This week we welcome Marie-Lynn Hammond for a return visit to Word on the Hills to celebrate Poetry Month and to share some of the poems she has written in the past year. Marie-Lynn Hammond is a bilingual singer-songwriter, playwright, editor, writer, and occasional poet who happily moved to Cobourg six years ago. A founding member of Stringband, one of Canada’s seminal folk groups, she’s known for her original songs, which often tell uniquely Canadian stories. A passionate animal advocate, she can frequently be found rescuing cats.

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This Sunday we welcome poet Allan Briesmaster to our first show celebrating Poetry Month 2021. Allan Briesmaster is a freelance editor and publisher who has been active in the Toronto-area literary scene for many years. He was a founding partner in Quattro Books and currently runs his own small press, Aeolus House. He is the author of eight full-length books of poetry, most recently The Long Bond: Selected and New Poems (Guernica Editions, 2019), and nine shorter books. His next book, Windfor, is forthcoming this year from Ekstasis Editions. Alla.n has read his work, given talks, and hosted readings and book launches across Canada and frequently in Cobourg.

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This Sunday we are rebroadcasting a show we made recently with prolific author and musician Ted Staunton. Ted’s words and music have entertained audiences of all ages for many years. You’ve heard him at the Port Hope Jazz Fest, Cultivate, at the Port Hope Capitol, and venues across Canada. His books are published around the world and he has two new ones to share right now from Scholastic Canada: Friends for Real, a picture book and It Seemed Like a Good Idea…Canadian Feats, Facts, and Flubs, for ages 9-90, written with his son Will. Catch their music video about it on uTube.

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This week we interview journalist and prolific author, Ted Barris. Since deciding in grade school, that he wanted to be a writer, he has had a stellar career as a journalist in every kind of media and has written produced and directed numerous award winning documentaries. While teaching at Centennial College he established his reputation as a highly respected military historian and as an author of 20 bestselling books, his latest being Rush to Danger published in 2019

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Word on the Hills welcomes back our three guests from last week, local librarians Mary Norton, Brianne Parr and Patrick Muldoon. They had so much to tell us about the challenges, adaptations and innovations they have overcome and initiated in the past year that we couldn’t fit everything into one programme! Join us to hear more about what libraries contribute to our lives these days and what books and services have been most popular with readers in 2020-2021.

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Today we welcome three local librarians to discuss the challenges they’ve faced in 2020-21. Mary Norton holds an MSc from the University of London, UK, and has worked in Europe, Africa and the Middle East in a past life. Mary joined Cramahe Township Public Library in 2010 as her first and only job in Canada. She has won many government grants over these years and has overseen many changes at the branches in both Colborne and Castleton. Determined to make the libraries central to the life of the township, she has introduced a variety of new programmes for library users and expanded the services offered by the library. Brianne Parr is the Children’s Librarian/Assistant CEO at the Campbellford Branch Library. The Library has always been an essential part of her life; she had a membership at the age of 2, and began volunteering at the Library at the age of 9. and now she shares her love of reading with her young son. Patrick Muldoon is the Branch Supervisor at the Warkworth Library. He had a 27 year career as an educator, working in local schools and now devotes his time to working at the library and enjoying life in the country and on Lake Ontario. He has a degree in English Literature from Trent University.

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Today we are re-running an interesting show we made last year with Cynthia Reyes, author of  three memoirs and the very successful series of children’s books about Myrtle the Purple Turtle that she writes with her daughter, Lauren. Cynthia has won many awards for her work in television and the community and has been inducted into the Order of Jamaica, Commander level, for her international impact on journalism. We also welcomed Hamlin Grange who provided the beautiful photographs for Cynthia’s third memoir Twigs in my Hair and has had an outstanding career as a journalist with several national newspapers and for many years at the CBC. His many awards include the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for community service and the Visionary Award from the Reel World Film Festival for his work in helping to change Canada’s media landscape. But in his spare time, you may find him wandering through his and Cynthia’s garden, or a forest, walking slowly along a country road, camera in hand, ready to shoot an interesting picture.

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Meet Michael Croucher who served on the Metropolitan Toronto Police Department for 18 years, and was a member of The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit investigating organized crime. During his police career, he realized that some criminals study police tactics almost as much as the police do, and that has made for some good glue for his crime fiction. His career in law enforcement was followed by a long business career, mostly in the financial service industry. He has studied creative writing at York University, The University of Toronto, and Ryerson. He’s a double-award winning writer. He won the Toronto Writers and Editors Fiction Contest (2012). And a Joseph Smerdelj Short Story Award in 2020. Mike and his wife are retired in a small Ontario town. They have two married daughters, and five grandchildren.

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This week we talk with Carol Anne Judd. Carol Anne is a mother, poet, fine arts photographer, multi-faith minister, nurse, person with a disability, searching for truth and beauty. She has collected a number of degrees in her travels as well as a voracious appetite for poetry. She has published her poetry in various anthologies and other publications, including her first book of poetry, Sleeping Naked. She recently released her second book of poetry, Living Things. Please join us.

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Welcome once again to Word on the Hills! And to our eighth anniversary show. In 2013 Gwynn and I made a proposal to 89-7 FM to make 12 shows about writers, editors, publishers and readers in Northumberland and began recording them in the months of experimentation as the station was set up. By February 2014 we had learnt a lot from our tutors at the station, and were able to take over production of the show. As the months and years went by, we were happily surprised to find that there was no dearth of regional writers and others involved with editing and publishing who were interested in being our guests. So this Sunday, join me, Felicity Sidnell Reid, my two co-hosts Gwynn Scheltema and Chris Cameron and our guests this week, Erin Silver, Heather O’Connor, Marie Prins and Ted Staunton who have successfully launched new books amid the challenges of 2020. After the break Shane Joseph and Kim Aubrey will be here to discuss a new collaborative project to be published in March/April, 2021.

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