May 30: Sarah Goldstein, Joshua Harmon, Jamie Popowich

Pivot fans, get in the receiving line! On May 30 we welcome two far-flung visitors, Massachusetts-based writers Sarah Goldstein and Joshua Harmon. We also welcome Jamie Popowich, Metraville’s ambassador to Toronto. Come represent Toronto as we strengthen our international literary relations.

Sarah Goldstein was born in Toronto and now lives in Massachusetts. Her writing has appeared in Bateau, Barrow Street, Caketrain, and Denver Quarterly, and is forthcoming in the online journal Anti-. Her first book, Fables, was released in 2011 from Tarpaulin Sky. Originally trained as an artist, she has exhibited her artwork in the US and Canada.

Joshua Harmon is the author of two books of poems-Le Spleen de Poughkeepsie and Scape-and a novel, Quinnehtukqut. His fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in journals such as Agni, The Believer, Colorado Review, New England Review, The Normal School, TriQuarterly, and Verse, and he has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. He lives in western Massachusetts.

Jamie Popowich is the author of the short fiction collection Metraville (Insomniac Press). Popowich has also produced the documentary Run Run It’s Him.

In Metraville, Popowich creates an absurd and delightful”fake-believe” city. In a recent review, Broken Pencil says: Popowich pulls together an engaging world with an often playful twist. But Metraville is no mere confection piece: underneath all the fun lies some biting social criticism and big questions. By the time we meet the accused thief, his lawyer and the presiding judge who inhabit the centre of the book, we’re shown that for all its absurdities, Metraville is also addressing Toronto’s uncertain fate: “Because whose fault is all this really? And by ‘all this,’ I mean your own befuddled life.”

Pivot Readings at the Press Club
Featuring Sarah Goldstein, Joshua Harmon, and Jamie Popowich
Wednesday, May 30
The Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
8 PM
PWYC
Hosted by Elisabeth de Mariaffi

May 16: Eric Foley, Nicole Markotić, Natalie Zina Walschots

Come greet  fictioneer Eric Foley, Windsor’s Nicole Markotić, and local hero Natalie Zina Walschots Something tells me that the Press Club back patio will be in full effect this coming Pivot, so be sure to come early and stay late to save a seat inside – and outside!

Eric Foley has been a finalist for the Random House Creative Writing Award and the Hart House Literary Contest, and the winner of Geist Magazine and the White Wall Review’s postcard story contests. Some of his work can be found online at Numero Cinq and InluencySalon.ca. Eric has traveled to over thirty countries on six continents, and currently attends the University of Guelph’s MFA Program in Creative Writing, where he is at work on his first novel, and a memoir about living in Morocco.

Nicole Markotić is a fiction writer and poet. Her latest book, Bent at the Spine Her first novel, Yellow Pages: a Catalogue of Intentions, was a prose narrative about Alexander Graham Bell. She has also published two books of poetry, Connect the Dots and Minotaurs and Other Alphabets and a chapbook, more excess, which won the bpNichol Poetry Chapbook Award. A former resident of Calgary, she now teaches English Literature and creative writing at the University of Windsor. Dr. Markotić specializes in the subjects of Canadian Literature, Poetry, Children’s Literature, Disability in Film and Disability in Literature and she wrote a critical book on disability in film. She is also the Managing Editor of the chapbook series, Wrinkle Press.

Natalie Zina Walschots is a poet and music journalist. Her first book of poetry, Thumbscrews (2007), won the inaugural Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. Her second, Doom: Love Poems for Supervillains, is just out with Insomniac Press. She holds an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Calgary and her poetry has appeared widely in literary magazines. She currently serves as the managing editor for Canada Arts Connect and the reviews editor for This Magazine. Her secret lair is located in Toronto. Visit her at www.nataliezed.ca.

Pivot Readings at the Press Club
Featuring Eric Foley, Nicole Markotic, and Natalie Zina Walschots
Wednesday, May 16
8 PM
The Press Club
850 Dundas Street West
PWYC.