THE EMERGING WRITER:SERVING MANY MASTERS

TUES APRIL 9

7.30p.m.-9.00p.m.

HAMILTON ROOM, CENTRAL BRANCH, HAMILTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

 JEN JONES has lived all over Canada (including the Arctic), and has been variously employed as a writer, cartoonist, courtroom sketch artist and karate instructor, as well as her day job as Batgirl.  Jones teaches creative writing at Mohawk College’s Continuing Education program and also runs Quoth the Raven and Rat Salad Graphix part-time. She was a recipient of the City of Hamilton Arts Award (Emerging Writer) in 2012, and a nominee in 2011. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Art & Design major, English minor) from the University of Alberta, a Visual Communications Diploma from Grant MacEwan University, and a Writing for Publication Certificate from Mohawk College. Ms Jones volunteers on Hamilton’s gritLIT 2013 Literary Festival committee, and is also serving as Vice President of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists/L’Association Canadienne des Dessinateurs Éditoriaux. In 2012, Jen Jones was a featured writer in the Hamilton Spectator’s State of the Arts series. She is a graphic novel aficionado (and proud member of Geeks Night Out, a graphic novel book club), as well as a tenuously playing guitarist in a cacophonic living room band called Utopian Nancy. Jen writes short fiction and novels, and has in progress two short story collections, a novella and a novel about a geologist experiencing unrequited love. She has also written, and is in the process of illustrating, a children’s book, and going through the grueling process of converting one of her poems, Shutting Up Pacino, into a graphic novel. She submits her writing and poetry to various contests/publications with some success, but is still waiting for the Big Break and the villa in Italy.

HONOURING OUR HISTORY THROUGH FICTION

TUES MARCH 12
7.30-9.00 p.m.
HAMILTON ROOM, CENTRAL BRANCH, HAMILTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
JEAN RAE BAXTER started writing full time a dozen years ago, following a career in education. She writes for both adults and young adults. Two short story collections A Twist of Malice and Scattered Light and her literary murder mystery Looking For Cardenio comprise the former category. Increasingly she is turning to historical fiction to tell the story of Canada’s past. Freedom Bound (2012), follows The Way Lies North (2007) and Broken Trail (2011), completing her trilogy set during the American Revolution . Jean’s historical fiction has received awards in both the United States and Canada. On February 23 Jean will have received a 2013 Hamilton Wentworth Heritage Association Award at City Hall.

THE PROBLEM OF PERSONIFYING THINGS AS FEMALE IN POETRY

TUES FEB 12
7.30p.m.-9.00p.m. 
HAMILTON ROOM, CENTRAL BRANCH, HAMILTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
ADAM GETTY was born in Toronto and has lived in Hamilton since he was 13. He was educated at the University of Toronto but left without taking a degree. His first book, Reconciliation (2003) , won the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and the Hamilton Literary Award and was nominated for the Trillium Poetry Award. His second book, Repose (2008), led to his nomination for the Premiere's Award for Excellence in the Arts for an Emerging Artist. In 2012, he won the City of Hamilton Arts Award in Literature. In addition to writing, Adam edits, works with McMaster University and high school students, and volunteers with local arts organizations.

Tues January 8 2013
7.30p.m.-9.00p.m. at the Hamilton Room of the Hamilton Public Library, Central Branch

JEFF MAHONEY on Exploring the Divide Between Popular Writing and "Literature." Is It Widening Or Narrowing and Why Does It Exist At All?
Jeff Mahoney has been a reporter/writer/columnist at The Hamilton Spectator for almost 25 years. He has done reporting and critiques on the visual arts. Jeff has also been a humour columnist and currently does a tri-weekly feature on city life, people and history in Hamilton.

Until recently he taught a course on Reporting and Writing for the Mass Media at Brock University in St. Catharines.

INSPIRATION for MY WRITING LIFE

OCT 14

7.30P.M.-9.00P.M.

Homegrown Hamilton, 27 King William Street

VALERIE NIELSEN will share glimpses of a fascinating variety of people, places, books and events that have influenced  her writing life. Beginning with her birth in England to writer parents, she will tell of the family's immigration to Canada, her work, travels and avid reading. She is now pulling all these threads together to create a memoir as a legacy for her family. 

Valerie Nielsen holds a B.A. in Religious Studies and English Literature from the U. of T. and a Masters of Religious Education from Emmanuel College.  Her professional background includes teaching, counselling and ministry. She is president of The Tower Poetry Society, and her book of poetry is  entitled Green Light. She  facilitates The Writers' Circle at The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton and leads retreats on creativity and spirituality at her home on Lake Ontario.

GEOGRAPHY, MEMORY AND STORY- the sense of place in writing with ELLEN S JAFFE

SUNDAY SEPT 9
7.30p.m.-9.00p.m.
Homegrown Hamilton, 27 King William Street, Hamilton
ELLEN S JAFFE is a Hamilton writer. Her books Writing Your Way: Creating a Personal Journal and Water Children have received awards from Arts Hamilton, and her young-adult novel Feast of Lights received the Moonbeam Children's Book Award for Multi-cultural Fiction. She will have a new poetry collection published by Guernica in 2014. Ellen has received teaching and writing grants from the Ontario Arts Council and also works with Learning/Living through the Arts, teaching writing in schools and to community groups.
We will look at private, public, and imaginary places, and the stories contained in these different settings.

THE LYRIC PROCESS

JUNE 10, 7.30-.9.00p.m.
Homegrown Hamilton, 27 King William Street
NORMAN BROWN leads in a two-part interactive session designed to provoke heated debate, deep thought and mild enthusiasm in a format that tends to be very non-threatening, friendly and comfortable for anyone of any level of poetic understanding.
Norman had his education in many universities including one in North Carolina and one in the U.K. He was a community college professor and a secondary school teacher for 33 years. He also taught behavioural and learning disabled students. He has been involved in amateur theatre for 21 years. He is the owner of Norman Brown Photography and was a past president of Tower Poetry Society in Hamilton