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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.