Our Spoken INK readers May 21st

Susan McCaslin is a poet and Thomas Merton scholar who has recently collaborated with J.S. Porter on a volume of creative non-fiction, Superabundantly Alive: Thomas Merton’s Dance with the Feminine (Wood Lake, Oct. 2018). She is also the author of fifteen volumes of poetry, including her most recent, Into the Open: Poems New and Selected (Inanna, 2017). Susan will be reading from her most recent book of mixed-genre creative nonfiction on the contemplative writer Thomas Merton in order to explore the relevance of his poetry and poetics at this time. Susan can be found wandering along the Fraser River outside Fort Langley, BC with her dog Rosie in the presence of Douglas firs, hemlocks, and cedars.

Eileen Kernaghan’s speculative poetry collection Tales from the Holograph Woods draws its themes from science fiction, myth and magic, dark fantasy and fairy tales. It brings together poems published over the last thirty-five years in magazines and anthologies ranging from PRISM international and The Antigonish Review to Weird Tales and Black Lotus. Eileen is also the author of nine historical fantasy novels. Her most recent novel, Sophie, in Shadow, was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and for the Sheila Egoff Prize for Children’s Literature.

SPOKEN INK Guest Readers April 16

Tuesday April 16, 2019 @ 8:00 p.m.

At the Burnaby Arts Council's Deer Lake Gallery, 6584 Deer Lake Avenue.                                                 

Elaine Woo is the author of two poetry collections: Put Your Hand in Mine, Signature Editions, released this spring, and Cycling with Dragon, Nightwood Editions, 2014. She is a graduate of the UBC creative writing program. Elaine's poetry and artwork has appeared internationally in Otoliths, Prism International, Grain Magazine, The Elephants, The Maynard, Arc Poetry, Carte Blanche, The Literary Commune, and L'Impromptu. She has appeared in numerous literary festivals and reading series including the Growing Room Festival, AfterWord, Word Vancouver, Victoria Festival of Authors, LiterAsian, the North Shore Writers Festival, SFU's Lunch Poems, and Emily Carr's On Edge Reading Series; and has facilitated creative writing and art workshops for a number of festivals and community writing programs.

Adrienne Drobnies' first book of poetry Salt and Ashes has been released this year by Signature Editions. She is a graduate of the SFU Writer’s Studio and has a doctorate in chemistry. Her poetry has appeared in The Antigonish Review, Event, Riddle Fence, The Toronto Quarterly, and The Maynard. She is an editor of a collection of poetry in French, Poèmes sur Mesure, by her late husband Alain Fournier. Her poetry has received honourable mention in the Compton Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the Vallum Award for poetry. Her long poem, Randonnées, won the Gwendolyn MacEwen Award for Best Suite of Poems by an Emerging Poet, and was a finalist for the CBC literary award.

The Burnaby Writers' Society will host a critiquing workshop at the gallery prior to the readings (6:15 – 7:45 p.m.). Feel free to attend one or both portions of these events.

Spoken INK is a reading series presented by the Burnaby Writers' Society on the third Tuesday of each month (except July and August). For more information, contact bwscafe@gmail.com

The winning entries!

We're delighted to announce the winners of our 2019 writing contest:  "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Lessons from Mom and Dad"

First Prize: "Things My Mother Wanted Me to Know" by Chelsea Comeau

Second Prize -" The Last Dance" by Cheryl Andrichuk

Third Prize: " Selling the Pinto" by Franci Louann

The winning writers received their prizes and read their work at our Awards Night evening, Tuesday, March 19 at the Burnaby Arts Council's Deer Lake Gallery.

Our Spoken Readers February 19

Cancelled tonight because of the weather conditions. Will be rescheduled.

Tuesday February 19, 2019 @ 8:00 p.m. The Burnaby Arts Council's Deer Lake Gallery 6584 Deer Lake Avenue  

Isabella Wang  & Natalie Lim 

Isabella Wang’s debut poetry chapbook is forthcoming with Baseline Press in 2019. At 18, she is a two time finalist and the youngest writer shortlisted for The New Quarterly’s Edna Stable Essay Contest. Her poetry has appeared in Room Magazine, The /tEmz/ Review, Train Journal, Canthius, Plenitude, and Looseleaf Magazine, and she holds a Pushcart Prize nomination for poetry. Her essays are published in carte blanche, Invisible Blog, and The New Quarterly. She studies English and World Literature at SFU, and serves as the Youth Advocate for the Federation of B.C. Writers. As well, she is working with Books on the Radio, coordinating the bi-monthly Dead Poets Reading Series, and interning at Room Magazine.

Natalie Lim is a writer, occasional musician, and soon-to-be-graduate of Simon Fraser University with a double major in English and Communication. She recently won the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize for her first published work, "Arrhythmia," a poem that explores her experiences as a third-generation Chinese Canadian. When she's not writing, you can find Natalie nerding out over a game of D and D, attempting to cover musical theatre songs, or playing with her puppy, Luna. More than anything, she loves stories - whether told through a book, podcast, or video game - and she hopes to keep telling them for the rest of her life.

The Burnaby Writers' Society will host a critiquing workshop at the gallery prior to the readings (6:15 – 7:45 p.m.). Feel free to attend one or both portions of these events.

Spoken INK is a reading series presented by the Burnaby Writers' Society on the third Tuesday of each month (except July and August). For more information, visit: www.BurnabyWritersNews.blogspot.com or contact bwscafe@gmail.com

March 8 to 17 2019

festival.roommagazine.com

Our January 2019 Spoken INK readers

For the first of our 2019 reading series, Spoken INK welcomes authors Cynthia Sharp and Sharon McInnes. Readings begin at 8:00 p.m. at the Burnaby Art Council's Deer Lake Gallery, 6584 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby. The Burnaby Writers' Society will host a critiquing workshop at the gallery prior to the readings (6:15 – 7:45 p.m.) and, as always, there will be Open Mic opportunities following the featured readings.


Cynthia Sharp is the author of Rainforest in Russet and The Light Bearers in the Sand Dollar Graviton. Her work has been published and broadcast internationally in journals such as CV2, Lantern Magazine and untethered, among others, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net Anthology. She is a full member of The League of Canadian Poets and the Greater Vancouver Regional Rep for The Federation of BC Writers. When not writing, she loves walking in nature.

 

Sharon McInnes is the author of Up Close & Personal: Confessions of a Backyard Birder, a compilation of columns written for The Flying Shingle when she lived on Gabriola Island from 2007 to 2018. She’s been a guest author for Bird Canada for 6 years and has had articles and essays published in various magazines and newspapers. Her personal essay, "The Formative Years", was included in Writing the West Coast: Artful Identities, by Key Publishing House in 2012. Across a Narrow Strait, Sharon’s first novel, was released in October 2018.