Nov. 18: Amy Jones, Alexandra Leggat and Priscila Uppal

Come Pivot with us November 18 – and by “us” I mean Metcalf-Rooke winner Amy Jones, Alexandra Leggat and Priscila Uppal. Natch.

Originally from Halifax, Amy Jones is a graduate of the Optional Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at UBC. Her short fiction has appeared or in several Canadian publications, including The New Quarterly, Grain, Prairie Fire, Event, The Antigonish Review, maisonneuve, and 08: Best Canadian Stories. In 2006, she was the winner of the CBC Literary Award for Short Story in English. Her first short fiction collection, What Boys Like, is the winner of the 2008-2009 Metcalf-Rooke Award and was published by Biblioasis in September, 2009. Amy currently lives in Toronto.

Alexandra Leggat is the author of the short story collections Animal (Anvil Press, 2009), Meet Me in the Parking Lot (Insomniac Press 2004), Pull Gently, Tear Here (Insomniac Press, 2001) which was nominated for the Danuta Gleed First Fiction Award and a collection of poetry entitled This is me since yesterday (Coach House Books, 2000) She is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Journalism program. Her articles and reviews have appeared in Toro, Shift, The Globe and Mail and Niagara Life Magazine and her poetry and fiction has been published in journals across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. She teaches creative writing classes at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.

Priscila Uppal is a Toronto poet, fiction and non-fiction writer, and academic born in Ottawa in 1974. Among her publications are five collections of poetry: How to Draw Blood From a Stone (1998), Confessions of a Fertility Expert (1999), Pretending to Die (2001), Live Coverage (2003) and Ontological Necessities (2006); all with Exile Editions; the critically-acclaimed novels The Divine Economy of Salvation (2002) and To Whom It May Concern (2009); both with Doubleday Canada; and the academic study, We Are What We Mourn: The Contemporary English-Canadian Elegy (2009) with McGill-Queen’s University Press. Her work has been published internationally and has been translated into Croatian, Dutch, Greek, Korean, Latvian, and Italian. Ontological Necessities was shortlisted for the prestigious $50,000 Griffin Prize for Excellence in Poetry. She has an MA (University of Toronto) and a PhD in English Literature (York University) and is a professor of English at York University in Toronto. Forthcoming in 2009, as editor, are the books The Exile Book of Poetry in Translation: Twenty Canadian Poets Take On the World, and The Exile Book of Sports Stories. Forthcoming in 2010 are a selected poetry collection, Successful Tragedies, from Bloodaxe Books (U.K.), and a new poetry collection, Traumatology, from Exile Editions. She is an active participant in several arts committees and organizations, and is on the Board of Directors at the Toronto Arts Council. For more information please visit priscilauppal.ca

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
PWYC.

Nov. 4: Marcus McCann, Shane Neilson and Lisa Pasold

Join us November 4 for a steamy November eve of readings by Marcus McCann, Shane Nielsen and Lisa Pasold.

Marcus McCann is the author of one trade collection, Soft Where (2009, Chaudiere Books), as well as six chapbooks: The Tech/tonic Suite (2008, Rubicon), Force Quit (2008, Emergency Response Unit), petty illness leaflet (2008, Onion Union), Basement Tapes (2007, with Nicholas Lea and Andrew Faulkner) Heteroskeptical (2007, above/ground) and So Long, Derrida (2006, UESA). His work has appeared in The Antigonish Review, Matrix, dANDelion, and other fine Canadian literary periodicals. He’s a host of CKCU’s Literary Landscapes and organizer of the Transgress Festival and the Naughty Thoughts Book Club. He lives in Ottawa, where he a member of the Ampers& Writing Group.

Shane Neilson published his first trade book of poems with Biblioasis this year, titled Meniscus. He has been anthologized in Braid and Shreve’s In Fine Form and Carmine Starnino’s The New Canon. He has been nominated for a National Magazine Award for poetry. He won the New Brunswick leg of the most recent CBC Poetry Face Off.

Lisa Pasold’s writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Chicago Tribune and Vancouver’s Georgia Straight. Her first book of poetry, Weave, appeared in 2004; Stephen Osborne in Geist magazine called the book “quite simply a masterpiece: there is more in these eighty odd pages than in most novels.” Her second book of poetry, A Bad Year for Journalists, appeared in 2006; The Globe and Mail called this “critical, darkly funny and painstakingly lyrical.” Rats of Las Vegas is Lisa’s first novel; please let me know if you would like a review copy. For more info about Lisa, you can visit her blog .

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
PWYC.

October 21: Nathaniel G Moore, Johanna Skibsrud and Lindsay Tipping

Join us October 21 for a book launch, an out-of-towner and a short short story performatrix. Yeah!

Nathaniel G. Moore is the author of two new books this fall: Pastels Are Pretty Much The Polar Opposite of Chalk (DC Books) and Wrong Bar (Tightrope Books).

Johanna Skibsrud recently published a novel, The Sentimentalists, with Gaspereau Press.  Her debut poetry collection, Late Nights With Wild Cowboys (Gaspereau), was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award.  A second poetry collection is forthcoming in Spring 2010. Originally from Meadowville, Nova Scotia, Johanna currently lives in Montreal.

Lindsay Tipping’s work has appeared in Dandelion, Matrix, Utne Reader, Filling Station and Misunderstandings Magazine. She lives in Toronto.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
PWYC.

Pivot one-year anniversary: Babstock, Schultz, Strimas and Gordon

We’ve made it this far: Pivot is officially a year old on October 15, but we’re celebrating at the October 7 event with four readers for the price of one! Poets Ken Babstock and Meaghan Strimas will be joined by prose stylists Emily Schultz and Spencer Gordon. Arrive early and plan to stay late – it’s a party, after all.

Ken Babstock is the author, most recently, of Airstream Land Yacht (Anansi, 2006) winner of The Trillium Prize for Poetry, finalist for the Governor General’s Award, The Griffin Prize for Poetry, and The Winterset Award. Earlier collections include Mean, winner of The Atlantic Poetry Prize and The Milton Acorn Award, and Days into Flatspin, winner of a K.M. Hunter Award and finalist for the Winterset Prize. All three books were listed in the Globe and Mail’s Books of the Year. His poems have won Gold at the National Magazine Awards, appeared widely in anthologies in Canada, the US, and Ireland, and have been translated into French, German, Dutch, Serbo-Croatian and Czech.

Spencer Gordon is a grad student at the U of T. His fiction chapbook, coming out in October, is called Lonely Planet and Other Stories (Ferno House 2009). His writing has appeared in periodicals like Broken Pencil, The Danforth Review, echolocation, zaum, Bywords Quarterly Journal, The Puritan, and The Frequent and Vigorous Quarterly, and in anthologies like experiment-o (AngelHousePress 2008), Departures (above/ground 2008), Gulch: An Assemblage of Poetry and Prose (Tightrope Books 2009), and For Crying Out Loud: An Anthology of Poetry & Fiction (Ferno House 2009). Upcoming projects include the extremely serious anthology Dinosaur Porn (Emergency Response Unit/Ferno House 2009). He was the co-editor/creator of The Puritan and he’s currently the editor of Ferno House (fernohouse.com). He blogs at dangerousliterature.blogspot.com, and operates in the third person. QED.

Emily Schultz recently published the novel Heaven Is Small with House of Anansi Press. Her debut poetry collection, Songs for the Dancing Chicken (ECW Press), was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry. She co-founded and helps run the short fiction hub, Joyland.ca.

Meaghan Strimas was born in Chatham, ON, and raised in Owen Sound, ON. She is the author of one book of poems, Junkman’s Daughter, and her second poetry collection, A Good Time Had By All, will publish in Fall 2010. She is also the editor of The Selected Gwendolyn MacEwen. She lives in Toronto with her cat, Bates.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
PWYC.

Sept. 23: Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaassen, Ted Nolan and Carmine Starnino

Pivot welcomes two out-of-town guests for the September 23 event – Halifax’s Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaassen and Montreal’s Carmine Starnino – both of whom have new books of poetry out on Gaspereau Press this year. We’re also pleased to introduce many of you to Ted Nolan, an exciting, new, as-of-yet-unpublished poet. Same time, same place: hope to see you there!

Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaassen was born in Saskatoon. Her first collection, Clay Birds, won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Poetry in 1996. Her second collection, Őr, was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award in 2004. Her latest book is Lean-To. Gunvaldsen Klaassen lives in Halifax.

Ted Nolan is an American living in Toronto. He is the author of Still, an unpublished poetry manuscript, and recently received a Masters Degree in the field of Creative Writing from the University of Toronto.

Carmine Starnino is a poet, essayist, critic and the editor of Signal Editions, the poetry imprint at Véhicule Press. His collection With English Subtitles (GP, 2004) won the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry and the 2006 Bressani Prize. His new book is This Way Out. Starnino lives in Montreal.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
Hosted by Carey Toane
PWYC.

September 9: Brian Francis, Yannick Marshall and Matthew Tierney

Pivot is back September 9 with a lineup to carry you, unflinching, from the heady days of summer to the great gut of fall: Brian Francis, Yannick Marshall and Matthew Tierney. Join us!

Bios:
Brian Francis’s first novel Fruit was the runner-up in this year’s CBC Canada Reads debates.  His most recent fiction appeared in 07: Best Canadian Stories. He lives in Toronto.

Yannick Marshall, is an Afrikan writer of St. Lucian and Jamaican heritage. A resident of Toronto, he is currently engaged in African-American studies at Columbia University. Marshall’s debut work, Old Friend, We Made This for You (with Yemi Aganga), was published by Kellom Books in 2007. His new book, Empress, was released in 2009.

Matthew Tierney’s second book, The Hayflick Limit, came out with Coach House Books in spring 2009. He is a recipient of the K.M. Hunter Award for Literature, and won 1st and 2nd place in This Magazine’s 2005 Great Canadian Literary Hunt. His poems have appeared in journals and magazines across Canada, including Maisonneuve, The Malahat Review, The Fiddlehead and Eye Weekly, among others. He lives in Toronto.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
Hosted by Carey Toane
PWYC.

August 26: Taddle Creek showcase

Pivot has jumped in a canoe on Taddle Creek – the literary magazine, that is – for the August 26 event. Join TC editor Conan Tobias and six (!!) of the magazine’s readers for a very special night.

Evie Christie lives in downtown Toronto. She is the author of the poetry collection Gutted and the hottest mom on Yonge Street.

Heather Hogan lives in the Annex and Taddle Creek has high hopes for her.

Alexandra Leggat lives in Riverdale. She instructs creative writing classes and writes a sports-themed blog. Her most recent book is the short story collection Animal.

Nathaniel G. Moore lives in Dovercourt Village. His next book, Wrong Bar, will be published in September. This fall he will officially retire as Taddle Creek’s most-rejected author.

Adrienne Weiss lives in Parkdale. She is the author of the poetry collection Awful Gestures and recently completed an M.A. in English at York University. She now wishes only to be addressed as “Master.”

Tony Burgess lives in Stayner, Ontario. A feature film based on his novel Pontypool Changes Everything, directed by Bruce MacDonald, has been fabulously successful, much like Tony himself.

Hosted by Carey Toane
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
PWYC.

August 12: Jacqueline Larson, Mark Sampson and Sarah Selecky

Pivot returns to regularly scheduled biweekly programming as of August 12. And to celebrate, we’re offering up the literary delights of three exciting readers: Jacqueline Larson, Mark Sampson and Sarah Selecky. Feast your eyes on their bios:

Though she lives in Toronto now, Jacqueline Larson was born in and formed by Alberta. She received her MA (English) from SFU where she also worked as managing editor of West Coast Line. Her work has been published in a number of journals and shortlisted for the National Magazine award and Hart House Review poetry prize. Salt Physic, her first book, was published recently by Pedlar Press.

Mark Sampson has published one novel, entitled Off Book, which came out with Norwood Publishing of Halifax in the fall of 2007. He has also published short stories and poems in literary journals and anthologies around Canada, including Pottersfield Portfolio, paperplates, The Frequent & Vigorous Quarterly, Inscribed and Lunch: My Favourite Season. Originally from the Maritimes, Mark now lives and writes in Toronto, where he is working on a novel set in South Korea.

Sarah Selecky’s stories have been published in The Sun, Geist Magazine, Prairie Fire, The New Quarterly, Event and The Journey Prize Anthology. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia and has been teaching creative writing workshops in her living room for the past eight years. Her short story collection, This Cake is for the Party, will be released by Thomas Allen Publishers in Spring 2010. Find more about Sarah here.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
PWYC.

July 15: Pivot with Philip Quinn, Angela Szczepaniak and Gillian Sze

How did this happen? So many SZ combinations have never descended upon Pivot in one evening! Please join us July 15 for poetry from Philip Quinn and Gillian Sze and fiction that reads like poetry from Angela Szczepaniak. Prizes will be awarded to those who can pronounce all three names in quick succession without stumbling.

Philip Quinn’s work has appeared in sub-Terrain, blood+aphorisms, White Wall Review, Front&Centre, Kiss Machine, Lichen journal, Broken Pencil, Snow Monkey and Anemone Sidecar. On-line appearances include: Laura Hird’s Showcase (www.laurahird.com), eli mae (www.elimae.com) The Shore Magazine (www.theshoremag.com) and Danforth Review (www.danforthreview.com). Jay Millar’s BookThug press published Quinn’s first collection of poetry, The SubWay, in November 2008. Sample poems can be found online at: www.philipquinn.ca. Books include: Dis Location, Stories After the Flood and The Double, a novel, published by Gutter Press. Upcoming: The Skeleton Dance, a novel, (Anvil Press) fall of 2009. Mr. Quinn lives in Toronto.

A doctoral candidate at the University at Buffalo, Angela Szczepaniak is neck-deep in a dissertation on innovative poetry, detective fiction, and comic books. Her first book is a novel-in-poems, called Unisex Love Poems. In addition to publishing poetry and critical essays, she recently participated in a hygiene themed poetry-art project with LOCCAL, and as a result her visual poetry can be found on placards in some of the finest public restrooms in Seattle. At the moment, she lives in Toronto, where she thinks about being ravaged by time’s withered claw.

Gillian Sze is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba. She studied in Montreal where she earned an MA in creative writing at Concordia University in 2008. Her thesis, a collection of poems based on visual art from a range of cultures, is the basis of her newly released book, Fish Bones, published by DC Books. Gilliansze.com

Wednesday, July 15, 2009
8 p.m. at the Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
Hosted by Carey Toane
PWYC.

Pivot alternative: Dennis Lee

I hope you’re all familiar by now with the amazing lineup of events at this year’s Scream Literary Festival – but just in case, here are a few of my picks (which, full disclosure, I will be participating in in some fashion or another…):

Chapters 11: The Bankruptcy Walking Tour

Yes, yours truly will be leading a group of mourners around the Annex this Saturday, July 4 to peel off the bakery and men’s clothing store facades of various businesses to reveal the dearly departed independent bookstores which once operated underneath. If you’re curious, grab your black umbrella and meet us at the Victory Cafe at 1. p.m.

If Hope Disorders Words: Dennis Lee Reprised – The Book-Length Reading

The annual book-length dinner is – strike allowing – happening in the atrium of the Toronto Archives on Friday July 10, featuring Dennis Lee reading from Civil Elegies, as well as Un and Yes/No. Not to be missed. Get your tickets for the dinner ($40 – yum) or just for the reading ($15) online at the link above or at any Type Books location before this Sunday – they’re going fast! I’ll save you a seat at my table

And of course there’s a ton of other stuff going on for just about any literary palate, so check out the schedule (if you haven’t already) or the Facebook group, natch.

Thanks,
Carey