The Lit Live Reading Series

Six @ Lit Live, Feb 5

2012-01-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

New year, new books, new literary fun!

Come one, come all to Lit Live on February 5th at the Skydragon Centre, Homegrown Hamilton division, at 27 King William Street. 7:30 p.m. we start. Please don't be late!

Russell Smith might make us all Girl Crazy, reading from his novel of the same name, published by Harper Collins Canada.

Gary Barwin pops out Franzlations and The Obvious Flap, recent collaborative poetry published by New Star Books and Bookthug publishers, respectively.

Rebecca Rosenblum awakes us to The Big Dream, her latest collection of short fiction from Biblioasis.

Adam Sol takes us towards and beyond Jeremiah, Ohio, his novel in verse published by House of Anansi Press.

Maria Meindl reads from recent work and her most recent book, Outside the Box: the Life and Legacy of Writer Mona Gould, published by McGill-Queens University Press.

Laura Lush presents her much-anticipated fourth book of poetry, Carapace, newly published by Palimpsest Press.

Russell Smith

2012-01-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

Russell Smith is a novelist and cultural commentator. He is also the author of eight books, seven of them fiction. His early novels, How Insensitive (1994) and Noise (1998), are satirical, comic portrayals of big-city life and the sexual mores of young people. How Insensitive was nominated for the Governor General’s Award. His book of short stories, Young Men, followed in 1999. The opening story in that collection, "Party Going", won the Canadian National Magazine Award for fiction in 1997. His 2004 novel Muriella Pent was shortlisted for the Rogers Fiction Prize and longlisted for the Impac Dublin Award, and named as Best Fiction of 2004 by Amazon.ca.

Smith writes two weekly columns for The Globe and Mail: one on culture and the arts, and the other, an advice column for men. His most recent novel, Girl Crazy (HarperCollins Canada), a darker work with thriller elements, was called “hot, steamy, ruthlessly lucid” by Barbara Gowdy and “chatty, funny, sex-loving” by David Gilmour. Quill and Quire called it “a story of scathing insight.” He is now adapting it for the screen for New Real Films of Toronto.

Gary Barwin

2012-01-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Gary Barwin writes and performs fiction, visual and concrete poetry, music for live performers and computers, text & sound works, and literature for children and young adults. He has performed in Canada, the USA, Japan, and in Europe. Barwin was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and emigrated to Ottawa in the early 1970s. He graduated from York University with a BFA in Music and a BA in Creative Writing in 1985 where he studied writing with bpNichol and Frank Davey and music with David Mott, James Tenney, and Trichy Sankaran. Barwin received a PhD in Music Composition from SUNY at Buffalo in 1995. Barwin has been a teacher at Hillfield Strathallan College and at McMaster University. His most recent books are:

The Porcupinity of the Stars, 2010.
The Obvious Flap, a poetry collaboration with Gregory Betts, 2011.
Franzlations: the Imaginary Kafka Parables, a poetry collaboration with Hugh Thomas and Craig Conley, 2011

He is also the author of numerous chapbooks, and pamphlets, many from his own serif of nottingham editions. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies. He lives in Hamilton with his wife and three children where he directs the Niagara Regional Rhyme Gland Laboratory for the National Rhyme Institute.

Rebecca Rosenblum

2012-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

Rebecca Rosenblum’s fiction has been short-listed for the Journey Prize, the National Magazine Award, and the Danuta Gleed Award. She was herself a juror for Journey Prize number 21. Her short-story collection Once, won the Metcalf-Rooke Award and was one of Quill and Quire’s list of 15 Books That Mattered in 2008. Her first chapbook Road Trips, was published by Frog Hollow Press in 2010. Her second collection The Big Dream, was recently published by Biblioasis. The Big Dream is a collection of stories linked by the office building where all the characters work, and the trials of the company that employs them. Rebecca blogs at www.rebeccarosenblum.com

Adam Sol

2012-01-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

Adam Sol is an Associate Professor of English at Laurentian University in Sudbury. He is also the author of three poetry books. His first, Jonah's Promise (2000) was published by Mid-List Press in Minneapolis after winning their First Series Award. His subsequent books were published by House of Anansi Press. His second, Crowd of Sounds (2003), won the Trillium Award for Poetry. His latest, Jeremiah, Ohio (2008) is a novel in verse, wherein the poet reinvents the Biblical prophet and doomsayer Jeremiah for the postmodern age, and sends him on a reeling road trip through the strip malls and back roads of the United States with an ordinary, everyman for a companion. He is also the author of numerous essays and reviews.

Maria Meindl

2012-01-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

Maria Meindl is the author of Outside the Box: the Life and Legacy of Writer Mona Gould, the Grandmother I Thought I Knew from McGill Queens University Press, a story “The Last Judgment” from Found Press, and “Rules,” an essay in an anthology on death published by Creative Non Fiction. Other essays by Maria have appeared in The Literary Review of Canada, Descant, and Musicworks. She has made two radio series for CBC’s program Ideas: Parent Care, and Remembering Polio. She is the founder of Toronto’s Draft literary reading series (now in its seventh season) which features work by new and established writers. Maria blogs at Body Language.

Laura Lush

2012-01-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

Carapace is Laura Lush’s fourth book of poetry. Her first book, Hometown, was nominated for the 1992 Governor General's Award for Poetry. Her other poetry books are Fault Line (Signal, 1997) and The First Day of Winter (Ronsdale, 2002). She has also written a book of short fiction, Going to the Zoo, which was published by Turnstone Press in 2002. She teaches creative writing and academic English at U. of T.'s School of Continuing Studies. She lives in Guelph with her son, Jack. You can learn more about Carapace, Laura's latest book at her publisher's website.

Our Pre-Christmas, Free-Christmas Literariness!

2011-11-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

Won't you join us at 7:30 p.m. on December 4th, for our pre-sneezonal literary get-together, featuring poetry, fiction, and the occasional snide remark? Homegrown Hamilton is the place, 27 King William Street is our address.

Mostly laudatory, always entertaining, pre-Scrooge, we are; expectations are high, for the talent we have. Our early winter line-up includes Jeffrey Donaldson, Jean Rae Baxter, Deborah Panko, Donna Langevin, Hal Niedzviecki, and Clara Blackwood. See you there, readers! We've books a-plenty!

Jeffrey Donaldson

2011-11-15T09:30:00.001-08:00

Jeffery Donaldson teaches poetry and American literature at McMaster University. His latest poetry book is entitled Guesswork; he is the author of three previous collections: Once Out of Nature, Waterglass and Palilalia, which was a finalist for the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry. In 2011, Donaldson won a City of Hamilton Arts Award as Established Artist in the Writing category. In addition to producing numerous articles on poetry, Donaldson has co-edited a book of essays, Frye and the Word: Religious Contexts in the Writings of Northrop Frye. He lives with his family on the Niagara Escarpment near Grimsby.

Jean Rae Baxter

2011-11-15T09:28:00.000-08:00

Jean Rae Baxter was born in Toronto, grew up in Hamilton, and spent much of her adult life in the Kingston area. She started writing full-time a dozen years ago, following a career in education. She writes for both adults and young adults. She has written three young adult novels, the second of which, Broken Trail (Ronsdale Press, 2011) recently received the 2011 Moonbeam Gold Medal, a U.S. award, for Young Adult Historical Fiction. Jean’s debut collection of short stories, A Twist of Malice, was published by Seraphim Editions in 2005; her second collection Scattered Light followed this fall. The Hamilton Spectator described this book as “an award-winning collection waiting to be crowned and one you-shouldn't miss.” Jean lives in Hamilton, where she is Co-chair of Hamilton Arts Council’s Literary Advisory Committee and serves as one of the organizers of the LiT LiVe Reading Series.

Hal Niedzviecki

2011-11-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

Hal Niedzviecki is the founder of Broken Pencil Magazine and has published numerous works of social commentary, including

The Peep Diaries: How We're Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors
Hello I'm Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity
We Want Some Too: Underground Desire and the Reinvention of Mass Culture.

He has also published a novel, The Program, and Smell It, a collection of stories. Hal was the subject of the documentary "Peep Culture" which premiered in Canada and the U.S. in 2011. His most recent book, Look Down, This is Where it Must Have Happened was published in April in the USA and Canada.

Donna Langevin

2011-11-15T09:14:00.001-08:00

Donna Langevin’s poetry has appeared in numerous journals such as The Antigionish Review, Arc, and Descant. She won first prize in the 2008 Ontario Poetry Society Spring Contest and first prize in the 2009 Cyclamens and Swords Contest. Her poetry books include Improvising in the Dark (watershed books, 2000) The Second Language of Birds (Hidden Brook Press, 2005), In the Café du Monde (2007), and two chapbooks: Songbirds of the Hours and The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea. In 2010 a suite of her poems appeared in the collection From O to Snow, along with work by Deborah Panko and Kate Marshall-Flaherty.

Clara Blackwood

2011-11-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

Clara Blackwood is a Toronto-based poet and professional Tarot reader. Her first poetry collection, Subway Medusa (2007), was the inaugural book in Guernica Editions’ First Poets Series, which features first books by poets thirty-five and under. Her poetry has appeared in the Hart House Review, Quills, Rampike, Carousel, and in the UK magazine Dream Catcher. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Toronto. Her chapbook of tarot-inspired poems, Arcana, was published by Aeolus House in August 2011. Charged with archetypal symbolism, the poems in Arcana take the reader on a spiritual odyssey through the twenty-two major arcana in the Tarot.

Deborah Panko

2011-11-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

Deborah Panko retired early from teaching English at the Toronto District School Board and moved east, settling in Cobourg. Hidden Brook Press published her first book of poetry, Somewhat Elsewhere in 2008. In 2010 a suite of her poems entitled “Assumptions” appeared in the collection From O to Snow, along with work by Donna Langevin and Kate Marshall-Flaherty.

On Sunday November 6th Lit Live Strikes Again!

2011-10-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

In November, Lit Live helps the gritLIT Literary Festival launch its new anthology of contest winners, by presenting Jamie Dopp and Elana Wolff and their award-winning writing. Join us and also hear Stan Rogal, Norma Charles, Alexandra Oliver, and Cornelia Hoogland read from their newest publications. Start time is 7:30 p.m. at the newly renovated Homegrown Hamilton venue, on the first floor of the Skydragon Centre: 27 King William Street in Hamilton. See you then!

Stan Rogal

2011-10-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Stan Rogal is the author of seventeen books: four novels, three collections of short stories, and ten books of poetry. A set of fifty selected poems entitled Dance, Monster appeared in May, 2011 from Insomniac Press. His latest novel Bloodline was also published by Insomniac this year. Born in Vancouver, Stan Rogal obtained a B.A. from Simon Fraser University, majoring in English and doing a double minor in Philosophy and Theatre. He moved to Toronto in 1987, where he completed an M.A. in English at York University. He ran the popular Idler Pub Reading Series for ten years and was the co-creator of Bald Ego Theatre.

Cornelia Hoogland

2011-10-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Cornelia Hoogland published two books of poetry in 2011, Woods Wolf Girl (from Wolsak and Wynn) and Crow (from Black Moss Press). Hoogland’s poetry has been shortlisted for the CBC literary award several times. The nominations were for selections from Cuba Journal (Black Moss Press, 2003) and for her her second and third books of poetry, You Are Home (Black Moss Press, 2001) and Marrying the Animals (Brick Books, 1995). Her recent awards include 2009 finalist for the Stephen Dunn Poetry Award in the USA; the Malahat Review Long Poem Competition; and Descant’s 2008 Winston Collins Best Canadian Poem. Hoogland is the founder and artistic director of Poetry London, an organization that brings prominent writers into lively discussion with London writers and readers. She teaches at the University of Western Ontario.

Alexandra Oliver

2011-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Alexandra Oliver was born in Vancouver and currently lives in Toronto. She has been nominated for a CBC Literary Award and the Pushcart Prize. Her poetry regularly appears in journals worldwide, and her first collection, Where the English Housewife Shines, was published in 2007 in London, England. She has performed her poems at Lollapalooza and The National Poetry Slam, and on CBC Radio One and National Public Radio, and was a featured performer and interviewee in the 1998 documentary, Slam Nation. Oliver is currently completing an MFA at the University of Southern Maine and co-editing (with Annie Finch) an anthology of poetry in non-iambic meters. A second collection of poetry is forthcoming.

Elana Wolff

2011-10-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Elana Wolff’s suite of poems “Meridian,” was the First Prize winner in the Poetry category of the 2011 gritLIT Writing Competition. Elana has published three books of poetry with Guernica Editions, as well as a duologue and renga collection co-authored with the late Hamilton-born poet Malca Litovitz, and a collection of essays on poems by Toronto-area poets. Elana’s third book, You Speak to Me in Trees, was awarded the 2008 F. G. Bressani Prize for Poetry. Her fourth book of poetry, Startled Night, will be launched at the end of November.

Jamie Dopp

2011-10-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Jamie Dopp's poetry, fiction, reviews and scholarly articles have appeared in many periodicals and journals, including The Malahat Review, The Fiddlehead, and Essays on Canadian Writing. He has published two collections of poetry, On the Other Hand (1996) and The Birdhouse, or (2002) as well as a novel, Prospects Unknown (2000). In 2007 he organized an international conference on hockey called Canada and the League of Hockey Nations. Out of this conference came a collection of essays, co-edited with Richard Harrison, called Now is the Winter: Thinking about Hockey (2009). He continues to play oldtimers' hockey in Victoria. This summer, Dopp won the gritLIT Writing Competition in the Fiction category for his short story "Little Fish."

Norma Charles

2011-10-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

Norma Charles is the author of many books for children including the Moonbeam Bronze Medal Award winner The Girl in the Backseat, the Chocolate Lily Award winner All the Way to Mexico, and her latest book, Run Marco, Run. Norma now lives in Vancouver where she often walks along its many beaches and wonders about the people on huge freighters that anchor out in the bay. You can visit Norma on the web at www.normacharles.ca.

Lit Live at the Skydragon Centre on October 2nd

2011-09-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

Lit Live would like to express its sincere gratitude to the Artword Artbar for enabling us to do our September show on the Artword Artbar's main stage. (Thank-you, Judith and Ron for wonderful evening!)

In October, the action swings back to the newly renovated Homegrown Hamilton cafe, on the first floor of the Skydragon Centre, 27 King William Street. Gary Barwin hosts Lit Live on Sunday October 2nd. Here are the stars we have for you!

Glen Downie reports the Local News, his new collection of poems from Wolsak and Wynn.

Andrew Pyper introduces The Guardians, his latest novel from Doubleday Canada.

Brian Henderson reads from his latest poetry collection Sharawadji, published this year by Brick Books.

Jessica Hiemstra-van der Horst brings us her poetry in Apologetic for Joy, from Goose Lane Editions.

Patrick Bowman reads from his first novel Torn from Troy, released in 2011 by Ronsdale Press.

Merle Nudelman presents The He We Knew, published by Guernica Editions.

Glen Downie

2011-09-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Glen Downie was born in Winnipeg, worked in cancer care for many years in Vancouver, and now lives in Toronto. In 1999, he served as Writer-in-Residence at Dalhousie University's Medical Humanities Program. He has published fiction, non-fiction, reviews, and several collections of poetry, including Loyalty Management (Wolsak & Wynn, 2007) which won the 2008 Toronto Book Award. His most recent poetry book is Local News (Wolsak & Wynn, 2011).

Andrew Pyper

2011-09-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

Andrew Pyper is the author of five internationally bestselling novels and a collection of stories called Kiss Me. His first novel, Lost Girls (HarperCollins, 1999) won the Arthur Ellis Award and his second, The Trade Mission (HarperCollins, 2002) was chosen as one of the ten best books of the year by The Toronto Star. Additionally, The Wildfire Season (HarperCollins, 2005) was a Globe and Mail Best Book and The Killing Circle (Doubleday Canada, 2008) was a New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. His latest novel, The Guardians (Doubleday Canada, 2011), was a Maclean's national bestseller for the first seven weeks of its publication. Pyper last appeared in Hamilton in 2009 at the gritLIT Writing Festival.

Brian Henderson

2011-09-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Brian Henderson is the author of nine volumes of poetry, including a deck of visual poem-cards entitled The Alphamiricon. His latest collection, Sharawadji, was published by Brick Books this year. A previous collection, Nerve Language was nominated for a Governor Generals Award in 2007. His work, both critical and poetic, has appeared in a number of literary journals. He has a PhD in Canadian literature, is the Director of WLU Press, and he lives in Kitchener with his wife, Charlene Winger.

Jessica Hiemstra-van der Horst

2011-09-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

Jessica Hiemstra-van der Horst is a visual artist and writer. Her poems have appeared in several journals including The Antigonish Review, The Malahat Review, and Carousel. Her previous books include Anatomy for the Artist (Greenboathouse Press, 2009) and Excerpts from Gerald, God and the Chickens (Frog Hollow Press, 2008). She recently won The Malahat Review’s 2011 Open Season Award for Non‐Fiction. Her latest book is a colleciton of poetry, Apologetic for Joy, recently released by Goose Lane Editions. Jessica has been painting since she was four; her artwork has been exhibited across Canada. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia with her partner, her paints, her computer, and her small garden.

Patrick Bowman

2011-09-12T14:16:00.000-07:00

Patrick Bowman was born in Ottawa and educated in Toronto. He has twenty years of writing experience, all of it in software, but has been fascinated by Greek mythology since stumbling over a copy of Bulfinch’s Mythology in his father’s library as a child. Torn from Troy is his first book and came out in 2011 from Ronsdale Press. He lives in Toronto.

Merle Nudelman

2011-09-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Merle Nudelman is a Toronto lawyer and poet. Her first collection, Borrowed Light, won the 2004 Canadian Jewish Book Award for Poetry as well as a prize in the Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest. Her second book, We, the Women, was released last fall by Guernica Editions. Her latest book is The He We Knew, which includes a suite of poems about the homeless and the displaced and grapples with the ripples of a broken relationship. Merle’s poems have appeared in journals, newspapers and zines. She teaches memoir writing to adults.

September 4th at the Artword Artbar

2011-08-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Due to construction on King William Street and renovations at the Skydragon Centre, Lit Live has moved to the Artword Artbar for the opening of our 2011-2012 season. Date: Sunday, September 4th. Address: 15 Colbourne St., Hamilton. Start time is at 7:30 p.m. See you soon!

Daniel Scott Tysdal reads from The Mourner's Book of Albums, published in the Fall of 2010 by Tightrope Books.

Jack Hannan reveals poetry both selected and new in his collection Some Frames, from Cormorant Books.

Lolette Kuby brings her new novel Writing Personals, recently released by Vehicule Press.

Jenn Farrell introduces us to The Devil You Know, her latest collection of short fiction from Anvil Press.

Shane Rhodes challenges expectations and language itself with Err, his collection of poetry from Nightwood Editions.

Daniel Scott Tysdal

2011-08-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Daniel Scott Tysdal is the author of The Mourner’s Book of Albums (Tightrope 2010). His first book of poetry, Predicting the Next Big Advertising Breakthrough Using a Potentially Dangerous Method (Coteau 2006), received the ReLit Award for Poetry (2007) and the Saskatchewan Book Award for Best Book of Poetry (2006). His work has earned him honourable mention at the National Magazine Awards (2003) and the Matrix Lit Pop Award for Poetry (2010). He currently teaches creative writing and English literature at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Jack Hannan

2011-08-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Jack Hannan is a poet and the sales manager at McGill-Queen’s University Press. Though he's been an important part of the publishing industry for over 40 years, Hannan has been one of Canadian poetry’s best-kept secrets. The release of Some Frames (from Cormorant Books), makes available the best of Hannan's new work as well as a number of remarkable poems that only appeared in limited-edition chapbooks and magazines during the late 1970s and 1980s. Hannan’s poetry, which has been compared to Stephane Mallarmé’s and John Ashbery’s, is mysterious and fluid, hermetic and hypnotic, evoking the crescendo of a music score or the emotional pull of an oil painting.

Lolette Kuby

2011-08-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

Lolette Kuby came to Canada in 1999 after quitting her job in the English Dept. of the Cleveland State University, and she taught at Humber College during her first year in Toronto. Now freelance editing and her own writing take all her work time. Her first full-length collection of poems, Set Down Here came out in 2002, and another collection, Inwit, followed in 2003. Her other books include An Uncommon Poet for the Common Man: A Study of Philip Larkin's Poetry, and Faith and the Placebo Effect: An Argument for Self-healing. Her short story collection Out of Cleveland was released in April 2007. Her new novel, Writing Personals, was published in 2010 from Vehicule Press. She is a member of PEN America.

Jenn Farrell

2011-08-18T09:24:00.001-07:00

Jenn Farrell is the author of two collections of short stories: The Devil You Know (Anvil Press, 2010), and Sugar Bush & Other Stories (Anvil Press, 2006). Her stories have previously appeared in Prism, subTerrain, West Coast Line, and Forget magazines. She has acted as reader and editor for several winning entries in the 3-Day Novel Contest, and in 2006, made her broadcast debut as a judge for Book Television's coverage of the event. Jenn was born and raised in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario. She is a graduate of the Langara College Publishing program and Douglas College Print Futures: Professional Writing program. She currently resides in Vancouver where she works as a freelance writer, editor, and teacher.

Shane Rhodes

2011-08-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

Shane Rhodes is the author of Err (Nightwood Editions in 2011), The Wireless Room, Holding Pattern, and The Bindery (all with NeWest Press). Shane’s awards include an Alberta Book Award for poetry, two Lampman-Scott Awards, the P. K. Page Founder's Award for Poetry, and the most recent National Magazine Award for poetry. Shane’s poetry has also been featured in the anthologies Breathing Fire II, Seminal: Canada’s Gay Male Poets, and Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008 and 2011.

Lit Live Needs a Little Help!

2011-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Lit Live seeks volunteers for fun jobs like:

· readings host
· booking agent for visiting authors
· funding administrator
· publicity and promotions director
· weblog administrator.

You have to live close to Hamilton Ontario and be able to attend our series on the first Sunday of every month (excepting January, July, and August). These are all volunteer positions, but in lieu of salaries we offer fun times, the opportunity to meet some of Canada’s leading writers, and a chance to be inside one of Canada’s well-respected and long-running reading series. We have a close-knit group producing the show at the moment and we’re looking for a few reasonable people fill out our team and contribute a few hours per month. Plus, aren’t these really authoritative job titles? Yeah, we thought so.

Please express your interest in joining our merry little band by sending your email to:

cpannell3@cogeco.ca

Thank-you!

See You . . . In September

2011-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Lit Live organizing committee would like to thank our visiting writers and our faithful audiences for making our recent season such a success. While the reading series will close down for the summer, we will return on the first Sunday in September when we present Shane Rhodes, Daniel Scott Tysdal, Lolette Kuby, Jenn Farrell, Michael Lithgow, and Jack Hannan. Please mark the 4th of September in your calendar as the night we'll all get together again at our favourite hangout, Hamilton's Skydragon Centre. As usual, the start time is 7:30 p.m. We'd hate to have to start without you!

Jump into June at Lit Live

2011-05-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

On June 5th, Lit Live helps you into the summer reading season with six outstanding poets with as much diversity between them as can be imagined. Please put Sunday, June 5th, @ 7:30 p.m. at the Skydragon Centre, 27 King William Street, Hamilton, on your calendar, and then get your hungry mind down there for a great evening.

Garry Gottfriedson, Domenico Capilongo, Susan McCaslin, Jacob McArthur Mooney, Penn Kemp, and Anne Simpson will concentrate the octane of poetry for you in one unforgettable night!

Garry Gottfriedson

2011-05-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Garry Gottfriedson, a member of the Secwepemc First Nation, lives in Kamloops, BC. He is a self-employed rancher with a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University. His published works include Glass Tepee (Thistledown Press, 2002), which was nominated for a First People's Publishing Award 2004, and Painted Pony (Partners in Publishing, 2005) which was his first children’s story. In 2006 he published a collection of cowboy and Indian heritage poems entitled Whiskey Bullets (Ronsdale Press). His latest book is Skin Like Mine, which was shortlisted for the Canadian Authors Association Award for poetry in 2011. In Skin Like Mine Garry Gottfriedson offers a suite of poems that peel away the skin of contemporary first nations society to reveal an inside view of individual experience.

Susan McCaslin

2011-05-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Susan McCaslin is a prize-winning poet who has published fourteen volumes of poetry. Her most recent is Demeter Goes Skydiving (University of Alberta Press, 2011), a contemporary reworking of the Demeter and Persephone myth. Susan has edited two poetry anthologies and is on the editorial board of Event magazine. She is currently a full-time writer living in Fort Langley, British Columbia completing a book of essays called Spirit Talks. She has facilitated workshops on the mystics and is at work on a book on the contemporary relevance of mysticism. You can reach Susan at www.susanmccaslin.ca

Anne Simpson

2011-05-25T07:17:00.001-07:00

Simpson received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from Queen’s University, and a diploma in Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design. Subsequently, she worked as a CUSO volunteer English teacher for two years in Nigeria. She was the co-winner of the 1997 Journey Prize, awarded for her short story "Dreaming Snow." Her second collection of poetry, Loop (2003), was the winner of the 2004 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize. Her second novel, Falling (2008),a Canadian bestseller, was the winner of the Dartmouth Fiction Award. It was long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She has also written a book of essays on poetics, The Marram Grass: Poetry and Otherness (2009). During 2009-2010, Simpson was Writer-In-Residence at the Saskatoon Public Library.

Penn Kemp

2011-05-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

Poet/performer Penn Kemp is the first Poet Laureate of London, Ontario. She has published twenty-five books of poetry and drama, had six plays and ten CDs of sound opera produced as well as several award-winning video-poems. Some of these can be sampled at ww.mytown.ca/pennkemp. Kemp was the Canada Council Writer-in-Residence at the University of Western Ontario for 2009-10. Her project there was a DVD, Luminous Entrance: a Sound Opera for Climate Change Action (Pendas Productions, 2010). Five of her sound operas have been performed at London's Aeolian Hall Summer Soirees, at the University of Western Ontario, and at festivals in Glastonbury, India, and Brazil. She hosts the literary program Gathering Voices on CHRW radio.

Domenico Capilongo

2011-05-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

Domenico Capilongo was born in Toronto, grew up in Vancouver and Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and then returned to Toronto where he completed his education. He is a karate instructor as well as a former Ontario Karate Champion and National Black Belt Medalist. He has lived in Japan and traveled throughout Asia. He teaches high school creative writing and alternative education. In 2004, he won an honourable mention in The Toronto Star Poetry Contest and his work has been nominated for the Journey Prize. His first collection of poetry, I thought elvis was italian, came out with Wolsak and Wynn in 2008. His second poetry collection, entitled hold the note was released in the Fall of 2010. It is a wide-ranging collection unified by a jazzy, syncopated writing style—it is dynamic, sometimes experimental, often playful, yet always passionately engaged, sensual and visceral.

Jacob McArthur Mooney

2011-05-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

Award-winning author Jacob McArthur Mooney’s debut book of poetry was the much acclaimed The New Layman's Almanac. A respected poetry commentator and critic, he writes the popular Vox Populism blog, and was a panelist for the National Post’s Canada Also Reads competition. A Nova Scotian now living in Toronto, he is a recent graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing programme at the University of Guelph-Humber. Mooney's latest book is Folk, a poetry collection that inquires into the human need for frames, edges, borders, and probes contemporary challenges to identity.

In May, Five Bloom at Lit Live

2011-04-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, the First of May, at the Skydragon Centre at 7:30 p.m., Lit Live takes great pleasure in presenting five writers to whet your appetite for the summer reading season.

Steven Heighton brings both poetry and fiction: Patient Frame and Every Lost Country published by House of Anansi and Knopf Canada respectively.

George Bowering also has poetry and short and long fiction for our audience, offering short stories in The Box (New Star Books) and poetry in My Darling Nellie Grey (Talonbooks).

Robert Sutherland takes us on Survivor's Leave, his latest YA novel, published by Ronsdale Press.

Steven McCabe brings his poetry collection the Hierarchy of Loss, published by Ekstasis Editions.

David Clink reads from his new collection of poetry, Monster, recently unleashed by Tightrope Books.

Steven Heighton

2011-04-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

Steven Heighton published two books in 2010: a novel, Every Lost Country, and a poetry collection, Patient Frame. Both books appeared on a number of "best of year" lists and the novel has been optioned for film. His 2005 novel, Afterlands, appeared in six countries; was a New York Times Book Review editors’ choice; a best of year choice in ten publications in Canada, the USA, and the UK; and was also optioned for film. His poems and stories have appeared in such publications as London Review of Books, Poetry, Tin House, The Walrus, and Best English Stories and have received four gold National Magazine Awards. He has also been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Award, and Britain’s W.H. Smith Award. This fall, ECW will publish a small collection of his memos and fragmentary essays called Workbook, and next spring Knopf Canada will bring out a new collection of his short stories. You can reach him at www.stevenheighton.com

George Bowering

2011-04-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

George Bowering is a veteran poet and fiction writer. He has won a Governor-General's Award in poetry and another in fiction. He has won the Canadian Author's Association award in poetry, and the bpnichol Prize for chapbooks. He is an officer of the Order of Canada, and of the Order of British Columbia. He has honorary degrees from UWO and UBC. He was the first Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada. His most recent book of poetry is My Darling Nellie Grey (Talonbooks, 2010), his most recent book of short fiction is The Box (New Star, 2009), and his latest novel (forthcoming) is was Pinboy (Cormorant).

Robert Sutherland

2011-04-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

Robert Sutherland is one of Canada’s most successful Young Adult novelists, having brought out many books with publishers such as Scholastic and HarperCollins. His latest, Survivor’s Leave developed from his experience during WWII when he served as an anti-aircraft gunner on a Loch Class frigate (HMCS Loch Morlich). When his ship was in dry dock in London for repairs, he experienced the German V-1 bombing. His first literary success was a novel published in the Toronto Star Weekly in 1960. When he returned to writing in the 1980s he decided to follow advice he had received on rejection slips –‘suggest you try writing for teens’. He rewrote the story that had been published in the Star. Mystery at Black Rock Island, published by Scholastic, was an immediate success and was the first of five books about two teenagers named David and Sandy. He is the author of fourteen novels, some of which have been translated into French, Norwegian, Swedish, German and Korean. Robert now lives in Westport, Ontario.

Steven McCabe

2011-04-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

Steven McCabe is a poet, author, visual artist and filmmaker living in Toronto, Ontario. He is the author of five books of poetry: most recently Hierarchy of Loss (Ekstasis Editions 2007). He has illustrated books and magazines with fine-line ink drawings, created public murals and exhibited paintings on canvas and paper, collaborative art, and mixed media sculpture. He teaches art and creative writing workshops in both private and public schools. He recently directed and wrote his first short film titled My Story is Not My Own, a video-poem metaphorically examining the theme of grief. You can reach Steven at www.stevenmccabe.ca

David Clink

2011-04-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

David Clink was the Artistic Director of the Art Bar Poetry Series for three years, and Artistic Director of the Rowers Pub Reading Series its first three seasons. He is a widely published poet. He edited the anthology, A Verdant Green (Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2010). His first book of poetry was Eating Fruit Out of Season (Tightrope Books, 2008). His second book, Monster (Tightrope), a collection of strange, dark, surreal and unusual poems, was launched in November 2010.

April Powers Literary with gritLIT @ Lit Live!

2011-03-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

It's here! On Sunday, April 10th, you'll witness the event collaboration of the year between gritLIT, Hamilton's Literary Festival and Lit Live, Hamilton's monthly reading series. The Skydragon Centre on King William Street will host a dynamic line-up of six outstanding writers in the closing event of the gritLIT weekend. (April 7-10).

Remember, for April only, Lit Live will hold this special event on the second Sunday of the month.

Shaena Lambert reads from her novel Radiance, published by Random House Canada.

Jean Rae Baxter reads from Broken Trail, the second novel in her young adult trilogy, recently launched by Ronsdale Press.

Howard Richler delves into Strange Bedfellows: The Private Lives of Words published by Ronsdale Press.

Roy Miki's most recent collection of poetry is There, published by New Star Books.

Catherine Graham reads from her poetry collection Winterkill, released in 2011 by Insomniac Press.

Ian Burgham parses The Grammar of Distance for us, his latest collection of poems from Tightrope Books.

Shaena Lambert

2011-03-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

Shaena Lambert’s novel Radiance was both a Globe and Mail and Quill and Quire best book and was a finalist for the Rogers Writers Trust Award and the Ethel Wilson Award. Her collection of stories, The Falling Woman was published to critical acclaim in Canada, the UK and Germany, and was a finalist for the Danuta Gleed Award. Her stories have appeared recently in Zoetrope: All Story, The Vancouver Review, and Best Canadian Stories 2010. Other stories are
forthcoming in Ploughshares and Best Canadian Stories 2011. She lives in Vancouver, where she teaches at The Writers’ Studio at Simon Fraser University.

Jean Rae Baxter

2011-03-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

When anyone comments that there is a contradiction in producing two very different kinds of writing, Jean Rae Baxter’s answer is that life is full of contradictions. In literature it is called irony, and irony is at the heart of her first collection of short stories, A Twist of Malice, which was published to critical acclaim in 2005. At the same time that she was writing short stories about the dark side of apparently everyday lives, she was working on an historical novel about a courageous Loyalist girl during the period of the American Revolution. This novel, The Way Lies North, was released in the fall of 2007. For her second novel, she returned to crime. Her literary murder mystery, Looking for Cardenio (2008), centred upon the discovery of an old manuscript that might be a lost play by Shakespeare. For her third novel, she returned to historical fiction. Broken Trail (2011) follows some of the characters who appeared in The Way Lies North, focusing upon the plight of the native people during the American Revolution. With the publication of The Runaways in 2012 she will complete her trilogy dealing with this historical period. As before, she has interspersed novel writing with the crafting of short stories. A second collection of short fiction, Scattered Light, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2011.

Howard Richler

2011-03-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Howard Richler is a journalist who has written many books on language: Can I Have a Word with You? (Ronsdale Press, 2007), Global Mother Tongue: The Eight Flavours of English (Véhicule Press, 2007), A Bawdy Language: How a Second-Rate Language Slept Its Way to the Top (Stoddart, 1999), Take My Words: A Wordaholic’s Guide to the English Language (Ronsdale Press,1996), and The Dead Sea Scroll Palindromes (Robert Davies Publishing, 1995). Richler makes his home in Montreal.

Roy Miki

2011-03-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

Roy Miki is a writer, poet, and editor who lives in Vancouver. He is the author of numerous publications, including Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice (Raincoast 2004), a work that explores the Japanese Canadian redress movement through a creative blend of personal reflection, documentary history, and critical examination. He is also a poet with four books published. His third book of poems, Surrender (Mercury Press 2001), received the Governor General’s Award for Poetry. Most recently, he has co-edited, with Smaro Kamboureli, Trans.Can.Lit: Resituating the Study of Canadian Literature (Laurier Press 2007) and edited Roy Kiyooka’s The Artist and the Moose: A Fable of Forget (LineBooks 2009). He is currently completing “Mannequin Rising,” a book-length series of poems and photo collages that probe the internal effects of commodity culture (forthcoming from New Star Books). He received the Order of Canada in 2006 and the Order of British Columbia in 2009.

Catherine Graham

2011-03-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Catherine Graham is the author of three collections of poetry. She completed an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in England while living in Northern Ireland. Graham now lives and writes in Toronto, where she teaches creative writing, is active in several arts organizations, and designs and delivers workshops on creativity for the business and academic community. You can visit her at www.catherinegraham.com Her latest book of poetry, Winterkill, was published by Insomniac Press in 2011.

Ian Burgham

2011-03-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ian Burgham was born in New Zealand, raised in Canada, and has lived and worked in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He has published three collections of poetry, the latest of which is entitled The Grammar of Distance. His poems have appeared in Prairie Fire, Contemporary Verse 2, The New Quarterly, The Literary Review of Canada, Queen's Quarterly, the League of Canadian Poets, dANDelion, Harpweaver, Precipice, Jones Avenue, and Ascent Aspirations. His new poetry collection, A Weight of Bees, is to be launched in London, England and Toronto in 2012. He divides his time between Toronto and Kingston.

Marching in to Lit Live in March

2011-02-10T12:14:00.001-08:00

Don't be concerned about lions and lambs coming in and going out. You simply must not forget forget March 6th, when Lit Live marches on and rocks the Skydragon Centre in the heart of Hamilton. Start time is 7:30 p.m.

Antony di Nardo presents poetry from Alien, Correspondent, his most recent collection from Brick Books.

Jeff Seffinga releases his inner tiger, with his latest book release, All We Like Cats, from Serengeti Press.

David Helwig will cozy up or frighten us out of our wits, with Mystery Stories, his latest publication from Porcupine's Quill.

Marc di Saverio will vocalize from his latest poetry collection, Sanatorium Songs, published lately by Cactus Books.

Julie Berry will give a demonstration of The Walnut-Cracking Machine, her new book of poems from Buschek Books.

Ann Elizabeth Carson takes on The Risks of Remembrance and triumphs over them in her new book from publisher, Words Indeed.

Antony di Nardo

2011-02-10T12:12:00.001-08:00

Antony Di Nardo has published two books of poetry, Alien, Correspondent (Brick Books) and Soul on Standby (Exile Editions) His work has appeared in journals across Canada and internationally. He has recently returned from Beirut where he taught at International College. Alien, Correspondent, documents Di Nardo's experience of the Middle East as "a clear-eyed witness" and "epitomizes the empathy required to be its perfect correspondent." On the other hand, Soul on Standby reveals another side to this poet, where the lyric and the narrative combine to tell "stories of a wry seriousness undercut by the slyly hilarious." He'll be reading from both books this evening; as well he has a new manuscript, Nothing to Declare.

Jeff Seffinga

2011-02-10T12:04:00.001-08:00

Jeff Seffinga was born in the Netherlands and grew up in rural Eastern Ontario. Most of his adult life he has lived in Hamilton. He is a long-standing member of the Tower Poetry Society and is also the administrator of the Acorn-Plantos People's Poetry Award. Seffinga has published numerous collections of poetry including We Measure Our Time in Coffee Cups, Bailey's Mill, and Tight Shorts, a collection of haiku. His latest book is All We Like Cats.

David Helwig

2011-02-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

While at Queen's University, David Helwig did some informal teaching in Collins Bay Penitentiary and he wrote A Book about Billie with a former inmate. In 1974, John Hirsch hired him as literary manager of CBC television drama, and he spent two years in this position, supervising the work of story editors and the department's relations with writers. From 1976 to 1980, he taught part time at Queen's while doing a great deal of freelance work, and in 1980, he gave up teaching and became a full-time freelance writer. He has from the beginning written both fiction and poetry as well as a wide range of radio, televison and journalism. Vocal music was for many years his avocation. Beginning in his forties, he sang with a number of choirs in Kingston, Montreal and Charlottetown. He appeared as bass soloist in Handel's Messiah, Bach's St Matthew Passion, and Mozart's Requiem. He currently lives in an old house in the village of Eldon in Prince Edward Island. His latest book is entitled Mystery Stories.

Marc di Saverio

2011-02-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

Marc di Saverio, an English student at McMaster University, hails from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His poetry, translations, criticism, artwork and Verso D’oggetti/Objectverse, have appeared in numerous on and offline publications. His chapbooks Sanatorium Songs (Cactus Press) is recently released and The Manifesto of Mortarism (Cactus Press) is forthcoming.

Julie Berry

2011-02-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

Julie Berry is the author of two collections of poetry: Worn Thresholds (Brick Books, 1995 and reprinted in 2006) and The Walnut Cracking Machine (Buschek Books, 2010). Her poems have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies including Open Wide a Wilderness: Canadian Nature Poems (Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2009). She lives outside of St. Thomas, Ontario, with her partner, Jonathan and their dog, Guinness.

Ann Elizabeth Carson

2011-02-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

A poet, writer, artist, feminist and psychotherapist, Ann Carson was selected as one of Toronto’s Mille Femme at the 2008 Luminato Festival, which paid tribute to women who have made a contribution to the arts. Her latest book, The Risks of Remembrance, (Words Indeed ) distills a life’s experience in poetry and visual images. In this book she asks: What is remembrance and what does it mean? Carson distills a life’s experience in haunting lyric and narrative poetry and visual images as she explores the mysterious power of memory to shape us and to mould how we see and interact with life. You can reach her at her website.

For February Find What is Fabulous in Poetry

2011-01-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

On the first Sunday in February (the 6th), Lit Live brings you six writers with poetry in their repertoire. One of our committee members, Chris Pannell recently won the 2010 Acorn-Plantos People's Poetry award and Jeff Seffinga will be at Lit Live this night, to make the presentation. Additionally . . .

Jim Johnstone will delve into Patternicity, his collection of poems released last March by Harbour Publishing.

Chris Banks makes his first appearance at Lit Live with his book, The Cold Panes of Surfaces, published by Nightwood Editions.

Chris Pannell will rev your engines with Drive, the book that won the 2010 Acorn-Plantos People's Poetry Award, published by Wolsak and Wynn.

R.W Megens reads from The Infinite Ache, his new collection of poetry recently launched by Serengeti Press.

Kildare Dobbs takes us great distances with Casanova in Venice, his new poems published by The Porcupine's Quill.

David Seymour will warm every corner of the room with Inter Alia, his poetry collection from Brick Books.

Jim Johnstone

2011-01-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

Jim Johnstone obtained his M.Sc. in Reproductive Physiology from the University of Toronto, where he is currently a doctoral candidate. He is a two-time winner of the E. J. Pratt Medal and Prize in Poetry, the recipient of a 2008 CBC Literary Award and his work has been broadcast on CBC Radio's Between the Covers and published in Canadian periodicals such as The Fiddlehead, Grain and PRISM International. Currently he edits Misunderstandings Magazine, a literary journal he co-founded with Ian Williams and Vicki Sloot. His most recent book of poetry is entitled Patternicity. He keeps a blog at http://jimjohnstone.wordpress.com/

Chris Banks

2011-01-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

Raised in the Ontario communities of Bancroft, Sioux Lookout, and Stayner, where his father served postings as a small-town police officer, Chris Banks took his BA at the University of Guelph, a Master's in Creative Writing at Concordia, and an education degree at Western. He currently works as an English and Creative Writing instructor at Bluevale Collegiate Institute in
Waterloo, Ontario. His poetry has previously appeared in the Literary Review of Canada, Carousel and The Antigonish Review. His last poetry collection was entitled The Cold Panes of Surfaces.

Chris Pannell

2011-01-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

Chris Pannell is part of the organizing committee for Hamilton’s annual gritLiT literary festival. He also runs the New Writing Workshop through Hamilton Artists Inc., one of Canada’s leading artist-run centres. He has published three poetry books: Drive (2009), Under Old Stars (2002) and Sorry I Spent Your Poem (1999). He won the Arts Hamilton Poetry Book Award in 2010 for Drive and won the Hamilton & Region Arts Council poetry book award in 1997 for a set of poetry broadsheets entitled Fractures, Subluxations and Dislocations. Before his reading, he will be presented with the 2010 Acorn-Plantos People’s Poetry Award by Jeff Seffinga. In a former life, Pannell was a professional technical writer, editor, and systems analyst. Additionally he has worked as a musician, bus driver, sales person, bird breeder, music archivist, and paperboy for The Globe and Mail. He continues to read the Globe, first thing every morning.

R.W Megens

2011-01-13T19:23:00.000-08:00

R.W. Megens has edited seven anthologies of poetry and prose, one of which published a short story awarded The Writers' Trust of Canada/McClelland Stewart Journey Prize. He has won the Hamilton and Region Literary Award and the Prickly Poetry Contest. His recent collection of poetry, The Infinite Ache, has been called "a sensual exploration" and described by Xaviera Hollander (The Happy Hooker) as a celebration of "the connection between personal happiness, sexual fulfillment and intimacy."

Kildare Dobbs

2011-01-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Kildare Dobbs was born in Merrut, India, and educated at St Columba's College, Rathfarnum, Ireland, and Jesus College, Cambridge. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Navy, first as an able seaman and later as a sub-lieutenant, before going into the commandos. After the war he took a teaching diploma at London University before going in 1947 to what was then Tanganyika, where he served as a magistrate. He taught high school in Venice, Ontario, after immigrating to Canada in 1952. Thereafter he worked in Toronto as a book editor for nearly ten years with the Macmillan Company. It was at this time that he began writing and broadcasting radio scripts for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. These ranged from short talks and reviews to an impressive exploration of Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Through the 1960s and 1970s, he was a regular contributor to the CBC's literary program Anthology, produced for most of that time by Robert Weaver with whom, in 1956 Dobbs became one of the founding editors of the influential Tamarack Review. From 1965 to 1967 he served as managing editor of Saturday Night magazine. In 1968 he became a literary columnist for the Toronto Star. Now a free-lance journalist, he is particularly known as a travel writer.

David Seymour

2011-01-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

David Seymour's first book, Inter Alia (Brick Books, 2005) was short-listed for the Gerald Lampert Award for the best first book of poetry in Canada. His poetry, reviews and essays have appeared in journals across Canada. Most recently his poetry was short-listed for the 2009 CBC Literary Award, and twice selected for the Best Canadian Poetry Anthology. David currently lives in Toronto, where he is completing a second and third manuscript.

Lit Live Returns on Sunday 6th of February 2011

2010-12-08T05:47:00.000-08:00

The Lit Live Reading Series hopes that all its supporters, readers, and fans have a happy and relaxing holiday season. Thank-you all for making our reading events a very special part of the Hamilton cultural scene. Our series returns on Sunday February 6th, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. at the Skydragon Centre, 27 King William Street.

Warming the Cockles of Our Christmas Hearts!

2010-11-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

For December 5th, at 7:30 p.m. at the Skydragon Centre, the Lit Live elves have packaged up six terrific writers for your seasonal edification. Presents?! Oh yes!

Matthew Tierney reads from The Hayflick Limit, published by Coach House Books.

Garry Gottfriedson takes us inside Skin Like Mine, from Ronsdale Press.

James Deahl will be Opening the Stone Heart, his latest poetry collection from Aeolus House.

Bren Simmers dives into her first poetry collection, Night Gears from Wolsak and Wynn.

Eva Tihanyi revists Lit Live with poems In the Key of Red, from Inanna Publications.

A.J. Somerset reads from his first novel Combat Camera, published this year by Biblioasis.

Matthew Tierney

2010-11-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

Matthew Tierney is the author of two books of poetry, Full Speed through the Morning Dark (Wolsak and Wynn) and The Hayflick Limit (Coach House). The latter collection was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 2010. In 2005, he won first and second place in This Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt, and in 2006 was a recipient of a K. M. Hunter Award. Tierney "writes poems like a mad boy scientist," (Eye Weekly) and weaves "whiz-bang with philosophical insights that will break your heart" (American Literary Review). The Hayflick Limit gives voice to a range of characters who scrape out meaning in a carnivalesque universe.

Garry Gottfriedson

2010-11-26T10:36:00.000-08:00

A member of the Secwepemc First Nation, Garry Gottfriedson was born, raised and lives in Kamloops, BC. He is a self-employed rancher with a Masters degree in Education from Simon Fraser University. His published works include In Honor of Our Grandmothers: Imprints of Cultural Survival (Theytus Books, 1994), 100 Years of Contact (Secwepemc Cultural Education Society, 1990), Glass Tepee (Thistledown Press, 2002), nominated for First People’s Publishing Award 2004, and Painted Pony (Partners in Publishing, 2005), his first children’s story. He has read from his work across North America, Europe and in Taiwan. Through Ronsdale Press he has two collections of poetry, Whiskey Bullets and Skin Like Mine.

James Deahl

2010-11-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

Born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, James Deahl grew up in the city and in and around the Laurel Highlands region of the Appalachian Mountains. He moved to Canada in 1970 and holds dual American/Canadian citizenship. He is a founding member of the Canadian Poetry Association. A cycle of his poems was the focus of a one-hour television special, Under the Watchful Eye (1993), the audio tape of which was later released by Broken Jaw Press. He has published (or translated) 19 books of poetry including Love Where Our Nights Are Long and If Ever Two Were One (Aeolus House 2008). Deahl has taught creative writing and Canadian literature at Norwell District Secondary School, Seneca College, and Ryerson University. He is currently the publisher of Unfinished Monument Press and lives in Hamilton.

Bren Simmers

2010-11-26T10:17:00.001-08:00

Bren Simmers lives in Vancouver, where she works as a park interpreter. Winner of the Arc Poem of the Year Award and finalist for the Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award, her work has been published in journals across Canada. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Her first full book of poetry is Night Gears. Click here to learn more about Night Gears from its publisher, Wolsak and Wynn.

Eva Tihanyi

2010-11-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

Eva Tihanyi was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1956 and came to Canada at the age of six. She grew up in Windsor, spent the 1980s in Toronto, and has called the Niagara Region home since 1989. Tihanyi teaches English and Communications at Niagara College and has published seven books, the most recent of which is In the Key of Red (Inanna, 2010). She is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada and the League of Canadian Poets.

A.J. Somerset

2010-11-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

A. J. Somerset has been a soldier, a technical writer, a programmer, and a freelance photographer. His non-fiction has appeared in numerous outdoor magazines in Canada and the United States, and his articles have been translated into French and Japanese. He lives in London, Ontario with his wife and children. Combat Camera is his first novel and this book was winner of the 2009-10 Metcalf-Rooke Award. Click here to learn more about Combat Camera from its publisher Biblioasis.

Six New Books (with Writers) and an Anthology Launch Too!

2010-10-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

On November 7th, Lit Live will feature six outstanding writers, newly published for your delight. Two are prize winners from the 2010 gritLIT Writing Competition whose work appears in the new anthology -- The Challenge of Three: Poetry and Fiction from the gritLIT Writing Competition. Reading from it are Betsy Struthers and Liz Harmer.

In addition, Keith Garebian, Paul Sutherland, Susan McMaster, and Ian Williams all have new books to share with us.

Betsy Struthers took first prize in the Poetry section of the gritLIT competition and as well has a new book of fiction called Relay, from Black Moss Press.

Liz Harmer was one of the winners in the Short Fiction section of the gritLIT competition.

Paul Sutherland brings his latest publication, Spires and Minarets from the UK to our Hamilton stage.

Ian Williams has a recent book of poetry. You Know Who You Are came out in the spring from Wolsak and Wynn. He also has a collection of short stories, Not Anyone's Anything, forthcoming from Freehand Books.

Susan McMaster reads from Paper Affair: Poems Selected & New (Black Moss 2010).

Keith Garebian makes his third visit to Lit Live, bringing with him poetry in the form of Children of Ararat (Frontenac House 2010).

Betsy Struthers

2010-10-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

Betsy Struthers has written eight books of poetry and three novels. She was also co-editor and contributor to Poetry in the Classroom, a book of essays about teaching poetry. Struthers has won several awards for her work including First Prize in the Poetry section of the 2010 gritLIT Writing Competition, the 2004 Pat Lowther Award from the League of Canadian Poets, and the silver medal in the 1994 Milton Acorn Award. She has twice been short listed for the CBC Literary Award and was on the short list for the 1993 Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award. Her poems and fiction have been published in many literary journals and anthologies, most recently

Pith and Wry: Canadian Poetry
In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry
Going Top Shelf: An Anthology of Canadian Hockey Poetry.

She has taught writing workshops to students of all ages and has read her work in venues from Goose Bay, Labrador to Victoria, BC. A resident of Peterborough since 1977, Struthers works as a freelance editor of academic texts.

Liz Harmer

2010-10-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

Liz Harmer grew up in Hamilton and currently lives in Toronto. She has worked at libraries, orchards and at Tim Hortons; she has tutored and studied and spent most of her time wishing she was writing instead. She has an M.A. in English from McMaster and a certificate in Creative Writing from the Humber School for Writers, mentored by Joan Barfoot. Currently, she is the stay-at-home mother to two young girls and somehow manages to stay productive. She is polishing stories and sending them out for publication, working at a memoir and a novel, drafting a few non-fiction pieces, and developing a thicker skin. Her story "Dying Media" placed third in the gritlit Writing Competition. In 1998, she won Hamilton's "Power of the Pen" contest for a second time. She blogs at profswife.wordpress.com.

Keith Garebian

2010-10-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Keith Garebian has published over 1200 reviews, interviews, and features in over 80 newspapers, journals, and magazines. He has also published 17 books, including four poetry collections, the latest being Children of Ararat (Frontenac House). He was longlisted for the Re-Lit Award for Frida: Paint Me As A Volcano (Buschek Books) and for the LAMDA Award for Blue: The Derek Jarman Poems. He has also won the Canadian Authors Association (Niagara Branch) Poetry Award (2009), the Naji Naaman Literary Honour Prize (Lebanon, 2009), the Mississauga Arts Award (2000 and 2008), and a Dan Sullivan Memorial Poetry Award (2006). One of the poems from his most recent book was selected Poem of the Month by the Parliamentary Poet Laureate in 2009. His second edition of The Making of 'Cabaret' is forthcoming from Oxford University Press (New York) in 2011, and he has begun work on a new biography of William Hutt. He lives in Mississauga and can be reached at www.stageandpage.com.

Ian Williams

2010-10-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

Ian Williams completed his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and is currently an Assistant Professor of American literature at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. His first book of poetry, You Know Who You Are, was recently published by Wolsak and Wynn, and his first collection of short stories, Not Anyone's Anything, is forthcoming from Freehand Books. His writing has appeared in Arc, Contemporary Verse 2, Rattle, jubilat, The Antigonish Review, Gargoyle, Pebble Lake Review, Callaloo, Descant, and Matrix Magazine. He is a Cave Canem fellow, a recipient of a Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts poetry residency, a Palazzo Rinaldi fiction residency in Italy, and was also a scholar at the National Humanities Center Summer Institute for Literary Study. He divides his time between Ontario and Massachusetts.

Paul Sutherland

2010-10-14T04:51:00.000-07:00

Paul Sutherland, a Canadian-British poet, emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1973. He has written seven collections of poetry and has edited seven others. He is the founding editor of Dream Catcher, a distinguished international arts journal. He has read his poetry in public over a hundred and fifty times including twice at Lit Live. He attends festivals and leads workshops in creative writing for all ages and abilities. His poems have recently appeared in Sjama Ghazal Salaam UK, an anthology of Islamic-inspired contemporary British poetry, in The Mantle Adorned (an anthology) and in the Brownsbank Anthology celebrating the life of poet Hugh MacDiarmid. His Tennyson-inspired poems (2009) were displayed in Lincolnshire as part of the events commemorating the poet's bi-centenary. In the same year a poem of his was selected for Writing Your Self, (edited by Myra Schneider and John Killick,). He has a pamphlet Spires and Minarets just out from Sunk Island Publishing, 2010 and another collection Intimacies is planned for later in the year. He won the 2008 Nassau Review (US) Poetry Prize for best poem submitted to the journal and came 2nd in the English Association Poetry Prize in 2009. http://www.scribd.com/doc/29317530/Spires-and-Minarets

Susan McMaster

2010-10-14T04:36:00.000-07:00

Ottawa poet and editor Susan McMaster has performed across Canada and abroad, and has published some 20 books and recordings, most recently Paper Affair: Poems Selected & New (Black Moss 2010). Her midlife memoir, The Gargoyle’s Left Ear: Writing in Ottawa (Black Moss, 2007), recounts her activism in the Canadian literary world. McMaster’s work has appeared widely in broadcast and electronic media and in literary publications at home and abroad. She was a featured poet, for example, at the Italian festivals Napolipoesia (2003) and Salernopoesia (2005). Her editing projects include

Waging Peace: Poetry & Political Action
Dangerous Graces: Women’s Poetry on Stage
Bookware: Ottawa Valley Poets
Siolence: Poets on Women, Violence & Silence
and chapbooks such as Two Women Talking: Correspondence 1985–87, Erin Mouré and Bronwen Wallace.

She is currently Vice-President of the League of Canadian Poets.

Kerry Schooley

2010-09-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

The Lit Live committee is saddened to announce the passing of Kerry Schooley, the founder of the reading series. Kerry's vision and design for Lit Live continues to this day in the format and schedule of the series; we uphold his interest in presenting a wide stylistic range of writers, and remain committed to presenting talent from Hamilton and the region alongside published writers from away. Kerry participated in many, many ventures to promote literary work around Southern Ontario, in addition to writing books under the names of John Swan and Slim Volumes, editing anthologies of noir fiction, and editing the work of other writers, most recently for Seraphim Editions. He will always be missed in this corner of the writing world.

October 3rd, It'll be Three and Three at Lit Live

2010-09-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Three winning stories from the Arts Hamilton Creative Keyboards Contest will vie with three outstanding poets for your ears and hearts at Lit Live on Sunday, October 3rd. Join us at 7:30 p.m. at the Skydragon Centre on King William Street in Hamilton for your monthly shot of the best in literary entertainment.

Jan Conn reads from Botero's Beautiful Horses, her 2009 collection of poems from Brick Books.

Catherine Owen debuts her latest poetry in Seeing Lessons from Wolsak and Wynn (2010).

Eve Joseph has signed on for The Secret Signature of Things, her newest poetry from Brick Books (2010).

Who will win the Creative Keyboards prizes? You'll have to come to Lit Live on October 3rd to discover and celebrate with three talented writers of short fiction.

Jan Conn

2010-09-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

Jan Conn was brought up in Asbestos, Quebec. She now lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and works as a professor of Biomedical Sciences whose research focuses on mosquitoes, their evolution and ecology. She is the author of seven books of poetry. Her latest collection is Botero’s Beautiful Horses, published by Brick Books in 2009.

Catherine Owen

2010-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Catherine Owen is a Vancouver writer. Her latest books are Frenzy (Anvil Press, 2009) and Seeing Lessons (Wolsak and Wynn, 2010). She's been nominated for a variety of honours including the BC Book Prize and the CBC award. Her work has been translated into three languages and has appeared in literary magazines in Canada, the USA, Austria, and New Zealand.

Eve Joseph

2010-09-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

Eve Joseph was born in 1953 and grew up in North Vancouver. Her first book of poetry The Startled Heart (Oolichan Press, 2004) was nominated for a Dorothy Livesay Award. Her second book The Secret Signature of Things came out with Brick Books in 2010. Her work has been published widely in Canadian and American journals and anthologies. Eve took second place in the Great Blue Heron Contest sponsored by The Antigonish Review in 2007 and 2009. She was recently awarded the 2010 P.K. Page Founder's Award for the best poem of the year in the Malahat Review and was shortlisted for the 2009 CBC Literary Awards in the creative nonfiction category.

Winning Stories in the Arts Hamilton Creative Keyboards Contest!

2010-09-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Join us for readings of the First, Second and Third Place winning stories in the Arts Hamilton Creative Keyboards short story contest, a competition open to writers all over Canada. While the three writers and their stories will not be announced until October 3^rd, the short list includes three writers from Hamilton: Marion Christina Kemmett, Jeff Seffinga, and Gunter Ott. Two are from Burlington: Margo Karolyi and Jody Aberdeen. Two live in Toronto: John Norris and Lucile Barker. Judith McLeod is an Oakville resident, and Sylvia Barta makes her home in Fonthill, near Welland. Two out-of-province writers are shortlisted: Chuck Lovatt of Carroll, Manitoba, and Alvin G. Enns of Abbotsford, British Columbia.

On September 5th, Lit Live takes the Stage of the Skydragon

2010-08-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

September will soon be here, so mark your calendar for after-school at Lit Live, on Sunday the 5th. Then, we'll all rush to the blackboard to hear six enticing writers (and their books). The show begins at 7:30 p.m.

Johanna Skibsrud reads from I Do Not Think that I Could Love a Human Being, her latest poetry collection from Gaspereau Press, released in April of 2010.

Paul Tyler presents A Short History of Forgetting, his recent poetry book from Gaspereau Press.

Lilly Barnes introduces us to Mara, her first novel, published by Variety Crossing Press.

David Laing Dawson warns us Don't Look Down, the title of his latest book from Bridgeross Communications.

Steve Pitt collects stories from the experience of writing in his new collection My Life and Other Lies: Tales from the Writer's List.

Karen Lewis reads poetry from her first collection, What I Would Not Unravel, published by Writer's Den Books.

Johanna Skibsrud

2010-08-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

Johanna Skibsrud’s first poetry collection, Late Nights With Wild Cowboys, was published in 2008 by Gaspereau Press and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award. Originally from Scotsburn, Nova Scotia, she currently lives in Montreal, where she is working on her Ph.D. Her first novel, The Sentimentalists, was published by Gaspereau Press in 2009. Her latest poetry collection is I Do Not Think that I Could Love a Human Being.

Paul Tyler

2010-08-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Paul Tyler’s poetry book A Short History of Forgetting was published in April 2010 by Gaspereau Press. His chapbook Naming the Animals was published by Rubicon in 2009. Recently, his work has appeared in Grain, Prism International, The Fiddlehead and The Minnesota Review and is forcoming in Best Canadian Poetry 2010. He won 1st place in the Being at Work Poetry Challenge, won The Byron’s Quill Award, and was a runner up for The Bliss Carman Award. Though from Vancouver Island, he works as a library reference assistant in Ottawa, and was on the editorial board of Arc Poetry Magazine from 2004-2008.

David Laing Dawson

2010-08-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

David Laing Dawson is a psychiatrist and the author of two textbooks, five novels, and several screenplays. His novels and films address mental health issues. He feels that documentaries and academic books can provide information and explanation, but novels and narrative films give this information life, heart, and context in the real world. Don't Look Down is his latest novel. Cutting for Stone is his most recent film. Dawson lives in Hamilton and is part owner of Gallery on the Bay.

Lilly Barnes

2010-08-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Lilly Barnes is the author of the novel Mara. For many years, she was the senior script writer for the Mr. Dressup show on CBC television. She won a Special Gemini in 2007: the Margaret Collier Award for writing an out-standing body of work on behalf of that show. She was also a freelance Arts Journalist for CBC radio, for shows such as Ideas and The Entertainers. Her previous publications include A Hero Travels Light, a collection of linked short stories, and five books for young children. Lilly lives and writes in downtown Toronto, in an old house full of music and stories.

Steve Pitt

2010-08-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

Steve Pitt is the author of My Life and Other Lies: Tales from the Writers’ List, a collection of short stories that originally appeared as casual e-mails on the writer list-servs of PWAC (Professional Writers Association of Canada) and TWUC (The Writers Union of Canada). Writing can be a lonely profession so our list-servs act as cyber-watercoolers where we trade favourite recipes, personal triumphs or tragedies, what our dumb pets are doing and occasionally we even talk about writing.

Karen Lee Lewis

2010-08-11T09:51:00.001-07:00

Karen Lee Lewis is an independent Teaching Artist. She has taught creative writing for various non-profit organizations and art galleries throughout Western New York. Her Picturing Poetry Project at Native American Magnet School, with CEPA Gallery Teaching Artist Amy Luraschi, was the subject of a documentary by film maker Jon Hand, and was aired on PBS this year. Karen was a contributing editor for literature and poetry for Traffic East magazine. Karen has completed fellowships at the Banff Centre's Wired Writing Studio (mentored by Don Domanski), and the Western New York Writing Project at Canisius College. Karen's poetry, short fiction, features, interviews and photography have been widely published, most recently in Buffalo Spree and Teachers & Writers magazine. Her poem "Even if" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Slipstream Press. Her first full-length poetry collection, entitled What I Would Not Unravel came out this year.

Lit Live goes away for the summer

2010-06-25T20:29:00.001-07:00

See you in September! To be precise, Sunday, September 5th, 2010, when our great little reading series comes back to the stage at the Skydragon Centre. Please join us then for readings by Lilly Barnes, Johanna Skibsrud, Paul Tyler, David Laing Dawson, Steve Pitt, and Karen Lewis.

Watch this space for more information about the Spetember 5th date!

Have a great summer!

A Phenomenal Five for June 6th, 2010

2010-05-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Join us at the Skydragon Centre in Hamilton (27 King William Street) at 7:30 p.m. for five phenomenal poets, some with memoirs, novels and exciting new poetry collections!

Patrick Lane brings his novel Red Dog, Red Dog, along with an extraordinary body of poetry created during a forty-five year career.

Lorna Crozier presents her recent memoir Small Beneath the Sky (Greystone Books) and her poetry collection, The Blue Hour of the Day (McClelland and Stewart).

Bruce Meyer tames the Dog Days: a Comedy of Terriers, poetry from Black Moss Press.

Jacquie Buncel reads from Turning the Corner at Dusk, a new collection of poems released by Wolsak and Wynn in 2010.

Jim Smith reads from his collection of new and selected poems, entitled Back Off Assassin! published in 2009 by Mansfield Press.