Word UP – Thursday April 9, 2015

Word Up takes place Thursday April 9, 2015 from 7 pm at Unity Market Cafe & Studios. The readers are the award-winning poet and short story writer, Dr. Shane Neilson, and local writer Mark Jacquemain.

MJ, aka Mark Jacquemain, is a graduate of the Creative Writing Master’s program at the University of New Brunswick. His short fiction has been published in QWERTY and Prism International and this year will appear in The Fiddlehead Summer Fiction issue and Oberon’s Coming Attractions, an anthology of top young writers.

More info to follow!
Don’t forget to bring your own work to share.
We’d love to see a few of you bring your music instruments and show us what you’ve got.

Dead Poets Night – Oct. 9, 2014

Unity Market Cafe & Studios plays host to a Dead Poets evening on Oct. 9, 2014 from 7 – 9 pm. Organized by Word UP, this free event offers anyone the chance to read the work of their favourite departed poets. Celebrate the Halloween season by sharing the words of the dead.

Unity Market Cafe & Studios is located at 25 Toronto Street, Barrie, Ontario L4N 1T8. Food and beverages are available for purchase.

Word UP! Culture Days Event – Friday September 26, 2014

On Friday September 26, 2014 Unity Market Cafe & Studious plays host to a Word UP! Event for Barrie’s Culture Days. The event starts at 7:30 pm and features author readings in the first half and an open mic in the second half. From Word Up’s Facebook page:

Four local authors will be reading their work.
Deepam Wadds’, whose short stories and poetry have appeared in various literary journals and anthologies.

Esther Griffin teaches English Literature and Creative Writing at Georgian College in Barrie and works on the Poetry Editorial Board for PRISM International. Esther’s work has appeared in Geist Magazine’s Memories of Vancouver festival and The League of Canadian Poets’ 2013 celebration of National Poetry Month, as well as various anthologies.

Linda Laforge, science fiction author and visual artist will read from her novel.

PLUS! A surprise guest, to be announced!

Writers, authors, poets, spoken word performers, rappers, comedians, motivational speakers and anyone who loves the magic of language is welcome to join.

Visit the event’s Facebook page for more info.

New Reading Series – Word UP! June 19, 2014

Since the demise of the Society of the Spoken Word, a number of local writers and poets – including some BWC members – have gotten together and are organizing a new reading series called Word UP! The first event will be held on Thursday June 19, 2014 from 7-9 pm @ Unity Market Cafe & Studio, located at 25 Toronto Street, Barrie.

 

Here’s a list of the poets and authors taking part. If you’d like to share your work you can take part in the readings, bring copies of your work to sell, or both.

 

Here’s a list of the people reading so far:

Deepam Wadds is a therapist and short story writer from Orillia.

Linda Laforge is a Barrie artist and novelist and founder of Word Up.

Jeremy Johnston is author of two chapbooks, a recent graduate of Laurentian in Barrie, and will be attending the University of Windsor’s MA program in September.

Aaron Reynolds is a Barrie author of short fiction and a contributing editor to PIE magazine. He’s also one of the organizers of Word Up.

Elizabeth Morley is a retired Anglican Church minister and is currently producing her first poetry chapbook.

Shane Dennis is a leader in non-profit social projects in Barrie, a musician, and a performance poet. He is also the owner of Unity Cafe.

James Tanner teaches at Georgian College and is a short story writer and a hockey blogger who has published in Sports Illustrated.

James Gray is a recent graduate of the Laurentian Barrie program and is a science fiction/fantasy writer who has studied his craft in England with major fantasy authors.

Glenn Weatherall is a familiar face on both the Barrie literary scene and at the Barrie farmer’s market. He is a farmer and inventor.

Damian Lopes is author of numerous books of poetry from Coach House Press and is currently completing a novel.

Bruce Meyer, the MC for the evening, is the Poet Laureate of the City of Barrie and author of 40 published books.

For more info, visit the Word UP! Facebook Page. Word UP!