This week we welcome Ken Morden. Ken has run and owned several businesses – printing company, marketing company, horse breeding farm and an online art gallery.
Four years ago, he took up writing, fulfilling a long term objective to write a historical fiction of his family. Since then, he has written four thrillers and is currently working on a fifth.
He resides in rural Port Hope with his wife, Caroline, and 2 dogs and is president of two community arts organizations, Friends of Music and Spirit of the Hills Arts Association.
D’Arcy Jenish and Samantha Clark
D’Arcy Jenish has written histories of the Stanley Cup, the Montreal Canadiens and the NHL, an acclaimed biography of David Thompson and an award-winning account of the 19th century Canadian West – from the perspective of four great Indigenous leaders— Piapot, Poundmaker, Big Bear and Crowfoot. His most recent: The Making of the October Crisis: Canada’s Long Nightmare of Terrorism at the Hands of the FLQ. His play The Tilco Strike was produced at 4th Line Theatre in July 2023 and his two short plays – Ray’s Big Day and The Last Time- were performed at the Port Hope Arts Festival in 2022and 2023 respectively. He will be back at Port Hope again this year with Tick Talk – a play set at the Peterborough Westclox factory in May 1969 which will also be [performed at Northumberland Festival of the Arts, NFOTA 2024
Samantha Clark grew up in the Northumberland arts community; dancing competitively, studying voice, and volunteering in all aspects of theatre production. She studied Drama and English at Queen’s University and completed a summer intensive inside The Shaw Festival’s 2017 season. Sam then earned a Graduate Degree in Arts Management specializing in marketing from Queen’s and her Bachelor of Education from Trent University. This September will be Sam’s second year running the Port Hope High School Drama Department. Sam recently appeared in the staged reading of Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson at the Peterborough Theatre Guild but she feels most at home in the world of Musical Theatre. She has performed leading roles in Guys and Dolls (Sister Sarah), White Christmas (Judy Hanes), Company (Joanne),and in Nunsense (Sister Mary Leo).
Shannon and Jakeb
Shannon and Jakeb are a folk-pop duo known for their dynamic vocal synergy and vibrant performance style. Characterized by percussive guitar and soaring harmonies, their songs are honest and vulnerable with a lighthearted spirit. Shannon Linton is a classically trained singer whose love of singing harmonies found its perfect match with multi-instrumentalist and vocal powerhouse Jakeb Daniel. They are both proud to call Cobourg, Ontario their home, and to be part of its flourishing music community. Shannon and Jakeb have played the Blue Skies Festival, Cultivate Launch, Hibernate and Cultivate Festival. They are looking forward to returning to the Cultivate stage this September, hosting and performing a show at the Northumberland Festival of the Arts, and performing at the Shelter Valley Concert Series in October. Follow @shannonandjakeb on Instagram and Facebook for news and show upcoming announcements.
Shane Joseph
WORD ON THE HILLS, Sundays at 1.00 pm, archived at wordonthehills.com
Shane Joseph is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers in Canada. He is the
author of eight novels and three collections of short stories. Shane’s second novel, After
the Flood, a dystopian novel of hope, released in 2009, won the Write Canada Award
for best novel in the futuristic/fantasy category. His short fiction and non-fiction have
appeared in literary journals and anthologies all over the world. His blog is widely
syndicated, he has a monthly column in The Sri Lankan Anchorman journal in Toronto
and is the Book Reviews Editor for Devour Art & Lit Canada magazine. His most recent
novel, Victoria Unveiled, will be released in September 2024. Shane is the owner and publisher of Blue Denim Press (www.bluedenimpress.com), a literary press he founded in 2011.
More details on Shane’s work, blog and book reviews can be found on his website
Fringe Fest episode 2: Dave Carley, Celia McBride and Dave Dines
Today, we are delighted to have a visit from Celia McBride, Dave Dines and Dave Carley, who are all playwrights and have written 10 minute plays which will be twice presented at Fringe Fest on September 14th as part of Northumberland Festival of the Arts. Dave Carley is a Canadian playwright. His plays for stage and radio have had close to 500 productions across Canada and the United States, and in many countries around the world. They include Writing with our Feet (nominated for the Governor General’s Award), The Last Liberal, The Edible Woman and, most recently, Twelve Hours, and Canadian Rajah. Celia McBride is a writer and spiritual director from the Yukon now living in Port Hope. She had a 20 year career as a playwright and theatre artist. Celia published a memoir called “O My God: An Un-Becoming Journey” in 2022. Her plays have been produced across Canada and she is still writing new ones. Dave Dines is the co-owner and manager of the Ganaraska Brewery in Port Hope built by and for local people. Growing this successful business has kept him very busy since its opening in 2021 but in his spare time he writes plays.
Gwynn Scheltema
After over 20 years of diversified experience in accounting, education, and administration GWYNN SCHELTEMA decided to stop counting beans and start counting words. Since then, Gwynn has been a columnist, magazine article writer, ghost writer and a fiction editor for Lichen Arts & Letters Preview literary journal. Her award-winning fiction and poetry have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies and, Ten of Diamonds was published in 2021 by Glentula Press. Her latest poetry collection Everchild was published by Aeolus House in 2023. Gwynn co-hosts and co-produces Word on the Hills radio series on Northumberland 89.7FM and writes, edits, coaches and teaches creative writing. At present however her focus is on the preparations for NFOTA24 which she leads. This year the festival will take place in September again and Gwynn is here to tell us all about it.
Sher Leetooze
Join us for an encore presentation of interviews with Sher Leetooze we made last year. Sher wanted to write all through school, and to that end submitted material to the annual High School Year Book. In 1994 she published her first local history book and it was an instant success. Sher went on to publish the history of all the other townships in the former county where she lives. From this sprang other books, WW1 Nursing Sisters, Clarington’s Home Children, and a History of the Churches of Old Durham. In between these she wrote a trilogy following the people known as Bible Christians from England to their new homes in Canada. Sher then went on to compile genealogy source books, gardening books, wild plant books and a couple of cook books. Her latest endeavour has been in the world of fiction – a book of short stories, a novella, The Queen’s Pawn and a novel just about ready to go to the printer called Finding Sean McRory.
Felicity Sidnell Reid
Meet Felicity Sidnell Reid. While Felicity taught high school English, History, ESL and Drama for the TDSB, she also wrote poetry and short stories, two mystery novels with a friend, designed costumes for university, school and amateur dramatic societies and directed school plays. She is the author of ESL is Everybody’s Business (with Frances Parkin) and a series of textbooks for language learners. Her books include: Alone: A Winter in the Woods (Hidden Brook Press, 2015, e-book in 2020), The Yellow Magnolia (Glentula Press 2021)and The Many Faces (Aeolus House, 2022 e-book 2023). Her poetry, short fiction and memoir have been published in anthologies, journals and collections. She is the co-producer and cohost of Word on the Hills in which the hosts interview area writers and invite them to read from their work. This programme has been running on Northumberland 89.7 FM for eleven years. She is presently secretary of the Board of Directors for Northumberland Festival of the Arts, 2024.
Allan Briesmaster
Our guest this week is Allan Briesmaster. He is a poet, freelance editor and publisher who’s been active on the Toronto-area literary scene for many years. He has been a workshop leader and reading series organizer and was a partner in Quattro Books in 2006-2017. He currently operates his own small, independent press, Aeolus House, specializing in custom-designed, limited-edition books of poetry.
The most recent of Allan’s nine poetry collections are The Long Bond: Selected and New Poems, from Guernica Editions in 2019, and Windfor, from Ekstasis Editions in 2021. His new book Later Findings has just been released. He has read his poetry, given talks, been on panels, and hosted events at venues from Victoria to St. John’s. He is a Life Member of The League of Canadian Poets and of The Ontario Poetry Society.
Donna Wootton
This week we talk with Donna Wootton about her new novel, The Age of Privilege. Donna is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers. She is a member of TWUC (The Writers Union of Canada), PEN International, and SOTH (Spirit of the Hills – Northumberland). Her book about her late father, who was a charter inductee in Canada’s Lacrosse Hall of Fame, is called MOON REMEMBERED. It was published in 2009 and is archived in Trent University’s Library. Most recently her poetry was published in The Divinity of Blue (a collection from CCLA-Canada Cuba Literary Alliance), The Beauty of Being Elsewhere (a travel anthology), and Musings from the Heliconian Club. Her novels include Leaving Paradise (2008), What Maisie Missed (2018) and Isadora’s Dance(2021). Now her new novel is being released by AOS Press.
Word on the Hills Radio Program 