The Department of English Literature is delighted to announce the 24th season of the Writers Reading Series in Peterborough. These events bring award-winning and world-class authors to Peterborough for literary readings, critical/practical discussions and plain old casual conversation. As befits the range and scope of Canada’s literary landscape, our authors cover a lot of emotional and intellectual ground. These are smart people with serious talent, but the events are stimulating and funny, not stodgy and solemn. Because we choose writers for their unique talents no two events are exactly alike, but they’re all free and they’re all fun.
All events begin at 7:00 PM in the Junior Common Room (Scott House) at Traill College, 310 London Street, Peterborough, with a public reception in The Trend Pub immediately afterwards. We invite all members of the community to take advantage of this opportunity to see, hear, and meet these writers in relaxed and hospitable circumstances.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th
Clark Blaise is the internationally renowned author of twenty books of fiction and non-fiction, including Time Lord, his compelling reflection on the life and the achievements of Sir Sandford Fleming. His short stories have been featured in Best Canadian Short Stories on multiple occasions, and he is the recipient of several honorary degrees and awards for his contributions to literary culture in Canada and US. In 2010, he was named to the Order of Canada. His most recent collection of stories, Meagre Tarmac, was shortlisted for the Rogers Writers Trust Award in 2011.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th
Anakana Schofield is an Irish-Canadian writer of fiction, essays, and literary criticism. She contributes to the London Review of Books, The Recorder: The Journal of the American Irish Historical Society, the Globe & Mail, and the Vancouver Sun. Her first novel, Malarky, will be published in spring, 2012. In advance of Malarky’s publication, Barnes and Noble recommended Schofield as one of the “Great New Writers” of 2012.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17th
Robert Earl Stewart was born in Windsor, Ontario, and educated at the University of Windsor and McGill University. His first collection of poetry, Something Burned Along the Southern Border, was published by Mansfield Press in 2009 and shortlisted for the 2010 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, for the best debut collection of poetry by a Canadian poet. In 2011, his second collection of poetry, Campfire Radio Rhapsody, was published by Mansfield Press.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1st
Michael Crummey's most recent novel, Galore, won the Canadian Authors' Association Fiction Award, the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book (Canada & Caribbean Region), and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Award and the Governor-General's Award. He has published two other novels, River Thieves and The Wreckage, as well as poetry and short stories. His work has appeared in the Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories and in The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17th
Jessica Westhead is a Toronto writer and editor. Her fiction has been published in major literary journals in Canada and the U.S., including The New Quarterly, Geist, and Indiana Review. She was shortlisted for the 2009 CBC Literary Awards, and one of her short stories was chosen for the The Journey Prize Stories 23. She was a judge for the 2012 Toronto Star Short Story Contest. Her first novel, Pulpy & Midge (Coach House Books 2007), was nominated for the ReLit Award. Her critically acclaimed short fiction collection And Also Sharks, (Cormorant Books 2011), was a 2011 Globe and Mail Best Book.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21st
Linden MacIntyre is a Canadian journalist and author, and the winner of eight Gemini awards and an International Emmy for his work with the CBC. He is the author of the memoir, Causeway: A Passage from Innocence (2006) and two novels, The Long Stretch (1999), and The Bishop’s Man (2008), which won the 2009 Giller prize, as well the Libris Fiction Book of the Year Award. His latest novel is Why Men Lie.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5th
Betsy Struthers is the author of nine books of poetry - the most recent, All That Desire: New And Selected Poetry will be published by Black Moss Press in summer 2012 - three novels, and a collection of short fiction; she was also co-editor and contributor to a book of essays about teaching poetry. A past president of the League of Canadian Poets, she is the winner of the GritLit Poetry Prize 2010 and the Pat Lowther Memorial Award 2004 (for the best book of poetry by a Canadian woman), was runner-up for the Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award 1994 and was short-listed for the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award 1993. With Super-Special Guests: Gordon Johnston and Florence Treadwell!