SCREEN SYNTAX with J. ALDRIC GAUDET

TUES FEB 11
7.30 -9.00p.m.
Hamilton Room
Central Branch
Hamilton Public Library

J. Aldric Gaudet is an author, story editor, filmmaker and screenwriting instructor.
He has published three books. 5 Fables for the Young at Heart, Madmen Have No Ears, and Imogen.
Currently in development is his screenplay Anatomy of a Hijacking, a political thriller about the most tragic airplane hijacking pre-911.

ALCHEMY, MEDITATION, SERENDIPITY AND DREAMS with JANET TURPIN MYERS

TUES JANUARY 14
7.30-9.00p.m.
Hamilton Room. Central Branch, Hamilton Public Library
Join novelist and poet, Janet Turpin Myers for an exploration of this inscrutable realm of mystery and happy surprises. Janet Turpin Myers has been writing all her life, despite being advised as a teenager to pursue office work rather than writing.  Her poetry has appeared in Hammered Out and Tower Poetry. Her debut novel, Nightswimming was published in 2013 by Seraphim Editions, and recently, her short story, Crashing, won third place in Hamilton's gritLIT Short Fiction competition. She is a graduate of McMaster University, and a happy resident of the ravines and forests of north Burlington's beautiful escarpment lands.

STORIES WE SHARE

TUES DEC 10
7.30p.m.-9.00p.m.
Hamilton Room, Central Branch, Hamilton Public Library
Be ready to read a story that you like and want to share with us on a cold and dark December evening. This is also the time when you are welcome to read a story you have written, in the presence of very attentive listeners.

On Tuesday NOVEMBER 12 LitChat supports the Hamilton Literary Awards

LitChat is cancelled for November. You are encouraged to attend the Hamilton Literary Awards. Details below are taken from the Hamilton Arts Council's website.

The Hamilton Literary Awards are an annual literary event with the goal of recognizing and celebrating the best of our city’s published authors. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Literary Awards celebrating the achievements of local literary figures.
Starting this year, Awards will be presented to books of outstanding merit and quality in a variety of categories including Fiction, Poetry and Non-fiction by authors residing in Hamilton and the surrounding areas. This year will also mark the inaugural presentation of the Kerry Schooley Book Award. This award will be given to the book that is most evocative of the City of Hamilton and/or surrounding area and has been named in honour of the late Kerry Schooley who was a tireless advocate for literary arts in Hamilton.
This year, in addition to the Kerry Schooley Book Award, the Literary Awards will be recognizing two outstanding authors in the areas of Fiction and Non-fiction Books.
The Short List for the 20th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards have been announced! The finalists for the Hamilton Arts Council Literary Award for Non-fiction are:

Hamilton Illustrated, by David Collier
Haunted Hamilton, by Mark Leslie
Empty Cradle, by Diana Walsh

The finalists for the Hamilton Arts Council Literary Award for Fiction are:

Come Back, by Sky Gilbert
Sleeping Funny, by Miranda Hill
Small Medium at Large, by Joanne Levy

The finalists for The Kerry Schooley Award are:

A Private Man, by Chris Laing
Shirts and Skins, by Jeffry Luscombe
The Fishers of Paradise, by Rachel Preston

We are pleased to present the 20th Anniversary of this annual awards celebration and we want you to be a part of it!
WHEN: Tuesday, November 12th, 2013; doors open at 7:00 PM; ceremony begins at 7:30 PM
WHERE: Norman and Louise Haac Studio Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, 190 King William St.
TIX: Admission is FREE and all are welcome
INFO: call us at 905.481.3218 or email Stephen at stephen@hamiltonartscouncil.ca

GOOD POEM, BAD POEM, WHO KNOWS?

TUES OCT 8, 7.30p.m.-9.00p.m., HAMILTON ROOM, CENTRAL BRANCH, HAMILTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
PAM MORDECAI www.pamelamordecai.com has taught, trained teachers and worked extensively in media. She has published many books including textbooks, poetry collections, a book of short fiction, children’s books, anthologies of Caribbean writing, and a reference work on Jamaica written with her husband, Martin. In 2010, her play, El Numero Uno, had its world premiere at the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto. de man, a book of poetry about the crucifixion of Jesus, written entirely in Jamaican creole, has been performed many times in Jamaica as well as in Canada. She lives in Kitchener.

ELIZABETH RUTH on CHASING YOUR TALENT: THE PROCESS AND EXPERIENCE OF WRITING AND PUBLISHING A NOVEL

TUES SEPT 10
7.30p.m-9.00p.m.
Hamilton Room, Central Branch, Hamilton Public Library 

Some of the topics that will be raised include:  early inspiration, the role of research in shaping a story, the writer's preoccupations and how they lead us down literary paths we never imagined traveling, the dedication and discipline of wrestling the beast into a work of beauty, things we learn about ourselves along the way, what we see in the work once it's complete, and surviving the industry.

Elizabeth Ruth is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, Matadora (2013) Smoke (2005) and Ten Good Seconds of Silence (2001). She teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and is faculty within the Humber School for Writer's Correspondence Program. In September, Elizabeth Ruth will publish a GoodReads novella entitled, Love You To Death. For more info visit: www.elizabethruth.com 

PAUL LISSON on THOUGHTCRIME and THE 14 EGG CAKE

TUES JUNE 11

7.30p.m.-9p.m.

Hamilton Room,Central Branch, Hamilton Public Library

самизда́т

Samizdat is a Russian word describing literature that must be written and copied in secret. It describes literature that is shared and read through clandestine distribution networks. This is writing that governments and the ruling elite view as dangerous.

“I was most happy when pen and paper were taken from me and I was forbidden from doing anything. I had no anxiety about doing nothing by my own fault, my conscience was clear, and I was happy. This was when I was in prison.”

― Daniil Kharms, Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings

Our publishing house is called Samizdat Press, and we produce Hamilton Arts & Letters magazine (HALmagazine.com). When we began this project, Samizdat was very much on our minds. In this LitChat session we’re going to talk about why.

Dostoyevsky will face the firing squad. Satan will visit Moscow. There will be eggs and false moustaches. Canadian history will be rewritten by the Ministry of Truth.

Paul Lisson is a librarian at the Hamilton Public Library and the Editor of Hamilton Arts & Letters. He studied the History of Books and Printing with Desmond Neill. He studied Rare Books and Manuscripts with Richard Landon. He studied Russian History with R. H. Johnston. He misses these professors; they were great teachers and died too soon. Paul’s writing has appeared in The Beloit Poetry Journal, Prism, Descant, Mid-American Review, Versal magazine out of Amsterdam, and Rampike. He has written about libraries in the Soviet Union for the Canadian Library Journal.