Month: October 2023

Peter Paylor

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Peter Paylor is fast becoming one of Eastern Ontario’s favourite playwrights. His plays are heartfelt and hilarious, engaging audiences by placing likeable characters in the most unlikely situations. Peter is President and Artistic Director of River & Main Theatre Company at Theatre in The Wings in Belleville.

His own plays have been greeted with acclaim by critics and his audience.

 “I laughed more at this play (Christmas in Rosewood) than I have ever laughed at any play I’ve read before. And I’m surprised to be saying that because I’m a tough audience.” – Norm Foster, playwright.

“Paylor is breaking ground in the way he writes parts for older women, giving them voice and space in a world that often renders older women invisible. What’s more, these female characters embody a kind of irreverence, flipping social conventions…he wants to challenge our expectations of what ‘old’ looks like. And he does just that, carefully, cleverly, and always with warmth and humour.” – Lisa Guthro, The Intelligencer

Carol Finlay

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This week we welcome Rev. Dr. Carol Finlay, M.S.M, O.Ont., the Founder of Book Clubs for Inmates (www.bookclubsforinmates.com), a registered charity in Canada. Dr. Finlay received her BA from Trinity College in 1965; her M. Div. in 1990 from Wycliffe College, University of Toronto; and was ordained for The Anglican Church of Canada in 1992. During summers on Amherst Island near Kingston, Ontario, she sensed a call to work in one of the many penitentiaries in the Kingston area. She started the first book club for inmates in Collins Bay Institution in 2008. As of 2023, Book Clubs for Inmates (BCFI), a registered charity, runs more than 36 book clubs (although this number has fluctuated since the pandemic) in federal institutions across Canada with more than 120 volunteers. Dr. Finlay has been recognized for her work with an Order of Ontario, Meritorious Service Medal, and honorary doctorates from Trinity College, University of Toronto and St. Thomas University, in New Brunswick. Please join us.

Janice Barrett

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This week we welcome Janice Barrett to WORD ON THE HILLS. Janice is a mother of three. Her children are her proudest accomplishments. She is a journalist, playwright, ghostwriter and now a novelist. Her debut novel, Authorized Cruelty was released this month by Blue Denim Press She has also written a memoir and gives workshops on memoir writing. She is a member of the Canadian Authors Association. Please join us!

Shane Joseph

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This week meet Shane Joseph. Shane is a Canadian novelist, blogger, reviewer, short story writer, and publisher at Blue Denim Press. He began writing as a teenager living in Sri Lanka and has never stopped. He is the author of seven novels and three collections of short stories. His short stories and articles have appeared in several Canadian anthologies and in literary journals around the world. His latest novel, Empire in the Sand, (2022) is a tale of pharmaceutical scandals, robocalls electioneering, and family breakdown. You can find out more about Shane at his website www.shanejoseph.com

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Simon Constam

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Meet Simon Constam! Simon is a Toronto poet and aphorist. Since late 2018, Simon has been publishing, under the moniker Daily Ferocity, an original aphorism every day on Instagram and for an email subscriber base. His first book, BROUGHT DOWN, was published in 2022 to considerable acclaim. His second book, DOMESTIC RECUSALS will be published in early 2024. Simon and his wife, Janice Waugh, live in the Beach where they operate Solo Traveler, www.solotravelerworld.com. Simon and Janice have 8 children and 11 grandchildren. Simon was born in Toronto, but lived for 15 years in Abbotsford, British Columbia where he owned and operated a bookstore. He is a member of The Cobourg Poetry Workshop and has often read at their Third Thursday Readings.

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