The Factory Reading Series : Tokar, Turnbull + Mannell, July 25, 2014;

with readings by:

Janice Tokar (Ottawa ON)
Chris Turnbull (Kemptville ON)
+ Julie Mannell (Montreal QC)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Friday, July 25, 2014;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

Janice Tokar’s [pictured] poetry has appeared in Arc Poetry Magazine, the Bywords Quarterly Journal, The Peter F. Yacht Club, ottawater and Experiment-O. Her first chapbook, Arrhythmia, was published by above/ground press in April, 2014. An earlier manuscript of  Arrhythmia placed second in the 2012 Tree Press Chapbook Contest.  Jason Heroux, the contest judge, commented: “Janice Tokar's spare, pulsing poems beat with the irregular rhythms of life, death, love and loss, searching for balance in a world where everything always seems slower or faster than it feels.” Originally from Manitoba, Janice resides and works in Ottawa.

Chris Turnbull lives in Kemptville, Ontario. In 2010, above/ground press published a chapbook of her visual and multi-performative piece, continua. Thuja Press published her chapbook Shingles in 2001. Her poetry has been published in The Volta, Ottawater, Convergences, How2, ditch, Dusie, Open Letter, Dandelion, and experiment-o (Angelhouse Press), among others. Occasionally, she has written poetry reviews and interviews, as well as the "On Writing" essay series at the ottawa poetry newsletter. Her sometimes small press mag, rout/e, has more recently become an ongoing footpress project involving placing poems on trails, including pieces from Monty Reid, George Bowering, rob mclennan, derek beaulieu, Amanda Earl, Pearl Pirie, Angela Rawlings (http://scalar.usc.edu/works/stroboscope-magazine/issue-1), Steven Ward, and Jamie Reid. The full-length "Continua" was recently accepted by Chaudiere Books for publication in 2015.

Julie Mannell, originally from the tiny village of Fonthill, Ontario, is a writer of fiction, poetry, and essays, and the founder of The McGill Creative Writing Society. She is currently a blogger for The Huffington Post and her work has been featured in The National Post, Matrix, SubTerrain, and Branch magazine, amongst others. Mannell is the recipient of The Lionel Shapiro Award for excellency in creative writing and the Mona Adilman Poetry Prize. Her work has garnered attention from celebrities like Roseanne Barr who gave her the "Vagenius Award". She currently works and writes in Montreal. Her forthcoming novel is tentatively titled "little girls".