Month: May 2025

Celia McBride

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This week we welcome Celia McBride.

Celia is a writer and spiritual director from the Yukon now living in Port Hope. After graduating from the Playwriting Program at the National Theatre School of Canada in 1995, she spent the next 20 years writing, directing, producing and performing in theatre and film projects both nationally and internationally. Highlights include making “Last Stop for Miles”, a feature film; co-running Sour Brides Theatre, which toured her play “So Many Doors” (Playwrights Canada Press) across Canada; being commissioned and produced by the Stratford Festival of Canada; writing and directing the Yukon’s Victory Ceremonies show for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics; and publishing a spiritual memoir called “O My God: An Un-Becoming Journey” in 2022. In 2024, Celia was part of the Creator’s Unit at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope, and her new play Lessons from Providence, was workshopped and read by professional actors as part of the Capitol’s season last year. Celia is currently seeking a publisher for her first novel, “The Yum-Yum Verse about Chinese food, dysfunctional relationships and the multiverse. Please visit her website celiamcbride.com for more.

Sharon Ramsay Curtis

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This is an encore presentation of interviews and readings we made with Sharon Ramsay Curtis in 2023. 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.

Bänoo Zan

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This week, May 18th, we welcome Bänoo Zan winner of this year’s Freedom to Read Award given by The Writers’ Union of Canada. Bänoo Zan is a poet, translator, essayist, and poetry curator, who has published over 300 poems and three books. Songs of Exile, shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Letters to My Father was published in 2017. She is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night), often described as ‘Canada’s most diverse and brave poetry reading and open mic series. Shab-e She’r bridges the gap between communities of poets from different ethnicities, nationalities, religions (or lack thereof), ages, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, poetic styles, voices, and visions. Bänoo calls herself a war correspondent in verse. The anthology Woman Life Freedom which she edited and curated with Cy Strom was published a few weeks ago.

April Potter

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This weekend, we welcome April Potter to Word on the Hills. April is a local poet, freelance writer, and artist in Port Hope. She graduated from York University with a literature degree and also studied philosophy. She has built a freelance copywriting and marketing business, Potter Creative, since moving to Northumberland County in 2014. Her poetry is published under the name Estlin Edwards. She has writ ten for 102.1 The Edge in Toronto, Sunwing Travel, Kawartha Now, and more. Her first book of poetry will be out this year. You can find her art and postcards for sale at Purpose Thrift Shop in downtown Port Hope. She also writes local business features and theatre reviews at Featured in Northumberland, on Instagram and Facebook.

Antony Di Nardo

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Antony Di Nardo has written nine books of poetry. His award-winning work appears widely in journals and anthologies across Canada and internationally and  has been translated into several languages. His long poem suite May June July was winner of the Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Prize for 2017 and was short-listed for a National Magazine Award. He is an active member of the League of Canadian Poets and the Cobourg Poetry Workshop.  The winner of the inaugural Don Gutteridge Poetry Award, Through Yonder Window Breaks was published by Wet Ink Books. Antony’s present project is his collection Cloudspotting which he will present with his insights into the work of Antonio Damasio at the Accenti Festival of the Arts hosted by the University of PEI in Charlottetown this coming June.