Four Readers on January 6, 2008

Joanne Arnott reads from Mother Time: Poems New and Selected, from Ronsdale Press.

Mary Ann Mulhern is the author of Touch the Dead, from Black Moss Press.

Judah Denberg's latest collection of poetry is entitled Half a World Away and was published by Mosaic Press in 2007.

Jake Doherty spins stories of crime in his latest book Mystery Ink from Ginger Press.

Joanne Arnott

Joanne Arnott is a Metis/mixed blood writer, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She studied English briefly at the University of Windsor and then moved to the west coast in 1982. Joanne has been a literary performer and publishing poet since the mid-1980's, and has presented her work and given writing workshops across much of Canada, and in Australia. She has worked for many years as an Unlearning Racism facilitator, and continues to incorporate social justice perspectives and peer counseling approaches into her work. Joanne is mother to five sons and one daughter, all born at home. Her latest book is Mother Time: Poems New & Selected from Vancouver’s Ronsdale Press in 2007.

Mary Ann Mulhern

Mary Ann Mulhern is a Windsor writer who has had two recent readings at Shakespeare and Company in Paris. Black Moss Press published two of her books, The Red Dress in 2003, and Touch the Dead in 2006. Both books use poetry as a genre for story-telling. The Red Dress is in its third printing, Touch the Dead is in its second printing.

Judah Denberg

Judah Denburg is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of Clinical Immunology & Allergy at McMaster University. His first book of poetry -- Old Roots New Trees -- was published by Mosaic Press in 1993 and it was followed by Altar of the Seasons in 1995. Both collections contain poems that emerge from the author’s medical and religious backgrounds: his connectedness to the rich heritage of the Hebrew language, Jewish thought, law, music and literature. His his late father was a rabbi, linguist, teacher and scholar; and his mother, steeped his upbringing in the traditions of Jewish music. He has published his poetry in many journals and literary publications. His new collection, Half a World Away, came out from Mosaic Press in 2007.

Jake Doherty

Retired newspaperman Jake Doherty turned to crime writing with his first novel, The Rankin Files (2002). Doherty, who lives near Owen Sound, often draws on his stints as publisher of The Hamilton Spectator, the Kingston Whig Standard and the Owen Sound Sun Times. Now at work on his second novel, Finding Fergus, he has written five short stories for the Osprey Media Summer Mystery Series. In the 1970s he co-authored a non-fiction work, Bears and Sheep for McClelland and Stewart. Doherty is New Brunswickborn and has degrees from St. Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia and Columbia University in New York. He appears this evening as co-editor and contributor to Mystery Ink, an anthology published by Ginger Press in June of 2007.

Five Readers on December 2, 2007

At Lit Live, poetry month falls in December!

Daphne Marlatt is currently writer in residence at McMaster University and her last book was the poetry collection This Tremor Love Is.

Colin Morton will read from The Cabbage of Paradise:The Merzbook and other poems, published in 2007 by Seraphim Editions.

Ruth Roach Pierson has a new book of poetry entitled Aide-memoire, published by Buschek Books.

Nadine McInnis will read from her latest collection of poems, Two Hemispheres, recently published by Brick Books.

Elizabeth Glenny reads from A Periodic Sentence, her second collection of poetry.

Daphne Marlatt

Daphne Marlatt was born in Australia. After moving from Malaysia to Vancouver in 1951, she obtained a BA from the University of British Columbia in 1964, an MA in Comparative Literature from Indiana University in 1968, and Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 1996. After publishing poetry for many years, she published two novels, Ana Historic (1988) and Taken (1996), and numerous critical articles. She is currently writer-in- residence at McMaster University. Daphne Marlatt’s last book of poetry was This Tremor Love Is. It is a memory book—an album of love poems spanning twenty-five years, from her first writing of what was to become the opening section, “A Lost Book,” to later, more recent sequences.

Colin Morton

Colin Morton has lived in Ottawa since 1981. He has published seven books of poetry and a novel, and has collaborated with other writers and artists in a variety of inter-media performances, including the animated film Primiti Too Taa. Two of his poetry books have won the Archibald Lampman Poetry Award: This Won't Last Forever in 1986, and Coastlines of the Archipelago in 2000.

His 2003 book, Dance, Misery, published by Hamilton's Seraphim Editions was short listed for the same award. His second Seraphim book, The Cabbage of Paradise: The Merzbook and Other Poems, is a new edition of his best-known work, after a decade out of print. An excerpt from The Merzbook received a CBC award in the 1980s. The Cabbage of Paradise combines Morton's visual and experimental poetry with his narrative series about the early 20th-century German artist Kurt Schwitters, creator of a one-man art movement he called Merz. In reviving the spirit of Schwitters, Morton's book also builds on the experimental poetic tradition in Canada.

Ruth Roach Pierson

Ruth Roach Pierson has had two careers: for thirty-one years she was a teacher, historian, and feminist scholar. She is the author of They’re Still Women After All: The Second World War and Canadian Womanhood (which came out with McClelland & Stewart in 1986) and has written many other academic studies.

Her first book of poems, Where No Window Was, was published by BuschekBooks of Ottawa in the spring of 2002, a year after she retired from academia. Her poems have appeared in ARC, Event, The Fiddlehead, Malahat Review, Pagitica, Prism International, Queen’s Feminist Review, Quills, and A Room of One’s Own, as well as a number of anthologies. In 2002, she won first place in the annual poetry contest sponsored by Word: Toronto’s Literary Calendar; in 2003 she was a finalist in the Pagitica literary contest; and she received honourable mention in The Fiddlehead’s 2003/2004 Ralph Gustafson poetry contest. Aide-mémoire, also published by BuschekBooks, is her second book of poems.

Nadine McInnis

Nadine McInnis is the author of seven books, including Quicksilver (short stories), Hand to Hand (poetry), and Poetics of Desire: Essays on Dorothy Livesay. Her work has appeared in a variety of journals, including The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, Event, and Room of One’s Own. She lives in Ottawa where she teaches in the Professional Writing Program at Algonquin College. Her latest book of poetry is Two Hemispheres which was recently published by Brick Books.

"Two Hemispheres acts as a causeway between past and present, health and illness, and the supposed vastly different worlds of arts and biomedicine." -– Dr. J.T.H. Connor, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University.

Elizabeth Glenny

Elizabeth Glenny lives on the banks of the Niagara River with an orange cat, a reincarnation of her husband, which is jealously guarding her from the ghost of her first husband. She is working on her second poetry collection titled Legs. Elizabeth will read from her first collection of poetry, A Periodic Sentence.

Four Readers on November 4th

Bob Snider's latest book from Gaspereau Press is On Performing. At Lit Live he will read and perform his famous and well-loved songs.

Allan Briesmaster reads from his latest book of poetry Interstellar, recently released by Quattro Books.

Marilyn Gear Pilling has recently published Cleavage: a Life in Breasts and The Life of the Four Stomachs. Both are books of new poetry from Black Moss.

Mira McEwan will read poems from her new collection Ecstatic.

Bob Snider

Singer-songwriter Bob Snider has played on the street and in the concert hall. He's been called a "national treasure", a "living legend" and "author of some of the best Canadian songs of the decade".

Born and raised in Toronto, he spent several years as a resident of Nova Scotia before returning to Ontario in 1986. To date he has released seven albums, most recently A Maze in Greys (2007) and Stealin’ Home (2002). Snider tours widely and has appeared at shows and festivals across North America. His first book, On Songwriting, was published by Gaspereau Press in 2005.

In his follow-up book, On Performing, Snider is at turns self-deprecating and jokingly grandiose, providing tips for effective performing and stories from the trenches. With thoughts on everything from stagefright, interruptions, timing and humour, to venues, bookings, organization and encores, Snider’s prose is itself a lesson in performance.

Allan Briesmaster

Allan Briesmaster is a freelance editor specializing in poetry and non-fiction. He was centrally involved in the weekly Art Bar Poetry Reading Series from 1991 until 2002, and is now one of the organizers of the monthly Toronto WordStage reading series. He lives in Thornhill, just north of Toronto, with his wife Holly, a visual artist. Two recent books, Pomona Summer, from Hidden Brook Press, and Galactic Music, from Lyricalmyrical Press, have included Holly's collages and pen-and-ink drawings. The Other Seasons, also from Hidden Brook, came out in May of 2006. Allan's poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, and he has read his poetry to audiences from Victoria to Halifax. He is an active member of The Ontario Poetry Society, the League of Canadian Poets, and the Toronto Renaissance Conspiracy poetry group.

Allan's latest book, Interstellar, from Quattro Books, was launched in the spring of this year. It reflects his ongoing interests in environmental matters, the impact of media and the arts, and a lifelong fascination with science - especially astronomy and cosmology.

Marilyn Gear Pilling

Marilyn Gear Pilling lives in Hamilton and grew up in Waterloo, Ontario, but her roots are in Huron County. Pilling's short fiction and poetry have won and been shortlisted for national awards and her poetry has been broadcast on CBC radio. Her latest poetry books are Cleavage: A Life in Breasts and The Life of the Four Stomachs from Black Moss Press.

Cleavage is the journal of one woman’s life as told through her breasts. The tone is humourous and irreverent, but a more serious theme underlies the book – one which sees the breast as an agent of connection, at all ages, rather than as an object of shame or dehumanization.

Mira McEwan

Poetry by Mira McEwan has appeared in Proem, Transitions, Re-Visions, Hydra, and the U.C. Review. She holds a Master’s degree in literature, with a concentration in British Romanticism and American Transcendentalism. She is also a registered nurse. Mira spent several years teaching literature and creative writing, and now divides her time between nursing and writing. Her literary influences include Rumi, Sharon Olds, and William Carlos Williams. Currently she is working on a manuscript of short stories. Mira lives in Upstate New York with her husband, daughter, and two cats. Ecstatic is her first collection from the publisher Allbook.

Five Readers on October 7th

Sky Gilbert introduces and performs scenes from Brother Dumb, his latest prose work from Insomniac Press.

Stephen Brunt reads excerpts from Searching for Bobby Orr, published by Seal/Random House.

Shane Rhodes reads from his latest collection of poems, The Bindery, published by NeWest in 2007.

Monica Kidd presents her her third book (and first poetry collection) Actualities, published by Gaspereau Press.

D.S. Martin reads from So the Moon Would Not Be Swallowed, which was published by Rubicon Press in March 2007.

Sky Gilbert

Sky Gilbert is a writer, director and drag queen extraordinaire. Gilbert was the artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto for 18 years. Since leaving Buddies in 1997, he has published four novels, two books of poetry, four plays, and a memoir. Recently, he received The Margo Bindhardt Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation and the ReLit Award for his fourth novel, An English Gentleman. Gilbert holds the University Research Chair in Creative Writing and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. Brother Dumb is the memoir of a reclusive American literary icon and a how-to manual for meaningful critical engagement with the real world. It is also celebration of innocence, youth, and altruism, and it is the true story of a self-imposed exile. (It is also a work of fiction.)

Stephen Brunt

Stephen Brunt, a columnist at the Globe and Mail, is Canada’s premier sportswriter and commentator. He is the author of The Way It Looks from Here: Contemporary Canadian Writing on Sports; Facing Ali: The Opposition Weighs In; Mean Business: The Rise and Fall of Shawn O’Sullivan; Second to None: The Roberto Alomar Story and Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball. His latest book is Searching for Bobby Orr, published by Random House. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

Shane Rhodes

Shane Rhodes’s first book, The Wireless Room, won the Alberta Book Award for poetry. His second book, Holding Pattern, won the Archibald Lampman Award and he has been featured in the anthologies New Canadian Poetry and Breathing Fire II. His latest book, The Bindery, was published by NeWest Press in spring of 2007. He has published in magazines and newspapers across Canada and has worked as an editor with Filling Station, The Fiddlehead, and
Qwerty. Rhodes lives in Ottawa.

Monica Kidd

Monica Kidd was raised in rural Alberta and now lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She has worked as a reporter for CBC Radio and as a seabird biologist. Kidd is the author of two novels, Beatrice and The Momentum of Red, and she is currently a medical student at Memorial University. Actualities is her first collection of poems and was published by Gaspereau Press.

D.S. Martin

D.S. Martin's poetry has appeared in many journals in Canada and the US, such as Canadian Literature, The Christian Century, The Cresset and Queen's Quarterly. His chapbook So The Moon Would Not Be Swallowed was published by Rubicon Press (Edmonton) in March 2007. This collection is about the poet's grandparents who were missionaries to China from 1923 to 1951. He writes about poetry for Faith Today, Books & Culture, Image, and Rock & Sling, and is the Music Critic for Christian Week.

Five Readers on September 2nd

Jean Rae Baxter will be reading from her young adult novel, The Way Lies North, published by Ronsdale Press.

F.B. André will be reading from What Belongs, his latest collection of short fiction, published by Ronsdale Press.

Stephen Gill is Poet Laureate of Ansted University. His latest book of poetry is called Songs Before Shrine.

Jeff Cottrill is a satirist, fiction writer and spoken-word performer from Toronto. He will be reading from Guilt Pasta, from Burning Effigy Press.

Judith Robinson is an author, journalist, playwright and teacher from Burlington. Her first book, Working Miracles: The Drama and Passion of Aimee Semple McPherson, was published by Altitude Publishing in 2006.

Jean Rae Baxter

Jean Rae Baxter was born in Toronto but grew up in Hamilton. She lived for many years in the Kingston area and following her career in education, she returned Hamilton in 1996 and began to write in earnest. Always interested in Canadian history, she began to write about it, starting with her short story, "Farewell the Mohawk Valley", which Ronsdale Press included in its anthology, Beginnings: Stories of Canada’s Past. Almost simultaneously, Jean discovered that she had a knack for writing noir fiction as well. Once she got started, it seemed that one dark tale followed another. Several were published in Canadian literary journals and anthologies and won awards. Her first collection, A Twist of Malice, came out in 2005. Most recently, Jean has been working on a literary murder mystery, Looking for Cardenio, which Seraphim Editions will launch next spring. However, Jean has never lost her interest in Canadian history. After several years of research and writing, her young adult novel, The Way Lies North, was published by Ronsdale Press.

F.B. André

F.B. André was born in San Fernando, Trinidad, in 1955. He emigrated to Hamilton, Ontario in 1971. He is a graduate of McMaster. He has worked at diverse jobs -- bartender, gold miner, factory worker, café owner and program administrator. These many experiences have enriched his writing. The stories in his latest book What Belongs explore what it means to belong. When does a place become home? When can you stake your claim? When does it become automatic that we are from here? His stories have been published in several magazines and anthologies. His first collection, The Man Who Beat The Man, was published by NeWest Press. He lives in Vancouver.

Stephen Gill

Stephen Gill is Poet Laureate of Ansted University and an expressive voice of Canada, India and Pakistan. He believes strongly in a democratically elected world government and peace through peaceful means. He has authored more than twenty books, including novels, literary criticism, and collections of poems. His poetry and prose have appeared in more than five hundred publications, mostly in Canada, the United States of America and India. His latest poetry book is called Songs Before Shrine.

Jeff Cottrill

Jeff Cottrill is a satirist, fiction writer and spoken-word performer from Toronto. His stage act often uses elements of performance poetry, comedy, theatre and storytelling. With a darkly comic flavour, he likes to make audiences laugh, cringe or (preferably) both. Jeff has been featured in dozens of Toronto literary series and has toured twice with the Perpetual Motion Roadshow, a monthly indie-artist tour for which he was a coordinator. The Roadshow brought him to New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Cleveland, Montreal and Vancouver. He has also headlined for shows throughout England, the midwestern United States, and southern Ontario. His book is called Guilt Pasta.

Judith Robinson

Judith Robinson is an author, journalist, playwright and teacher from Burlington. Her first book, Working Miracles: The Drama and Passion of Aimee Semple McPherson, was published by Altitude Publishing in 2006 as part of their series of short biographies of famous Canadians. Judith was a regional reporter for the Globe and Mail in northern Ontario, specializing in corporate environmental trials, and a freelance writer/broadcaster for CBC Radio. Judith has been a book reviewer for Quill and Quire; for the 2006-2007 school year she was the Arts and Culture Editor of Ryerson’s newspaper for Continuing Education students. A graduate of the University of Iowa Playwrights’ Workshop, she won the Richard Maibaum Award in 1995. Her plays have been produced in the United States and Canada. An Ontario high school teacher, she has taught non-fiction writing courses for both The University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies and The University of Western Ontario.