Upcoming Events

Bruce Meyer

Bruce Meyer is author or editor of 65 books of poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, flash fiction, and literary journalism. He won the 2019 Aton Chekhov Prize for Flash Fiction in the UK, the 2019 Freefall Prize for Poetry in Canada, and was a finalist this year for the Strand International Fiction Prize (UK), the Tom Gallon Trust Prize for Fiction (UK), and the Bath Short Story Prize (UK). His most recent books are A Feast of Brief Hopes (short stories, Guernica Editions, 2018), The First Taste: New and Selected Poems (Black Moss Press, 2018), McLuhan’s Canary (poems, Guernica Editions, 2019) and Pressing Matters: Fifty Years of Black Moss Press (non-fiction, Black Moss Press, 2019). In 2020, Guernica Editions will publish a collection of his flash fiction, Down in the Ground, and a volume of essays about his work edited by Benjamin Ghan in the Canadian Writers’ Series. He lives in Barrie, Ontario, was the inaugural Poet Laureate of the city, and received the Excellence in the Arts Award from the Barrie Arts Award in 2015. He will be reading from his new collection, McLuhan’s Canary.

K. R. Wilson

Author about An Idea About My Dead Uncle, winner of the 2018  Guernica Prize.  

Jason Lavoie is a young composer at the turn of the 21st century. Half Chinese and half assimilated Franco-Albertan, he and his sister have been deprived by their abusive father of almost any connection to their Chinese heritage. As Jason approaches thirty, he becomes increasingly fixated on his Uncle Larry, who went to China in the ‘70s and never returned, and finds himself driven to write a chamber opera about his uncle, despite knowing next to nothing about what happened to him. When his life goes sideways, he decides to go to China to find out.

Marilyn Lamb

Marilyn Lamb (a.k.a. Mary-Lynne Cordero) is an active member of the Barrie Writers’ Club. She has previously self-published one novel, Blood Covenant and won awards for her writing in the Historical Category of the Toronto Chapter of the Romance Writers of America’s Catherine Competition.

Her works appear in the Barrie Writers’ Club’s Anthologies, Unleashed Ink and Unleashed Ink 2. She has been writing since her early teens.

On Ravyn’s Wing is her second self-published novel, recently awarded a 5-star rating from Readers Favorite web site.

Click the cover and get the book!

Kat Chabot

With an earthy vibe and calm demeanor, Kat Chabot brings a new quality to guitar-based folk in the 21st C. Her experimental tunings often serve the fundamental vibration of the instrument, while lyrics delve deeply into the essence of her Northern-Ontario mindset. Spending her youth working in a greenhouse, and growing up in a family band covering mostly RUSH and Journey songs; Kat feels most at home outside or onstage.

With her fingerstyle picking and smooth-as-silk vocal quality, audiences are mesmerized by each story Kat weaves. A typically noisy room often falls silent early in the set, as listeners tune into the magic of the performance. From showcasing at the Horseshoe Tavern performing with 3 uniquely tuned guitars, to recording live as a guest with Survivor Man Les Stroud’s band, and singing the Canadian anthem during the Vermont Expos Baseball game; her motivation and investment in mastering her craft is evident from the outset. You can catch Kat Chabot performing all over Ontario Farmer’s Markets, local festivals, bars and restaurants, either performing solo, or with Cardinal Street – a five-piece rock band.

Learn about Kat here and come see her live at Word Up!