Renee Sgroi

This week our guest is Renee Sgroi. Renee was born and raised in Toronto. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and her poetry has been published in numerous Canadian journals and anthologies. A member of the League of Canadian Poets, The Writers Union of Canada, an executive member of the Canadian Authors Association (Toronto branch), as well as a contributing editor for Arc Poetry, Renée’s poems have been published in The Windsor Review, the /tƐmz/ review and The Prairie Journal among others. She recently won 2nd prize in the Carmen Ziolkowski Poetry Prize and continues to make long and short lists worldwide including that for the Fish Poetry Prize. In 2019, her unpublished novel was shortlisted for Canada’s Guernica Prize. She recently read at an Ontario Poetry Society event held in Cobourg. She lives in the GTA with her husband and children.

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Sharon Ramsay Curtis

This week we talk to Sharon Ramsay Curtis. She has always described her artistic interests as a “mixed bag” sampling many types of activities and learning a great deal in the process. After many years of struggling with this she has made peace with the concept and is enjoying the journey. She has successfully combined her skills as a visual artist and as writer in the production of two picture books and is now transforming them into a new format. Please join us.

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Katie Hoogendam

Join us as we welcome Katie Hoogendam. MERKAT (Meredith Katherine Hoogendam) is a poet, writer and interdisciplinary artist; other incarnations include high school teacher and local community radio host and producer (currently Nightfall with Merkat, for 89.7). Folklore, feminism, archetype and the natural world inform her work. Her writing and images appear in publications across the U.S. and Canada, including Room Magazine, Geez Magazine, Mutha and catapult, among others. Her play, Plan X, debuted at the 2019 Northumberland Festival of the Arts. Spring Thaw, her third collection of poetry, dropped spring 2022 from Glentula Press. She is currently at work on her fourth collection of poetry, entitled Materials at Hand. Find her on Instagram @merkatart.

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Artists’ Retreats in Haliburton and Prince Edward County

This week is a repeat broadcast of a programme about local artists’ retreats in Haliburton and Prince Edward County. Administrators, Ruth Walker and Jean Baird and a 2022 resident, sophie anne edwards talk about the opportunities for writers at these special places. Please Note that the Hall’s Island retreat has extended the time for applications to January 31st this year.

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Ted Staunton

This week is an encore episode from last summer, featuring Ted Staunton. Ted is the author of over 40 books; he writes everything from YA and mid-grade novels (including titles in the popular SEVEN series) to Hi-Los, non-fiction, early chapter books, and of course picture books. His YA novel Who I’m Not won the 2014 CCBC John Spray Mystery Award. Ted’s work has also been nominated for Silver Birch, Red Maple, Hackmatack, Arthur Ellis, and BC Stellar awards, and many of his books are on CCBC Our Choice lists. Trained as a teacher, Ted is a speaker, performer, and workshop leader in schools, libraries and venues across Canada. As well, he teaches the Writing Children’s Fiction courses at George Brown College. He has also travelled to Ethiopia several times to work with English language writers and editors there. When he’s not writing, Ted plays in the MAPLE LEAF CHAMPIONS JUG BAND. Ted and his family live in Port Hope, Ontario.

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Holiday Programme 3

Join us for our final holiday show for this year and listen to readings by Donna Wootton, Antony Di Nardo, Sharon Ramsay Curtis, Gwynn Scheltema and John Unruh. We all wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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