Podcasts about relit award

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Michael Blouin about his poetry collection, Hard Electric (Anvil Press, 2024). Hard Electric is Michael Blouin's third book of poetry, a road-tripping, bridge-burning collection of the author's hard-won and soft-edged reflections that seem to stutter-step towards resolution while tumbling down a decided slant towards disaster. “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” was Celine Dion's first North American hit and in it she asks: ‘Where do all the lonely hearts go?' In Hard Electric Blouin presents a bleakly unsettling but ultimately life-affirming treatise that hints at his fascination with the same question and perhaps shuffles into the neighbourhood of an answer. That neighbourhood is peopled with late-night bars of Key West's Duval Street, the sharp spice of BBQ joints, sunburned beach motels, and Christmas lights frozen to February trees. And Susan Sarandon's cousin. It's a book not for the faint of heart, but for the lonely-hearted, and for those who know them well. About Michael Blouin: Michael Blouin has been a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, the bpNichol Award, and the CBC Literary Award. He has been the recipient of the Lilian I. Found Award, the Diana Brebner Award and the Archibald Lampman Award from ARC Magazine. His novel Chase and Haven won the ReLit Award for Best Novel, an award he received again for his novel Skin House. He is an Instructor at the University of Toronto, a guest lecturer for Carleton University, and has served as an adjudicator for both the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Two of his novels are now in a permanent archive on the Moon having landed with NASA in 2024. His collected poetry “Hard Electric” is slated to land at the lunar South Pole later in 2025. About Hollay Ghadery: Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is due out with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets and a co-chair of the League's BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Michael Blouin about his poetry collection, Hard Electric (Anvil Press, 2024). Hard Electric is Michael Blouin's third book of poetry, a road-tripping, bridge-burning collection of the author's hard-won and soft-edged reflections that seem to stutter-step towards resolution while tumbling down a decided slant towards disaster. “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” was Celine Dion's first North American hit and in it she asks: ‘Where do all the lonely hearts go?' In Hard Electric Blouin presents a bleakly unsettling but ultimately life-affirming treatise that hints at his fascination with the same question and perhaps shuffles into the neighbourhood of an answer. That neighbourhood is peopled with late-night bars of Key West's Duval Street, the sharp spice of BBQ joints, sunburned beach motels, and Christmas lights frozen to February trees. And Susan Sarandon's cousin. It's a book not for the faint of heart, but for the lonely-hearted, and for those who know them well. About Michael Blouin: Michael Blouin has been a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, the bpNichol Award, and the CBC Literary Award. He has been the recipient of the Lilian I. Found Award, the Diana Brebner Award and the Archibald Lampman Award from ARC Magazine. His novel Chase and Haven won the ReLit Award for Best Novel, an award he received again for his novel Skin House. He is an Instructor at the University of Toronto, a guest lecturer for Carleton University, and has served as an adjudicator for both the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Two of his novels are now in a permanent archive on the Moon having landed with NASA in 2024. His collected poetry “Hard Electric” is slated to land at the lunar South Pole later in 2025. About Hollay Ghadery: Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is due out with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets and a co-chair of the League's BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Michael Blouin about his poetry collection, Hard Electric (Anvil Press, 2024). Hard Electric is Michael Blouin's third book of poetry, a road-tripping, bridge-burning collection of the author's hard-won and soft-edged reflections that seem to stutter-step towards resolution while tumbling down a decided slant towards disaster. “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” was Celine Dion's first North American hit and in it she asks: ‘Where do all the lonely hearts go?' In Hard Electric Blouin presents a bleakly unsettling but ultimately life-affirming treatise that hints at his fascination with the same question and perhaps shuffles into the neighbourhood of an answer. That neighbourhood is peopled with late-night bars of Key West's Duval Street, the sharp spice of BBQ joints, sunburned beach motels, and Christmas lights frozen to February trees. And Susan Sarandon's cousin. It's a book not for the faint of heart, but for the lonely-hearted, and for those who know them well. About Michael Blouin: Michael Blouin has been a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, the bpNichol Award, and the CBC Literary Award. He has been the recipient of the Lilian I. Found Award, the Diana Brebner Award and the Archibald Lampman Award from ARC Magazine. His novel Chase and Haven won the ReLit Award for Best Novel, an award he received again for his novel Skin House. He is an Instructor at the University of Toronto, a guest lecturer for Carleton University, and has served as an adjudicator for both the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. Two of his novels are now in a permanent archive on the Moon having landed with NASA in 2024. His collected poetry “Hard Electric” is slated to land at the lunar South Pole later in 2025. About Hollay Ghadery: Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is due out with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets and a co-chair of the League's BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/poetry

NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) about their phenomenal debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books, 2021), which won the 2022 ReLit Award for Poetry. With kitchen-table candour and empathy, Charlie Petch offers witness to a decades-long trans/personal coming of age, finding heroes in unexpected places More about Charlie Petch: Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Sheri-D Golden Beret Award from The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it's a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named "Best of 2021" by The Walrus. Their film with Opera QTO, Medusa's Children, premièred 2022. They have been featured on the CBC's Q, were the Writer In Residence for Berton House (2023), were long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. Their solo show "No one's special at the hot dog cart" debuted at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2024, and their next poetry book "Infinite Audition" is out with Brick Books in Fall 2025. About Hollay Ghadery: Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is due out with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is the host of the 105.5 FM Bookclub, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets and a co-chair of the League's BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) about their phenomenal debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books, 2021), which won the 2022 ReLit Award for Poetry. With kitchen-table candour and empathy, Charlie Petch offers witness to a decades-long trans/personal coming of age, finding heroes in unexpected places More about Charlie Petch: Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Sheri-D Golden Beret Award from The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it's a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named "Best of 2021" by The Walrus. Their film with Opera QTO, Medusa's Children, premièred 2022. They have been featured on the CBC's Q, were the Writer In Residence for Berton House (2023), were long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. Their solo show "No one's special at the hot dog cart" debuted at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2024, and their next poetry book "Infinite Audition" is out with Brick Books in Fall 2025. About Hollay Ghadery: Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is due out with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is the host of the 105.5 FM Bookclub, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets and a co-chair of the League's BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) about their phenomenal debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books, 2021), which won the 2022 ReLit Award for Poetry. With kitchen-table candour and empathy, Charlie Petch offers witness to a decades-long trans/personal coming of age, finding heroes in unexpected places More about Charlie Petch: Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Sheri-D Golden Beret Award from The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it's a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named "Best of 2021" by The Walrus. Their film with Opera QTO, Medusa's Children, premièred 2022. They have been featured on the CBC's Q, were the Writer In Residence for Berton House (2023), were long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. Their solo show "No one's special at the hot dog cart" debuted at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2024, and their next poetry book "Infinite Audition" is out with Brick Books in Fall 2025. About Hollay Ghadery: Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, is due out with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children's book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is the host of the 105.5 FM Bookclub, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Regional Chair of the League of Canadian Poets and a co-chair of the League's BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. Learn more about Hollay at www.hollayghadery.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/poetry

Mark interviews Liz Worth about her new poetry book Inside Every Poem, A Raging Sea. Mark skips the regular introductory matter to skip right to the interview. In their interview Mark and Liz talk about: How the book is about p laying with the idea of the cross-over or similarities between spell-writing and poetry The way that every line, every word counts in each of them Thoughts on what intuition really is as opposed to what many people think it is The importance of having to know the rules before you break them and how that works in both divination and writing How a lot of the poems in this collection were written in the depths of the pandemic when things were closed down, as well as when Liz's mother was living with dementia and in the last years of her life Her mother being a magical thinker and the influence her mother had on Liz Certain lines and ideas that would come to Liz as she was going out on regular walks Filling up a notebook she had found on the curb with these ideas and poems The way a lot of writing happens for Liz not while she's sitting at her desk, but out walking or doing other things How every piece of writing can have its own energy and have a life of its own that helps guide you when creating it The unique interpretations that different readers can apply to a piece of writing The recent popularity in horror-adjacent poetry Remembering that poetry can be rebellious and that it doesn't have to be academic or dry The process of putting the book of poetry together and then pitching it to a publisher The joy of working with a publisher like Book Hug Press The type of light editing that happens with a book of poetry Specific placement of poems within the book A bit behind the title poem "Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea" Some of the themes that appear in the collection What Liz is working on now Advice Liz would offer to anyone wanting to try their hand at poetry And more...     Links of Interest: Liz Worth's Website Instagram Book Hug Press Episode 387 - Vulnerability in Writing....with Liz Worth One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard   Liz Worth is a poet, novelist and nonfiction writer. She is a two-time nominee for the ReLit Award for Poetry for her books The Truth is Told Better This Way and No Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol. Her first book, Treat Me Like Dirt, was the first of its kind to provide an in-depth history of southern Ontario's first wave punk movement. Her new poetry book, Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea is published through Book*hug Press.   The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

My guest on this episode is Peter Darbyshire. Peter is an author, journalist, and communications professional whose debut novel, Please, won the KM Hunter Award for Best Emerging Artist and the ReLit Award for Best Novel. He is also the author of the novel The Warhol Gang and the story collection Has the World Ended Yet? He works as Communications Officer for BC's Provincial Health Services Authority. I'm doing something slightly different in this episode, because Peter actually has three books that are about to be published: The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, The Dead Hamlets and The Apocalypse Ark, which are all part of his Cross series of supernatural thrillers. All three books are being published in October by Wolsak & Wynn. However, all three were previously published by another indie press in 2013, 2015, and 2016, respectively. The Vancouver Sun said, in its review of the Cross series, that Darbyshire “writes with the unfettered delight of a gluttonous reader trapped in a library in his own mind, drawing promiscuously from myth, folk tale, religious texts and apocrypha, literature, music and philosophy.” Peter and I talk about how running the COVID-19 social media response for a provincial health authority gave him a new perspective on the apocalypse, about the process of getting the Cross series reprinted—and why it needed to be—and about how the stretch of time since his last new work of fiction speaks to something of a crisis of faith when it comes to his own writing‑but also a sense of liberation. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus. Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

My guest on this episode is Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer. Kathryn is the author of the novels All the Broken Things, Perfecting, and The Nettle Spinner, as well as the story collection, Way Up, which won the Danuta Gleed Award. Her work has been published in Granta Magazine, Maclean's Magazine, The Walrus, Joyland, This Magazine, and elsewhere. Her fiction has won a Danuta Gleed Award and been nominated for The Amazon First Novel Award, the Toronto Book Award, CBC Canada Reads, and the Relit Award.  Kathryn's most recent book is Wait Softly Brother, which was published by Wolsak & Wynn in 2023 and was longlisted for the Giller Prize. The Toronto Star said that Wait Softly Brother is “rich with the true stuff of imagined lives, and the imagined stuff of true lives,” and “is a glorious enchantment indeed.” Kathryn and I talk about how the enormous emotional, existential, and even geographic changes she has gone through in past decade have impacted her writing—for the better—about how Wait Softly Brother came out of a very public writing experiment after she started to think her career was over, and about her compulsive need to transform every experience into the seed for more writing. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus. Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.  

My guest on this episode is Andrew F Sullivan. Andrew is the author of the novel WASTE, a Globe & Mail Best Book of the Year, and the short story collection All We Want is Everything, also a Globe & Mail Best Book of the Year and finalist for the ReLit Award. Andrew's most recent two books are the novels The Marigold, published by ECW Press in Spring 2023, a finalist for the Aurora Awards and the Locus Awards, and named a Best Book of the Year by Esquire, The Verge, Book Riot and the Winnipeg Free Press, and The Handyman Method, which he cowrote with Nick Cutter, and which was published by Simon & Schuster in Fall 2023. Book List called The Handyman Method “a terrific horror novel, with a spellbinding story full of surprises and superb writing that is vivid, visceral, and, at times, darkly beautiful.” Publishers Weekly said about The Marigold that “this impressively bleak vision of the near future is as grotesquely amusing as it is grim.”  Andrew and I talk about how grateful he is for the amount of attention The Marigold has received, but also how he worked his ass off and was very strategic about ensuring it had a chance to get that attention, also the enormous difference between publishing with an indie press like ECW and with a multinational like Simon & Schuster, and how nearly burnt himself out promoting two novels in one year.   Andrew F. Sullivan: andrewfsullivan.com Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Contact Nathan Whitlock at nathanwhitlock.ca/contact  

My very special guest on this one-year-anniversary episode is Meaghan Strimas. Meaghan is the author of three collections of poetry, including Junkman's Daughter and A Good Time Had By All, which was shortlisted for the 2011 ReLit Award. She the editor of The Selected Gwendolyn MacEwen and co-edited Another Dysfunctional Cancer Poem Anthology with the late Priscila Uppal. She is a professor in the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College, where she runs the Bachelor of Creative and Professional Writing degree. (She is also married... to me.) Meaghan's most recent book is Yes or Nope, which was published by Mansfield Press in 2016 and was awarded the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in the following year. Author Zoe Whittall said of that book that “the poetry in Yes or Nope is whip-smart and tenderhearted, funny and alive.”   Meaghan and I talk about the shift that happened in her writing that allowed her to write Yes Or Nope under some difficult circumstances and time constraints, about working on the final books by her friends Priscila Uppal and Teva Harrison, books that, in both cases, were published posthumously, and about her new work, which she says further develops the stylistic freedoms she discovered in Yes or Nope and which will pay tribute to some of the writers who have inspired her.   Meaghan Strimas: notesandqueries.ca/meaghan-strimas Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Contact Nathan Whitlock at nathanwhitlock.ca/contact

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Susan Sanford Blades. Susan is the author of Fake It So Real, a past finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the organizer and host of the Wild Prose Reading Series. In their conversation, Susan talks about how a need for community following the pandemic lockdowns inspired the Wild Prose Reading Series. She also talks about her hopes for the future of the series. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About The Wild Prose Reading Series: https://www.susansanfordblades.com/wild-prose-reading-series About Fake It So Real: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/fake-it-so-real/ ABOUT SUSAN SANFORD BLADES: Susan Sanford Blades lives on the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking people, the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations (Victoria, Canada). Her debut novel, Fake It So Real, won the 2021 ReLit Award in the novel category and was a finalist for the 2021 BC and Yukon Book Prizes' Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Journey Prize Reader: The Best of Canada's New Writers and has been published in literary magazines across Canada as well as in the United States and Ireland. Her fiction has most recently been published in Gulf Coast, The Malahat Review and The Masters Review. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

Astrid Blodgett is the author of the short story collections This Is How You Start to Disappear (U Alberta Press, 2023) and You Haven't Changed a Bit (U Alberta Press, 2013). Her stories have appeared in many Canadian literary magazines, and in translation in Inostrannaya Literatura, a Russian journal that publishes foreign writers. One of her stories is part of the Danish Royal Ministry of Education's English exams and now the educational textbook Connect (in the chapter on "Puzzle Plots"!). Her work has been short- or long-listed for the Writers' Guild of Alberta Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Story, a ReLit Award*, the Danuta Gleed Literary Award*, and the High Plains Book Award* for Short Stories. She is also a co-author of Recipes for Roaming: Adventure Food for the Canadian Rockies. For many years she co-hosted a literary salon in her home. Astrid also loves multi-day river trips and very long walks. She lives in Edmonton / amiskwaciwâskahikan. Judith Tanen is an LP candidate at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Astrid Blodgett is the author of the short story collections This Is How You Start to Disappear (U Alberta Press, 2023) and You Haven't Changed a Bit (U Alberta Press, 2013). Her stories have appeared in many Canadian literary magazines, and in translation in Inostrannaya Literatura, a Russian journal that publishes foreign writers. One of her stories is part of the Danish Royal Ministry of Education's English exams and now the educational textbook Connect (in the chapter on "Puzzle Plots"!). Her work has been short- or long-listed for the Writers' Guild of Alberta Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Story, a ReLit Award*, the Danuta Gleed Literary Award*, and the High Plains Book Award* for Short Stories. She is also a co-author of Recipes for Roaming: Adventure Food for the Canadian Rockies. For many years she co-hosted a literary salon in her home. Astrid also loves multi-day river trips and very long walks. She lives in Edmonton / amiskwaciwâskahikan. Judith Tanen is an LP candidate at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Tara is excited to welcome Jerrod Edson to discuss his latest book, The Boulevard.  Jerrod was born in St. John, New Brunswick and raised in the  Kennebecasis Valley of southern New Brunswick.  He graduated from Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, with a BA in English lit and history, studied journalism at Sheridan College, Oakville, ON, and received his teaching degree in 2007 from York University, Toronto, ON. Jerrod received the David Adams Richards Prize for Fiction for his book The Moon is Real (2016) and his novel The Goon (2010) was shortlisted for the ReLit Award.  His sixth novel The Boulevard was published by Galleon Publishing in May 2023. Paintings mentioned in The Boulevard are listed in order on Jerrod's blog: https://jerrodedson.blogspot.com/2022/03/some-paintings-mentioned-in-boulevard.html Jerrod is currently reading: Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella and The Town That Forgot How to Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey. Instagram: @jerrodedson99  

My guest on this episode is Gil Adamson. Gil is a Toronto author whose first novel, The Outlander, won the Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the ReLit Award, and the Drummer General's Award. She is also the author of a collection of linked stories, Help Me, Jacques Cousteau, and two poetry collections, Primitive and Ashland. (She is also the co-author of one celebrity biography, which we discuss in the episode.)   Gil and I talk about nearly passing out the first time she ever read from one of her books in public, about her ongoing discomfort with discussing her work in the abstract, and about her occasional urges to abandon historical fiction altogether.   Ridgerunner by Gil Adamson: houseofanansi.com/products/ridgerunner Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Contact Nathan Whitlock at nathanwhitlock.ca/contact  

Brian welcomes on two guests.First is Jerrod Edson. Jerrod is author of six novels. He is recipient of The David Adams Richards Prize, Relit Award shortlist. New novel "The Boulevard" is his first work of speculative fiction.Plus, Lucy Black is a Canada-based writer and an educator. Lucy studied creative writing at the undergraduate level and later earned her master's degree in nineteenth-century British Fiction.With a long weekend coming up I thought it would be great to recommend some reading opportunities for you. Fiction provides the opportunity to live someone else's life for a while, which develops empathy for others, like nothing else. Plus it's a relaxing escape.

Jen Currin and Andrew sit down to chat about Jen's new poetry collection, Trinity Street. Andrew talks the poetic and personal. It's a blast! ----- Listen to more episodes of Page Fright here. Follow the podcast on Twitter here. ----- Jen Currin lives on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territories of the Halq̓eméylem-speaking peoples, including the Qayqayt, Kwikwetlem, Musqueam, and Kwantlen Nations (New Westminster, BC, a suburb of Vancouver). They teach in the Creative Writing and English Upgrading Departments at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Jen's most recent poetry collection is Trinity Street (House of Anansi, 2023). They have published four other collections of poetry: The Sleep of Four Cities (Anvil Press, 2005); Hagiography (Coach House, 2008); The Inquisition Yours (Coach House, 2010), which won the 2011 Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry and was shortlisted for the 2011 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize (B.C. Book Prizes), the Lambda Literary Award in Poetry, and a ReLit Award; and School (Coach House, 2014), which was a finalist for a 2015 ReLit Award, the Dorothy Livesay Prize and the Pat Lowther Award. Their chapbook The Ends was published by Nomados in 2013. Jen's first collection of stories, Hider/Seeker (Anvil Press, 2018), was awarded a Canadian Independent Book Award, was named a 2018 Globe and Mail Best Book, and was shortlisted for a ReLit Award. ----- Andrew French is an author from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published two chapbooks, Poems for Different Yous (Rose Garden Press, 2021) and Do Not Discard Ashes (845Press, 2020). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They write poems, book reviews, and host this very podcast.

Entrancing, surprising, and memorable: The Poetry Bash gathers some of our favourite poets from across the globe. This recording from our 2022 flagship Festival features Claudia Castro Luna (Cipota under the Moon) sharing an ode to the Salvadoran immigrant experience in the United States; Andrew Faulkner, who's written a “buddy cop dramedy poetry collection” (Heady Bloom); New Zealand poet Tayi Tibble sharing a bold, intimate exploration of being an Indigenous woman (Poūkahangatus); Alexandra Oliver with a scintillating portrait of the suburban uncanny (Hail, the Invisible Watchman); and 2022 ReLit Award-winner Charlie Petch (Why I Was Late). Hosted by Billeh Nickerson.

On this week's Richard Crouse Show we meet Jacob Silverman. On this week's Richard Crouse Show we meet Jacob Silverman. He is a journalist in New York, where he writes about technology, cryptocurrency, and politics. He's the author of "Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection" and is a contributing editor for The New Republic and The Baffler. His new book, co-written with the actor and writer Ben McKenzie, is called "Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud," and will be published by Abrams Books in July 2023. He is also the host of new podcast "The Naked Emperor" about Sam Bankman-Fried, from CBC News' Front Burner and CBC Podcasts. The Naked Emperor is on CBC and everywhere podcasts are available. The podcast is the story of Sam Bankman-Fried, once a billionaire and trusted face of crypto with his trading platform FTX. Despite his dorm room lifestyle he charmed celebrities, politicians, and Silicon Valley. That is, until it all came crashing down. Today Sam faces charges that could send him to jail for the rest of his life. It's a fascinating story. Then, Metis/Ukrainian writer and educator Conor Kerr stops by. His debut novel, "Avenue of Champions," won the 2022 RELIT Award and was shortlisted for the 2022 Amazon/Walrus Debut Novel Award and his available wherever you buy fine books, right now. The book centers on Daniel, a young Métis man searching for a way to exist in a world of violence, intergenerational trauma and systemic racism. Finally, we'll meet Lilah Fitzgerald. Best known for her roles in “Seventh Son” and “Monster High.” She is also a busy author, with her debut novel “Stars and Swashbucklers” set to release on April 4th. The book is a futuristic fantasy that follows a girl on a sailing trip across a shattered Earth that has become a series of islands floating between the stars. . He is a journalist in New York, where he writes about technology, cryptocurrency, and politics. He's the author of "Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection" and is a contributing editor for The New Republic and The Baffler. His new book, co-written with the actor and writer Ben McKenzie, is called "Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud," and will be published by Abrams Books in July 2023. He is also the host of new podcast "The Naked Emperor" about Sam Bankman-Fried, from CBC News' Front Burner and CBC Podcasts. The Naked Emperor is on CBC and everywhere podcasts are available. The podcast is the story of Sam Bankman-Fried, once a billionaire and trusted face of crypto with his trading platform FTX. Despite his dorm room lifestyle he charmed celebrities, politicians, and Silicon Valley. That is, until it all came crashing down. Today Sam faces charges that could send him to jail for the rest of his life. It's a fascinating story. Then, Metis/Ukrainian writer and educator Conor Kerr stops by. His debut novel, "Avenue of Champions," won the 2022 RELIT Award and was shortlisted for the 2022 Amazon/Walrus Debut Novel Award and his available wherever you buy fine books, right now. The book centers on Daniel, a young Métis man searching for a way to exist in a world of violence, intergenerational trauma and systemic racism. Finally, we'll meet Lilah Fitzgerald. Best known for her roles in “Seventh Son” and “Monster High.” She is also a busy author, with her debut novel “Stars and Swashbucklers” set to release on April 4th. The book is a futuristic fantasy that follows a girl on a sailing trip across a shattered Earth that has become a series of islands floating between the stars.

Charlie Petch joins the pod to talk about their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late. Andrew talks about being non-binary and how it's impacted their writing. It's a fun exploration! ----- Listen to more episodes of Page Fright here. Follow the podcast on Twitter here. Follow the podcast on Instagram here. ----- Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it's a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named "Best of 2021" by The Walrus. Their film with Opera QTO, Medusa's Children, premièred 2022. They have been featured on the CBC's Q, the Toronto International Festival of Authors, and were long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. ----- Andrew French is an author from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They have published two chapbooks, Poems for Different Yous (Rose Garden Press, 2021) and Do Not Discard Ashes (845 Press, 2020). Andrew holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. They write poems, book reviews, and host this very podcast.

Mark interviews Liz Worth, a professional tarot reader, a poet and author. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor. You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their chat, Mark and Liz talk about: The many things that Liz "slings" Satisfying that craving Liz and her husband have to be surrounded by "vintage things" via owning an antique shop The importance of helping take something inherited off someone's hands in a meaningful way and to someone that will find use in it How Tarot, the occult, and writing have always been a part of Liz's life, and her mother's influence in this area Growing up going to psychic fairs, learning astrology and card reading Being draw to punk and goth culture in the 90s in high school Making her own goth zine (Last Breath Escapes), photocopying it, and making it available through a local record store Doing something similar for her poetry How zines were a precursor to the niche market ability of eBook digital publishing nowadays The first book projects Liz worked on How "Punk" is an entire ecosystem of creativity and not just a style of music and dress Liz's work not only doing Tarot readings but teaching others how to do a Tarot reading The things Liz would do during her performance poetry that she would never do in other professional aspects of her life How, logically, Tarot is a thing that shouldn't work The vulnerability and expectations that a person has going into a Tarot reading How you're always going out on a limb when you're interpreting and giving a Tarot reading Looking for narratives and story in the images and how do things make sense Some of the intangible things about Tarot that are difficult to explain Things that Hollywood, Television, and writers often get wrong about Tarot readings The importance of running with something in a creative way rather than feeling like everything had to be so "tamped down" Liz's latest vampire novel, The Mouth is a Coven And more...   After the interview, Mark reflects on that importance of letting one's creative license work its magic.   Links of Interest:   Liz Worth's Author Website Liz on Instagram Liz's Books Liz Worth's Tarot Website Episodes with Jeff Elkins, The Dialogue Doctor Be a guest on the Stark Reflections Podcast Superstars Writing Seminars (Save $100 with code: STARKSSWS2023 Findaway Voices Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Best Book Ever Podcast Lovers Moon Podcast The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles     Liz Worth is the author of eight books. Her newest novel is called The Mouth is a Coven, published through Manta Press. She has been nominated twice for the ReLit Award for Poetry, and her writing has also appeared in FLARE Magazine, Chatelaine, and the Globe and Mail. She works as a professional tarot reader by day.   The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by Richard Scarsbrook! Richard is a Canadian Writer, Teacher, and Entertainer. He grew up in the tiny rural crossroads of Olinda, Ontario, and earned an Honours BA in History from Western University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Ottawa. He has called Toronto home for over twenty years. Richard is also the author of ten books, including: his latest novel "The Troupers", "Rockets Versus Gravity", "The Indifference League", "Nothing Man and The Purple Zero", "The Monkeyface Chronicles", "Featherless Bipeds", and "Cheeseburger Subversive". As well, Richard penned the short story collection "Destiny

A. F. Moritz has written more than twenty books of poetry, most recently, The Sparrow (2018) and As Far As You Know (2020). In 2019, Moritz was named the sixth Poet Laureate of Toronto, a position he will hold for four years. He also serves as the Goldring Professor of the Arts and Society at Victoria University at the University of Toronto. Moritz has received the Guggenheim Fellowship, inclusion in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, the Award in Literature of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and the Ingram Merrill Fellowship. He is a three-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry (Rest on the Flight into Egypt, The Sentinel, and The New Measures). He was the winner of the ReLit Award for poetry in 2005 for Night Street Repairs. And his collection, The Sentinel, a Globe and Mail Top 100 of the Year, won the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As always, we would love to hear from you. Have you tried send me a message on the Eh Poetry Podcast page yet? Either way, we would like to reward you for checking out these episode notes with a special limited time coupon for 15% off your next purchase of Mary's Brigadeiro's amazing chocolate, simply use the code "ehpoetrypodcast" on the checkout page of your order. If you are a poet in Canada and are interested in hearing your poem on Eh Poetry, please feel free to send me an email: jason.e.coombs[at]gmail[dot]com Eh Poetry Podcast Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ehpoetrypodcast/message

From his website: Patrick Friesen, a former resident of the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation (Steinbach and Winnipeg) now lives on the unceded territory of the Lekwungen people (Victoria, B.C.). He has published numerous books of poetry and has written several stage and radio plays. Friesen has also collaborated with choreographers, dancers, musicians and composers. He tours on a regular basis, giving readings and workshops all over the country. His book, Blasphemer's Wheel, was awarded Manitoba Book of the Year Prize in 1996; A Broken Bowl, was a finalist for the 1997 Governor-General's Award; and Patrick was awarded the ReLit Award for Poetry in 2012 for jumping in the asylum. Check out his latest works here. As always, we would love to hear from you. Have you tried send me a message on the Eh Poetry Podcast page yet? Eh Poetry Podcast Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ehpoetrypodcast/message

Sue Goyette lives in K'jipuktuk (Halifax). She has published a novel and eight collections of poetry, including Ocean (winner of the 2015 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award and finalist for the 2014 Griffin Poetry Prize), The Brief Reincarnation of a Girl, Penelope and Anthesis. Her latest collection, Monoculture: monologues is forthcoming from Gaspereau Press in spring 2022. Goyette is the editor of the 2014 Best of Canadian Poetry Anthology, the 2017 Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology, and Resistance, (University of Regina Press, May 2021). Her work has been translated into German, French and Spanish and has won the CBC Literary Award for Poetry, the Earle Birney Award, The Bliss Carman Poetry Award, the Pat Lowther Award, The Atlantic Independent Booksellers Choice Award, the ReLit Award, the 2016, 2014 and 2012 J.M. Abraham Poetry Awards and a National Magazine Award. Sue teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Dalhousie University and is the current Poet Laureate of HRM. Arts, Medicine and #Life is a series, hosted by internist, writer, musician and award-winning medical educator Dr. Jillian Horton, that features world-renowned doctors speaking about their area of interest and expertise on as far-ranging topics as mindfulness, work-life balance and social accountability.

Rebecca and Tara interview author Michael Blouin, who is a two-time recipient of the ReLit Award for Best Novel in Canada.  His fifth book, 2019's Skin House, will land on the moon with NASA later this year and with SpaceX in 2023.  His new novel, I Am Billy the Kid has been named “Most Anticipated” by Quill and Quire and launches in just a few weeks. Michael references The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje and The True Eventual Story of Billy the Kid by bpNichol. Website: https://www.michaelblouinwriter.com/ Instagram: @knowwhoyouowe Twitter: @MichaelBlouin11  

Elisabeth de Mariaffi is a Canadian writer, whose debut short story collection How to Get Along With Women was a longlisted nominee for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and a shortlisted nominee for the ReLit Award in 2013. Her poetry and fiction have been published in literary magazines including CV2, Descant, The Fiddlehead, This Magazine and The New Quarterly. Her first poetry chapbook, Letter on St. Valentine's Day, was published in 2009. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph. In 2015, she published her debut novel The Devil You Know. Originally from Toronto, Ontario, she is currently based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Meet author Francesca Ekwuyasi, author of Butter Honey Pig Bread. Her debut novel was longlisted for the 2020 Giller Prize, finalist for CBC's 2021 Canada Reads competition, the 2021 Lambda Literary Ward, 2021 Governor General's Award, the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award and the 2021 ReLit Award. We talk about migration but also about folklore, food, relationships and writing.

Mark interviews Ami Sands Brodoff, the award-winning author of three novels and two story collections about her latest book, The Sleep of Apples and the stories and books she has written over the years. Prior to the main content, Mark discusses recent comments, welcomes new patron Jared Nelson, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In their conversation Mark and Ami talk about: Ami as a "late-bloomer" writer who had worked on a number of short stories for years before working on a novel The encouragement, including a nomination for The Pushcart Prize that happened early on with Ami's first published story Being invited to The Algonquin Hotel in New York for lunch with some editors Asking herself is this the career I want to be doing no matter what The related anchor job that Ami had for guaranteed writing money coming in while she did freelance work Adapting real-life circumstances into her first novel, Can You See Me? How the stories in The Sleep of Apples are linked by a neighborhood, whereas in a previous collection, it was a theme that unified the stories The concept of neighborhoods in cities like Montreal and New York The amazing critical acclaim for The Sleep of Apples and how publicist can snowball Various workshops that Ami has lead over the years Tapping into the stories that other people want to share and tell Advice Ami would have for beginning writers And more... After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of how publicist can snowball, or how a lot of hard work can lead to those "viral" things.   Links of Interest: Ami Sands Brodoff Website EP 223 - Love, Only Better with Paulette Stout The Canadian Mounted Patreon for Stark Reflections The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon   Ami Sands Brodoff is the award-winning author of three novels and two story collections. Her latest novel-in-stories, The Sleep of Apples, centres on 9 closely-linked characters confronting crises related to mental illness, mortality--sooner rather than later--and gender identity. Ami's novel, In Many Waters, grapples with our world-wide refugee crisis. The White Space Between, which focuses on a mother and daughter struggling with the impact of the Holocaust won The Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction. Bloodknots, a volume of thematically-linked stories was a finalist for the ReLit Award. Ami leads workshops for teens, adults, and seniors. She has taught writing to formerly incarcerated women and to people grappling with mental illness. Ami has been awarded fellowships to Yaddo, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation, and St. James Cavalier Arts Centre for Creativity (Malta). Ami lives in Montreal with her partner, children and high energy Brittany Spaniel Xeno.   The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 

Margaret Christakos is a widely published award-winning poet, fiction author, critic, and creative writing instructor. Her work has won the ReLit Award for Poetry and the Bliss Carman Award, has been nominated for the Pat Lowther Award twice, and was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award. She was appointed Canada Council Writer in Residence at the University of Windsor in 2004–2005, served as Canada Council Writer in Residence at Western University in 2016–2017 and at the University of Alberta in 2017–2018, and as Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor at University of Toronto (2018–2019). Her recent publications include Charger, a poetry collection published by Talon Books (2020) and an intergenre memoir, Her Paraphernalia: On Motherlines, Sex/Blood/Loss & Selfies, published by Book*hug (2016). In 2017, Wilfrid Laurier University Press published Space Between Her Lips: The Poetry of Margaret Christakos. Her most recent collection is Dear Birch, published by Palimpsest Press in 2021. Margaret Christakos will be appearing virtually at BookFest Windsor in October 2021.Margaret ChristakosMargaret Christakos - Palimpsest Presshttps://www.literaryartswindsor.ca/bookfest/

Victoria author Susan Sandford Blades first novel, Fake It So Real, has been receiving critical acclaim since its publication in October 2020. The gritty post-punk story of love, family bonds, pain, and the struggle for authenticity won the 2021 ReLit Award in the novel category, and has been nominated for the 2021 BC and Yukon Book Prizes Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. And the bonus? It's set in Victoria.Get more stories like this in your inbox every morning by subscribing to our daily newsletter at CapitalDaily.ca Check our membership opportunity at CapitalDaily.ca/MemberAnd subscribe to us on our socials! Twitter @CapitalDailyVic  Instagram @CapitalDaily  Facebook @CapitalDailyVic

Leah Horlick joins Andrew to discuss her latest poetry collection, Moldovan Hotel. Andrew talks to Leah about community in the pandemic. It's a delight! ----- Listen to more episodes of Page Fright here. Follow the podcast on Twitter here. Follow the podcast on Instagram here. ----- Leah Horlick is a writer and poet who grew up as a settler on Treaty Six Cree Territory & the homelands of the Métis in Saskatoon. Her first book, Riot Lung (Thistledown Press, 2012), was shortlisted for a 2013 ReLit Award and a Saskatchewan Book Award. Her second collection, For Your Own Good (Caitlin Press, 2015), was named a 2016 Stonewall Honour Book by the American Library Association, and she was awarded Canada's Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers that same year. She lived on Unceded Coast Salish Territories in Vancouver for nearly ten years, during which time she and her dear friend Estlin McPhee ran REVERB, a queer and anti-oppressive reading series. She now lives on Treaty Seven Territory & Region 3 of the Métis Nation in Calgary. Her long-awaited third collection of poems, Moldovan Hotel, was released this spring from Brick Books. ----- Andrew French is an author from North Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the author of two chapbooks, Do Not Discard Ashes (845 Press, 2020) and Poems for Different Yous (Rose Garden Press, 2021). Andrew has a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University and an MA in English from UBC. He writes poems, book reviews, and hosts this very podcast.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Greg Bechtel, the Berton House Writer-in-Residence, who arrived in Dawson City on in December 2019 and has been there ever since. In their conversation Greg talks about how being at the Berton House has impacted his writing and how he's feeling about leaving Yukon after a year. ABOUT GREG BECHTEL: Greg Bechtel’s debut story collection, Boundary Problems, won the Alberta Book of the Year Award for trade fiction and was a finalist for the ReLit Award, the William L. Crawford Fantasy Award, and the City of Edmonton's Robert Kroetsch Book Prize. Since 2011, he has taught English Literature, Creative Writing, and Writing Studies at the University of Alberta, where he completed his PhD on Canadian syncretic fantasy. Since January 2020, Greg has been serving as Writer in Residence at the Berton House Writers' Retreat in Dawson City, Yukon, where he was originally scheduled to remain for three months while working on a new novel about amnesia, climate refugees, ghost-possession, and polyamorous relationships set in a future Edmonton. When the global pandemic hit and lockdowns began in March, he offered to stay on until it was safe to bring in new writers from outside the territory. As of the writing of this bio in February 2021, he is still there. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

Gil Adamson is the guest. Her new novel, The Ridgerunner, will be published in the United States by House of Anansi Press on February 2, 2021. Adamson is the critically acclaimed author of The Outlander, which won the Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the ReLit Award, and the Drummer General’s Award. It was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, CBC Canada Reads, and the Prix Femina in France; longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; and chosen as a Globe and Mail and Washington Post Top 100 Book. She is also the author of a collection of linked stories, Help Me, Jacques Cousteau, and two poetry collections, Primitive and Ashland. She lives in Toronto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About this episode: In this episode host Megan Cole talks to Steven Price about his book Lampedusa, which won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In this conversation Steven discusses The Leopard which served as inspiration for Lampedusa and how he wrote about the writing practice. About Steven Price: Steven Price is the author of three novels, Lampedusa (2019), By Gaslight (2016), longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and Into That Darkness (2011). Also an acclaimed poet, he has written two award-winning poetry books, Anatomy of Keys (2006), winner of the Gerald Lampert Award, and Omens in the Year of the Ox (2012), winner of the ReLit Award. He lives in Victoria, B.C. About Megan Cole: Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

Melanie Janisse Barlow is a poet and a visual artist. Her first collection of poetry, Orioles in the Oranges (Guernica, 2009), was listed for the Relit Award, and her essay poems Detroit were listed in Best American Essays (2013). She has published in a variety of anthologies and journals in Canada and the US, and her painting practice includes The Poets Series, a popular portraiture series of contemporary poets which has been widely received and reviewed, most recently in Poets and Writers, Taddle Creek, The Humber Literary Review, and Quill and Quire. Her latest book, Thicket, was released in Fall 2019 by Palimpsest Press. Melanie Janisse Barlow lives between her home in Windsor, Ontario and her wooden boat Kalinka in Toronto.https://palimpsestpress.ca/books/thicket/https://www.melaniejanissebarlow.com/

Alex Leslie talks about her new book, Vancouver for Beginners (Book*hug, 2019). Andrew is stoked to record with Alex's dog, Lucas. It's an absolute blast. ----- Click here to check out Page Fright's live recording in Vancouver on December 7th (6-8pm @ Massy Books)! ----- Alex Leslie was born and lives in Vancouver. She is the author of Vancouver for Beginners (Book*hug, 2019) and two short story collections: We All Need to Eat, a finalist for the 2019 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and People Who Disappear, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction and a 2013 ReLit Award. She is also the author of the prose poetry collection, The things I heard about you (2014), which was shortlisted for the 2014 Robert Kroetsch Award for innovative poetry. Alex's writing has been included in the Journey Prize Anthology, The Best of Canadian Poetry in English, and in a special issue of Granta spotlighting Canadian writing, co-edited by Madeleine Thien and Catherine Leroux, and has received a CBC Literary Award, a Gold National Magazine Award, and the 2015 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers. ----- Andrew French is an author who was born and raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia. French holds a BA in English from Huron University College at Western University, and is pursuing an MA in English at UBC. He writes poems, book reviews, and hosts this very podcast. ----- Listen to more episodes of Page Fright here.

Episode 2 (with Kevin Irie): Doyali Islam: Hello. You're attending to the Arc Poetry Podcast. I'm Doyali Islam, Poetry Editor of Arc Poetry Magazine. On this program, we invite one poet from the latest issue of the magazine to read their published poem on-air, and to engage in a conversation about how their poem came to be in the world: the impulses or creative processes behind it. Despite the fact that a poem's origins can sometimes, in some ways, be mysterious to its maker or makers, we will attempt this discussion. Today my guest is Kevin Irie. Kevin's poem, "Hierarchies, The Northern Harrier Hawk,” was published in Arc 86, the Summer 2018 issue of the magazine. Kevin Irie has published poetry in Canada, The States, Australia, and England. His poems have been broadcast on CBC Radio and have been translated into Spanish, French, and Japanese. He has also been long-listed for the 2017 CBC Poetry Prize, nominated for the ReLit Award, and shortlisted for Arc's 2009 Poem of the Year contest. His book, Viewing Tom Tomson: A Minority Report (Frontenac House, 2012), was a finalist for the Acorn-Plantos People's Poetry Award, as well as the Toronto Book Award. He lives in Toronto. Hi, Kevin! Kevin Irie: Hi. DI: It's nice to have you here. KI: Thank you for inviting me. DI: You're welcome. So, I'm wondering if we could jump in and hear your beautiful poem. KI: With pleasure.

AdamSeelig is the founder and Artistic Director of One Little Goat Theatre Company. He is the author of Every Day in the Morning (slow) (New Star Books, finalist for the 2011 ReLit Award in poetry) and his plays include Ubu Mayor (BookThug 2014), Talking Masks (BookThug 2009), Antigone:Insurgency (2007) and, for children, PLAY: A (Mini) History of Theatre for Kids (Toronto 2016-18). Adam is the writer, director, and composer of MUSIC MUSIC LIFE DEATH MUSIC: An Absurdical, running May 25 - June 10 at Tarragon Extraspace.Tickets: http://onelittlegoat.org/music-music-life-death-music

Sean Johnston is from Asquith, Saskatchewan. His first book, A Day Does Not Go By, won the 2003 ReLit Award for short fiction. His most recent book is the short story collection We Don't Listen to Them. He lives in Kelowna, B.C., where he teaches at Okanagan College. Sean reads "He Hasn't Been to the Bank in Weeks," from We Don't Listen to Them, which can be ordered at the local bookstore, from Thistledown Press, or Amazon. This podcast features Western Canadian authors reading from their novels, short fiction, poetry, memoirs, or non-fiction. It is created and hosted by Saskatchewan novelist Lisa Guenther. Reading West is open to featuring published authors from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. For the most part, the podcast focuses on literature, but writers working in other genres are welcome to inquire. For more information on submitting, visit lisaguenther.com/reading-west-podcast/  You can also check out the show on Facebook at www.facebook.com/readingwest/ Theme music is Flax Flower Blue by Best Kept Secret Girlfriend.