The Factory Reading Series, September 28, 2025: O'Reilly, Lithgow + Ladouceur,

The Factory Reading Series Presents:
readings by:

Nathanael O'Reilly (Texas)
Michael Lithgow (Ottawa)
+
Ben Ladouceur (Ottawa)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Doors 7pm / Reading 7:30pm
Avant-Garde Bar, 135 Besserer Street, Ottawa

Nathanael O’Reilly’s [pictured] fourteen poetry collections include Separation Blues: Poems 1994-2024 (Flying Islands Books, 2024), Dublin Wandering (Recent Work Press, 2024), Landmarks (Lamar University Literary Press, 2024), Selected Poems of Ned Kelly (Downingfield Press, 2024) and Boulevard (Downingfield Press, 2024), as well as three chapbooks with above/ground press. His work appears in journals and anthologies published in fifteen countries, including Cordite, The Honest Ulsterman, Meanjin, New World Writing Quarterly, Rabbit, Southword, Trasna and Westerly. He is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at The University of Texas at Arlington.

Michael Lithgow’s poetry, fiction and academic writing have appeared in various Canadian and international journals including TNQ, the Literary Review of Canada (LRC), Topia, The /Temz/ Review, Canadian Literature, Existere, The Antigonish Review, Journal of Aesthetics and Culture, ARC and Fiddlehead. He has authored two collections of poetry Waking in the Tree House (Cormorant Books, 2012) and Who We Thought We Were As We Fell (Cormorant Books, 2021). His short story ‘The Taxidermy Lesson’ was recently published in The Brussels Review. He teaches at Athabasca University.

Ben Ladouceur has received the Thomas Morton for Fiction, the National Magazine Award (Gold) for Poetry, the Archibald Lampman Award, the Writers’ Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize, the Gerald Lampert Memorial Prize, the Earle Birney Prize, and a writer’s residency at the Al Purdy A-Frame. He is the author of the novel I Remember Lights (2025), the poetry collections Otter (2015) and Mad Long Emotion (2019), and ten chapbooks, including the above/ground press titles Lime Kiln Quay Road (2011; second printing, 2014) which was nominated for the bpNichol Chapbook Award, and The Last Man (2025), produced as part of his upcoming tenure as University of Ottawa’s new writer-in-residence. He lives in Ottawa.

The Factory Reading Series pre-small press book fair reading: Simpson, Blaikie, McPherson + Lithgow,

span-o (the small press action network - ottawa) presents:

The Factory Reading Series
pre-small press book fair reading

with readings/launches by:

Rachael Simpson (Ottawa)
David Blaikie (Ottawa)
Christian McPherson (Ottawa)
+ Michael Lithgow (Gatineau)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Friday, November 16, 2012;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

Rachael Simpson’s chapbook Eiderdown (Apt 9 Press) will appear in Fall 2012. She lives in Ottawa.

David Blaikie grew up in rural Nova Scotia and spent more than four decades years in journalism and communications, including 18 years as a Parliamentary Press Gallery reporter with The Canadian Press, The Toronto Star and Reuters. Returning to poetry in recent years, he won the inaugural Tree Reading Series chapbook contest in 2011 for his entry, Farewell to Coney Island, which appeared with Tree Press in 2012. He lives in Ottawa.

Christian McPherson was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1970. He is the author of six books, Cube Squared (coming from Nightwood 2013-14), My Life in Pictures (Spring 2013 from Now or Never Publishing), The Sun Has Forgotten Where I Live, The Cube People (shortlisted for the 2011 ReLit Awards), Poems that swim from my brain like rats leaving a sinking ship (longlisted for the 2009 ReLit Awards), and Six Ways to Sunday (shortlisted for the 2008 ReLit Awards). He has a degree in philosophy from Carleton University and a computer programming diploma from Algonquin College. He is married to the beautiful Marty Carr. They have two kids, Molly and Henry. They all live together in Ottawa.

Michael Lithgow [pictured] is a PhD candidate in the School of Journalism and Communication. His poetry has appeared in Arc Magazine, The New Quarterly and Fiddlehead. Selections of his work have been included in Rutting Season (Buffalo Runs Press, 2009) and Undercurrents: New Voices in Canadian Poetry (Cormorant Books, 2010). His first solo collection, Waking in the Tree House, was published in Spring 2012 by Cormorant Books. He is currently a contributing editor at ArtThreat.net, research associate with the Canadian Alternative Media Archive project, and director of OpenMedia.ca. His doctoral research explores aesthetics, truth and dissent in digital and performance cultures.

The Factory Reading Series pre-small press book fair, June 29: Saikaley, Dunn, Wigmore + Lithgow

span-o (the small press action network - ottawa) presents:

The Factory Reading Series
pre-small press book fair reading

with readings/launches by:

Sonia Saikaley (Ottawa)
Victoria Dunn (Ottawa)
Gillian Wigmore (Prince George)
+ Michael Lithgow (Ottawa)

lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Friday, June 29, 2012;
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm
The Carleton Tavern,
223 Armstrong Street (at Parkdale; upstairs)

Sonia Saikaley was born and raised in Ottawa. She grew up in a traditional Lebanese household and much of her writing is influenced by her rich Middle Eastern heritage. She has taught English in Japan. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Still Point Arts Quarterly, Things Japanese: A Collection of Short Stories, Maple Tree Literary Supplement, and the anthology Lavandería - A Mixed Load of Women, Wash, and Word. She is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers and the University of Ottawa. Her first book, The Lebanese Dishwasher (Quattro Books, 2012), was co-winner of the 2012 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest. Her poetry collection Turkish Delight, Montreal Winter (TSAR Publications) will be published in the fall 2012.

When Victoria Dunn, author of Alice Hearts Welsh Zombies, is not busy writing, she's the ultimate Bond girl, intelligent, accomplished and stunningly beautiful. Men of action fall helpless at her feet every day. She doesn't just blow smoke off her pistol—she blows smoke rings. In a parallel universe, Victoria Dunn is the evil hive mind of Victoria Higgins and Meghan Dunn. Victoria has waged a life-long battle against depression and is a recovering perfectionist who performs with Stand Up for Mental Health (www.standupformentalhealth.com/). She currently works at the local independent bookstore, because what else can you do with a degree in Religion, Sociology and Anthropology? Meghan spent several years with the Canadian Army Reserve before putting down her rifle to study Classical History. She hated selling frozen yogurt, loved working at a comic book store, and has never met a handcraft she doesn't adore. Meghan is happily married, and the mother of two teenagers who are very impressed by her expertise in zombiology.

Dirt of Ages is Gillian Wigmore’s second book.  Her first, soft geography, won the 2008 Relit award.  Her work has been published in magazines, short listed for prizes, and anthologized.  She lives in Prince George, BC.

Michael Lithgow is a PhD candidate in the School of Journalism and Communication. His poetry has appeared in Arc Magazine, The New Quarterly and Fiddlehead. Selections of his work have been included in Rutting Season (Buffalo Runs Press, 2009) and Undercurrents: New Voices in Canadian Poetry (Cormorant Books, 2010).  His first solo collection, Waking in the Tree House, was published in Spring 2012 by Cormorant Books. He is currently a contributing editor at www.ArtThreat.net, research associate with the Canadian Alternative Media Archive project, and director of www.OpenMedia.ca.  His doctoral research explores aesthetics, truth and dissent in digital and performance cultures.

And don't forget the ottawa small press book fair, happening the following day starting at noon at the Jack Purcell Community Centre!