Six Writers in February!

Six writers bring their literary lines to Lit Live on February 7, 2010! Readings begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Bread and Roses Cafe, 27 King William Street, Hamilton, Ontario.

Amy Jones will read from her collection of short stories entitled What Boys Like, published by Biblioasis.

di Brandt presents Watermelon Syrup, a collaborative novel published by Wilfred Laurier Press.

Marilyn Gear Pilling will read poems from The Bones of the World Begin to Show, a collection of poems from Black Moss Press.

Sue Chenette brings us the insights of her book Slender Human Weight, poetry published by Guernica Editions.

Vicky Delany reads from Winter of Secrets, new fiction from Poison Pen Press.

David Derry shares with us his collection of satires called Sentimental Exorcisms, from Coach House Books.

Amy Jones

Originally from Halifax, Amy Jones is a graduate of the Optional Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at UBC. Her short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in several Canadian publications, including The New Quarterly, Grain, Prairie Fire, Event, Room of One’s Own, The Antigonish Review, and 08: Best Canadian Stories. In 2006, she was the winner of the CBC Literary Award for Short Story in English. Amy currently lives in Toronto.

di Brandt

Di Brandt brings to Lit Live a collaboration entitled Watermelon Syrup. The genesis of this novel is shown in the roles of the three contributors (below).

Primary author Annie Jacobsen was born in Luseland, Saskatchewan, to a Mennonite mother and Lutheran father. In addition to Watermelon Syrup, she is the author of short stories, poetry, and an unpublished novel. In the later years of her life she lived in Toronto with her two children, taught writing workshops, and practised as a Jungian psychotherapist. She died in May 2005.

Jane Finlay-Young met Annie in 1999 and together they developed and taught writing workshops. Jane published her first novel, From Bruised Fell, in 2000. At Annie’s request, Jane rewrote Watermelon Syrup with the help of Di Brandt’s editorial feedback.

Di Brandt has received numerous awards for her poetry, including the CAA National Poetry Prize, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, and the Gerald Lampert Award. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Creative Writing at Brandon University.

Marilyn Gear Pilling

Marilyn Gear Pilling is the author of two collections of fiction and four books of poetry, the latest being The Bones of the World Begin to Show. This book explores the decade of life that begins at age 55, and ends at 65. Marilyn’s poetry has most recently been awarded first prize for Descant magazine’s Winston Collins “Best Canadian poem” 2009 and was shortlisted for The Malahat Review’s 2009 “Open Season” award. A short story of hers recently won second place in Grain’s 2009 short fiction contest, and her creative non-fiction was a finalist in Event magazine’s 2009 contest. Marilyn lives in Hamilton. She helps to organize the Hamilton Poetry Centre’s readings and workshops, and she teaches poetry privately to groups of students. Most recently she has read her work at the Stephen Leacock festival in Orillia, the Arts and Culture festival in Barrie, and at the Black Moss 40th Anniversary celebration in Windsor, Ontario.

Sue Chenette

Sue Chenette is a poet and pianist who grew up in northern Wisconsin and has lived in Toronto since 1972. Her poems have appeared in Canadian journals such as The Fiddlehead, Contemporary Verse 2, The New Quarterly, and Descant, as well as in literary reviews in the US, England, and France. She has also been anthologized in A Time of Trial and In Fine Form, the Canadian collection of formal poetry. She is the author of three chapbooks: Solitude in Cloud and Sun (Silver Maple Press, 2007); A Transport of Grief (LyricalMyrical, 2007), and The Time Between Us (Canadian Poetry Association, 2001), for which she won the Shaunt Basmajian Award. She also enjoys collaborative poetry. She gave a class entitled Renga, Anyone? at the 2006 Warren Wilson Alumni Conference, and is one of the co-authors of the chapbook-length renga Weathering (Silver Maple Press, 2008.) Her newest book, Slender Human Weight, was launched by Guernica Editions in December 2009.

Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany writes everything from standalone novels of psychological suspense:

• Scare the Light Away and Burden of Memory (both from Poisoned Pen Press)

to the Constable Molly Smith books, a traditional village/police procedural series set in the B.C. Interior

• In the Shadow of the Glacier, Valley of the Lost, and Winter of Secrets

to a light-hearted historical series

• Gold Digger and Rendezvous Crime

set in the raucous heyday of the Klondike Gold Rush.
Vicki lives in rural Prince Edward County, Ontario, where she rarely wears a watch. Her forthcoming books are the second Klondike book, Gold Fever, in Spring 2010, and the fourth Molly Smith, Negative Image, in November. You can Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com.

David Derry

David Derry lives in Toronto with his wife and two daughters, and works as a contract analyst. He has had a handful of stories published in literary journals, including one which won the PRISM International Short Fiction Award. In 2009 Coach House Books published his first book, a collection of tragicomic satires titled Sentimental Exorcisms. The men in these stories have grand designs and petty fears, or else modest designs and grand fears - with their ramparts crumbling around them, each mounts an exuberant defence in a vacuum of self-absorption.

Lit Live Arts Hamilton Creative Keyboards

To support Lit Live financially and generate funds to pay our readers, we hold an annual writing contest. Our partner organization, Arts Hamilton cashes and writes the cheques with which we do business and that's why they are involved in this contest too. But the money is used to fund Lit Live. Totally.

It's a contest for short stories of 2,000 words or less.
Remember last year's winners? Sure you do.

Here are the rules, folks. Officially.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Deadline May 15 2010

Entry Fee $15 per story or $25 for two stories.

Cheque or Money Order should be payable to
Arts Hamilton (Writing Contest)

Genre Short Fiction

Eligibility

1. Stories must be 2,000 words or less (including the title).
2. They may not be previously published.
   
3. They must be submitted on paper.
4. They must be typewritten, double-spaced, and easily legible. No faint printing or faded photocopies please.
5. The author's name, address, phone number, and email address must be provided on a separate sheet along with the title of the story.
6. Author's name and contact info must not appear on the pages of the story.
7. Manuscripts will not be returned.
8. Email submissions or word processing files will not be considered and will be discarded.
9. Winners will be announced on September 5, 2010 at the Lit Live Reading Series.

Prizes $250 / $100 / $50
Each of the three winning stories will be read by its author or a designate on October 3, 2010 at the Lit Live Reading Series in Hamilton, Ontario.

Submissions with payment should be sent to:

Arts Hamilton (Writing Contest)
279 King Street East,
Hamilton, Ontario
L8N 1B9

If you have questions, please post your query to this blog or email to info@artshamilton.ca
Please enter early and often!