Andre; BAZIJU [Roo Borson and Kim Maltman]. HIJ Ten. Toronto: BookThug, 2015. Limited Edition. 120x165mm. Stapled Wrappers. Fine. np.

One of 30 copies issued. Two stapled chapbooks, each with HIJ hand stamped to the front cover above the author's name and the date 18/01/2015; 20 pages (Alexis) and 16 pages (Baziju) respectfully; both housed in a plain white envelope with HIJ / TEN hand stamped to the front. Produced for the tenth instalment of a reading series called HIJ, loosely based on a journal run by the hosts Jay & Hazel Millar in the early 1990s.

Alexis' booklet contains dog poetry from his novel Fifteen Dogs; Baziju's booklet contains three prose poems and three translations from the Chinese of Li Bai. The reading was a unique occasion as it was the first time in all their friendship that Alexis and Borson/Maltman had ever read together. Other firsts: it was produced for the first ever public reading of Baziju's translations from the Chinese of Li Po, as well as the first public reading from Alexis' Fifteen Dogs, which went on to win the 2015 Giller Prize. Alexis has neatly signed his chapbook on the front.