Melissa Thorne (she/her) lives on the traditional and treaty territory of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations (Cobourg, ON), with her husband, two sons, and Irish Wolfhound, Walter. She reluctantly serves as Walter’s social media manager after he inadvertently went “viral” online. Melissa was recently featured in The League of Canadian Poets’ Fresh Voices series. She is the author of two chapbooks, Augury, and What do we do with all this being? forthcoming in the spring and fall of 2026. Her poetry is also published/ forthcoming in ROOM magazine, The Fiddlehead, Pinhole Poetry and WEI Magazine. Follow her on Instagram @melissa_thorne_poetry
Antony Di Nardo
This week’s guest is Antony Di Nardo. The programme is an encore presentation from 2025. Antony Di Nardo has written nine books of poetry. His award-winning work appears widely in journals and anthologies across Canada and internationally, also 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 presented with his insights into the work of Antonio Damasio at the Accenti Festival of the Arts hosted by the University of PEI in Charlottetown last June.
April Potter
April Potter 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 written 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.
Dave Vaughan
WORD ON THE HILLS; wordonthehills.com
Dave Vaughan is an author who made a sharp left turn from a long career in transportation into the far less predictable world of fiction and film. These days, the only passengers he deals with are imaginary, loud, and terrible at following directions. He studied writing at George Brown College and went on to write the screenplay for Hokum, which won “Best Thriller Film” at the 2010 New York International Film & Video Festival, and the feature Advocate. His first novel, Ballet of Deception, brought his love of tension and character to the page, followed by the short story Unscheduled Departure, featured in the Hills Spirits VI anthology. His latest novel, Killing Them Again, is a darkly satirical psychological thriller and winner of the first-ever AI-judged fiction contest from MyPoolitzer, Quantifiction, and Blue Denim Press. Dave lives in Cobourg and is currently at work on his next novel.
Jody Glover
Our guest this week is Jody Glover. Jody worked in technology for nearly 30 years and began a second career as a filmmaker in 2019. Educated as a pianist at the University of Western Ontario and certified as a high school music and mathematics teacher at the University of Toronto, her work has always focused on helping others—first customers adopting new technology, and now students learning history and coping with difficult times. Her mission with the docudrama HIDDEN – The Kati Preston Story is to help Hungarian Holocaust survivor Kati Preston share her story with the public, especially young people. Kati recounts what happened to her and her family during and after World War II, and how she overcame adversity without becoming a victim of circumstance. The film offers hope to students in an era of uncertainty driven by challenges such as democracy, AI, and climate change. HIDDEN is currently screening at festivals and has won eight awards, including the Mass Impact Award at the Boston Film Festival and Best Documentary Feature at the Canadian International Film Festival in Toronto.
Mary Worwood
Mary Worwood is the pseudonym for Canadian author, Mary Louise Dumka. Her writing career began as a part time journalist for a string of community newspapers. (From 2003 to 2007). And she is currently employed by the Trent Hills Public Library. Mary formed the Trent Hills Public Library Writers Group in 2015 and continues to facilitate the group. She has taken writing courses at Trent University and Loyalist College. She credits her instructor, speculative author Ursula Pflug, for recognizing and nurturing her latent talent as an author. Her post-secondary education included: theatre arts, and art history at the University of Victoria, until she was accepted into Langara College’s Studio 58 Theatre Arts Program in Vancouver. She is an avid photographer and enjoys reading, gardening, cross-country skiing, boating and when she can afford it travelling. She lives on a lake in Northumberland County with her husband, artist Jim Dumka and two cats. Her current work Overtime is her first novel.
Ursula Pflug
Her short fiction has won small press awards in the US and been a finalist for national contests and awards at home in Canada including the ReLit, Descant Novella, Aurora and others. She is a Pushcart nominee and her short fiction has been taught at universities in Canada and India. She is also an editor, writing coach and creative writing instructor. Ursula was born in Tunisia and grew up in Toronto. English is her second language, German her first. She is neurodiverse, and an obsessive gardener at her hundred-and fifty-year-old house on a river in eastern Ontario. More here: https://ursulapflug.ca
Ted Amsden
This week our guest is Ted Amsden. Ted went to university in Toronto graduating with an Honours BA in English Literature from Glendon College in 1972. During the early 80’s he became a writer for Gloucester Group at Maclaren Advertising producing TV, radio newspaper advertisements. But then he moved to Mexico with his wife Cynthia. For five years in San Miguel de Allende they ran a boutique manufacturing company, Ay Chihuahua, an aerobics studio called El Sweat. and at night in their kitchen Ted taught himself how to develop film and print photos. On returning to Canada with their two-year-old daughter, they settled in Cobourg enjoying small town life. Ted found a position at the Cobourg Star and for over 20 years covered all kind of events as a photo-journalist. In 2011, Ted became Cobourg’s 3rd poet Laureate and in 2012 he sat down to begin a new career as a novelist.
Shannon Linton
Shannon Linton is an indie songwriter with a powerful voice and stories to tell.
After narrowly avoiding a career in opera, she began performing and recording her own songs inspired by artists like Ani Difranco, Sarah Harmer and Carsie Blanton who aren’t afraid to speak the truth.
Shannon’s debut EP, In Spite of Everything, was released in 2022. She has played the Blue Skies Festival, Cultivate Festival, Hibernate Festival, and has opened for artists such as the Lemon Bucket Orkestra and the Angelique Francis Band. Her song At the End of the World has been played on CBC radio.
Shannon writes a weekly newsletter, Joy Just Because, and is passionate about building her local artistic community and championing young artists. You can listen to her music on Bandcamp or wherever you stream music.
Terry Fallis
This week’s episode is an encore presentation of an episode we made with Terry Fallis, in which we interviewed Terry and he reads from his tenth, and most recent novel, The Marionette.
Word on the Hills Radio Program 