Hey, everybody! Join us for Word Up’s next event @ Unity Market Cafe & Studios. We’ll start at the usual 7 pm and feature one or two guest authors, followed by the ever-popular and always inspiring open mic.
September 12, 2019
Luciano Iacobelli is a Toronto born poet, playwright and visual artist. He is the author of several full length books of poetry including: The Angel Notebook (2007), Book of Disorders (2011), Painting Circles (2011) The Emu Dialogues, with Jens Kohler and Robert Marra (2015), and The Examined Life (2016), as well as artists’ chapbook Noctograms (2018). He has been active in the literary community as a creative writing instructor, event organizer, publisher and editor. Dolor Midnight is his sixth book.
LAURIE KRUK teaches at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, where she is Full Professor in English Studies. She specializes in Canadian Literature, Native Literature, Women’s writing and the Canadian short story. As a scholar, Kruk has published The Voice is the Story: Conversations with Canadian Writers of Short Fiction (Mosaic, 2003) and Double-Voicing the Canadian Short Story (Ottawa UP, 2016). She is also the author of three books of poetry: Theories of the World (Netherlandic, 1992), Loving the Alien (YSP, 2006) and My Mother Did Not Tell Stories (Demeter, 2012). This latest book is described as weaving “tales that powerfully uncover the necessity of vocalizing that which is learned, experienced, and traditionally unshared” (ARC Poetry Magazine).
October 10, 2019
Brandon Pitts
Rising out of the raucous after hours salons of the Toronto underground poetry scene, Canadian American writer Brandon Pitts has wowed capacity crowds in four countries and multiple cities with his visceral dynamic poetry recitals. After being inducted into the Diaspora Dialogues as an “Emerging Voice” in 2011, he released a novel and produced three plays. He followed this with a series of well received poetry collections showcasing a disciplined artistic process with multi-layered socio-political commentary, culminating in what Jim Cristy calls the “rarest of things in poetry these days: a unique voice.” His second poetry collection for Mosaic Press, “Tender in the Age of Fury” is in its 3rd pressing.
Brandon currently lives in Montreal’s le Plateau with his wife and two cats.
Rayanne Haines
She is a community builder and an award-winning fiction author and poet. Her work has been published in Canada, the USA, and the UK. Publications include Stained with the Colours of Sunday Morning, and the urban fantasy series The Guardian: Fire Born, Magic Born, and Air Born. She is the Executive Director of the Edmonton Poetry Festival, western Canada’s most diverse poetry festival.
November 14, 2019
Nina Munteanu
Nina is a Canadian scientist and novelist. She has written over a dozen eco-fiction, science fiction and fantasy novels. An award-winning short story writer, and essayist, Nina currently lives in Toronto where she teaches writing at the University of Toronto and George Brown College.
Keith Garebian
Keith Garebian
Keith Garebian holds a Doctorate in Canadian and Commonwealth Literature from Queen’s University. He is the author of seven poetry collections, with an eighth due to be published next September by Frontenac as part of its Quartet 2019. He was shortlisted for the 2014 Freefall Poetry Award, the 2015 GritLit Poetry Award, and the 2015 Gwendolyn MacEwen-Exile Poetry Award for the Best Single Poem from a suite. In 2013, he was a judge for the Gerald Lampert Poetry Award. One of his poems from his collection Blue: The Derek Jarman Poems has been set to music for choir and instruments by American composer Gregory Spears, and Keith intends to be at the New York premiere in May 2019.
Keith Garebian appears as part of Canada Poetry Tours, supported by the League of Canadian Poets and Canada Council for the Arts. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.
Look for info on the following featured authors!
December 12, 2019 ~ K.R. Wilson
