Mon. Jan. 23rd, 2012, 7:30pm

Hosted by:
Crave Kitchen + Wine Bar
1925 Victoria Ave
Free admission

Kathleen Wall 

Kathleen Wall teaches at the University of Regina, where her specialties are Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, feminist theory, creative writing, modernism and postmodernism, and aesthetics.  She is at work on her second book of literary criticism, Virginia Woolf’s Aesthetics of Engagement.  She recently published ““Ethics, knowledge, and the need for beauty:  Zadie Smith’s On Beauty and Ian McEwan’s Saturday” in the University of Toronto Quarterly.  She has also published two books of poetry, Without Benefit of Words (Turnstone, 1991) and Time’s Body (Hagios, 2005).  Her novel, Blue Duets, was published by Brindle & Glass in 2010 and was nominated in the Fiction category for a Saskatchewan Book Award.

She believes passionately in the conversations that connect, transform, and query.  Since art is a culture’s way of thinking about and reflecting on ourselves and our world, it is one of the best inspirations to conversation we have.

Rolli

Rolli writes – and draws a little – for adults (Hayden’s Ferry Review, New York Tyrant, Rattle) and children (Ladybug, Spider, Highlights). He’s the author of God’s Autobio (short stories) and Plum Stuff (poems/drawings). Visit his blog (www.rolliwrites.wordpress.com), and follow his epic tweets @rolliwrites.

Nicole Pivovar Bio

Nicole Pivovar, an unpublished writer, is sharing her passion for photography and poetry publically for the first time.  Her education and career have allowed her a terrific journey as a communications professional, with a keen knack for sales.  She deeply believes living should be the least of our hards, even though that’s not always the case.  She credits her whole life to her Faith in God and seeks to know others the same way God knows her.  Her curiosity for extraordinary people and experiences has inspired the collection she will share.  When asked why she chose to write and photograph pieces of her life this past year; she explains simply “It makes my heart happy!”  She is most often found outside with her sneakers on; running is her other favoured pass time.  Humbled by this opportunity to share her hobby, she wishes to say Thank You to the Vertigo organizers for all they do to make Regina better.

Jack Walton

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and author Jack Walton offers an eclectic sampling of melody and words sautéed in melancholic sauces of jazz, blues, swing and roots. His songs, poetry and short stories are drawn from a well travelled Canadian landscape and the real and imaginary people he has met along the way.  A New Brunswicker by birth, he has comfortably called himself a ‘prairie maritimer’ for half a life time.

Tuesday, Nov. 8th, 2011, 7:30 pm
Crave Kitchen + Wine Bar
1925 Victoria Ave

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and
The League of Canadian Poets for this event.

Vertigo Reading Series
Presented by Brown Communications Group

Monday, Oct. 3rd, 2011, 7:30 pm
Crave Kitchen + Wine Bar
1925 Victoria Ave

Vertigo Reading Series
Presented by Brown Communications Group

Monday, Sept. 12th, 2011, 7:30 pm
Crave Kitchen + Wine Bar
1925 Victoria Ave

Steven Ross Smith

Rhona McAdam

Betty Jane Hergerat

Many thanks to Shelley Banks of Regina for providing the photos for Vertigo–and thanks to our readers Betty Jane Hergerat, Steven Ross Smith, and Rhona McAdam for entertaining a good crowd on Easter Sunday!

Warren James

Rodney Ashfield

Bob Friedrich

Amy at the Book Table

WARREN JAMES

Photo Credit:  Erica Clark.

Warren James is a storyteller and cryptozoologist living in Regina.
When not out monster hunting, he can be found haunting the stacks of
the Regina Public Library.

BOB FRIEDRICH

Bob Friedrich a former federal public servant turned author enjoys writing
poetry, children stories and travel memoir stories. He also has a
television production company called Pooch Productions with title credits
such as Whats in your Garage, and Yes, Gargoyles do live in Saskatchewan.

http://reviews.skbooks.com/?p=299
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r68t6hplLmo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHDS45CWxJg

RODNEY ASHFIELD

With only long-distant publishing credits and a book or two in the hopper, even though Rodney Ashfield has enjoyed poetry for as long as he can remember – which is less and less daily – he was still humbled to be included in this evenings event. Rodney enjoys sharing the air with words. When not writing, snuggling with his wife, or working with doctors in the care of people’s feet, he enjoys watching the world unfold

The Book Table

– Thanks again to Melissa Richardson for Volunteering to work the book table!

Our fantastic performers of the evening

– Sharon Plumb, Bernadette Wagner, and Kelley Jo Burke [left to right].

Our Beautiful Audience!

The handsome staff of Orange Izakaya

– Grant and Josh [left to right].

Kelley Jo Burke puts on an amazing show!

Those who could not attend missed a treat, indeed!

Vertigo Reading Series Director:  Kris Brandhagen

KELLEY JO BURKE

Kelley Jo Burke is an award-winning playwright and poet, a director, storyteller, documentarian, and broadcaster. Her plays have been produced and published in Canada, and around the world, including her stage plays, “Ducks on the Moon”,  “The Selkie Wife”, “Jane’s Thumb”, and “Charming and Rose: True Love, and her most recent radio play “Big Ocean“, which was heard in 7 countries in 2000.

She dramaturges, directs and produces for stage and radio and is the host/producer of CBC Saskatchewan’s radio art performance hour SoundXchange. Kelley Jo also has written and produced a number of documentaries for CBC Radio’s Ideas.

She is the 2009 winner of the Saskatchewan Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Leadership in the Arts, the 2009 City of Regina Writing Award, and the 2008 Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award for Playwriting.

SHARON PLUMB

Sharon Plumb grew up writing stories in a small town that no longer exists, in the mountains of British Columbia. After she moved to the flat prairies, she studied Computer Science and switched to writing computer programs. When her three sons came along, she enjoyed reading to them so much that she started writing stories again.

She has written picture books, novels, poems, and plays. Her picture book Bill Bruin Shovels his Roof was published in 2006 as part of Scholastic Canada’s Literary Place for the Early Years. Draco’s Child, a YA fantasy novel, was published by Thistledown Press in March 2010.You can find out more about her and her books at the website for her writing group, the Saskatchewan Children’s Writers’ Round Robin: www.books4kids.ca.

BERNADETTE WAGNER

Author Photo:  Cherie Westmoreland   /   Cover Art:  Kim Menzies

Bernadette Wagner grew up on a small family farm forty-five minutes north of Regina. The gently rolling parkland instilled in her the spirit of the prairies, a love of land, and a commitment to community, all of which come through in her writing. Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in journals, anthologies, and magazines and on radio, television and film, in schools, on stages, in the streets and on the web. She has been recognized with the Jerry Rush Scholarship, the W. O. Mitchell Bursary Award, an apprenticeship in the Saskatchewan Writers Guild Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers and a Saskatchewan Arts Board Individual Assistance Award. She extends her gratitude to the strong writing community in Saskatchewan, including the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and its many excellent programs, her family, friends, and communities for their love and support, and Thistledown Press, her publisher, for helping her to make a dream come true. This hot place is her first book.

- 2136A Robinson St. Regina, SK S4T-2P7

JOHN TOONE

John Toone’s first collection of poetry, From Out of Nowhere, was published by Turnstone Press in spring 2009. He published two kids’ books in fall 2009, Catch that Catfish! and Hope and the Walleye. His poems also appear in the story Sixgun Quixote from the new graphic novel The Imagination Manifesto (Alchemical Press). John is past president of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild. Three of his books are shortlisted for five Manitoba Book Awards.

JONATHAN BALL

Jonathan Ball is the author of the poetry books Ex Machina (BookThug, 2009) and the forthcoming Clockfire (Coach House, 2010). He holds a Ph.D. in English with a focus in Creative Writing from the University of Calgary. His film Spoony B appeared on The Comedy Network, and his writing has appeared in The Believer and Harper’s. He is the former editor of dandelion and the former short films programmer for the Gimli Film Festival. Visit him online at http://www.jonathanball.com.  Clockfire is newly published.

CLOCKFIRE:
http://www.chbooks.com/catalogue/clockfire

EX MACHINA:
http://www.bookthug.ca/proddetail.php?prod=200915

ARIEL GORDON

GILLIAN HARDING RUSSELL

gillian harding-russell three poetry collections published: Candles in my head (Ekstasis 2001) Vertigo (River Books, 2004), and I forgot to tell you (Thistledown, 2007), and  the chapbook Apples and Mice (Alfred Gustav Press, 2008). Her  poems have appeared  in several anthologies and chapbook anthologies and many literary journals across Canada. She has won several awards for her poetry, and most recently had her poem “Autumn Meditation on her name and becoming” short-listed for the Winston Collins’ Award for 2010.

Harding Russell has a chapbook coming out next spring with Leaf Press, entitled “Poems for the Summer Solstice.” She will be reading from recently published work in journals, a poem that was short-listed for the Winston Collins’ Award in 2010.

Harding Russell will read one of Elizabeth Brewster’s poems, who unfortunately suffered a stroke last year after the launch of her last poetry collection, Time and Seasons.

Harding Russell will bring copies of previous poetry collections, Vertigo,  and I forgot to tell you.

BRENDA NISKALA

Brenda Niskala‘s novella Of All the Ways to Die (Quattro) was published 2009; her short stories have appeared in several anthologies and literary journals. Her poetry has been published in chapbooks, the co-authored Open 24 Hours, and collected in Ambergris Moon. For the Love of Strangers (Coteau Books 2010) is her first book of short fiction.

Brenda has taught Creative Writing for the University of Regina Extension Department, the Festival of Words and the Sage Hill Writing Experience Teen Camp. She has read her work to audiences across Canada, and in Finland and England. Saskatchewan born and raised, she currently makes her home in Regina.

WES FUNK

A few years back, when Wes published out his chap-book Humble Beginnings, no one was more surprised than him at how well-received it was.  This inspired him to keep plugging away at his sort-of-memoir Dead Rock Stars.  Shortly after being released, his novel was a pick-of-the-month for the local C95 book club and was a subject on several local radio and television talk shows.  It was short-listed for a Saskatchewan Book Award and received an Honourable Mention for Writers’ Digest International Self-Published Book Awards.

Besides dabbling in real estate and working part-time in healthcare, Wes enjoys writing the Life on Broadway column in Saskatoon’s Neighbourhood Express Magazine.  He also stays active in the Saskatoon Writers Coop and putters away at another manuscript.

TARA DAWN SOLHEIM

Tara Dawn Solheim has performed poetry and music in many contexts throughout Canada, America, England and Japan. From 2004 to 2005, she worked with the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina to develop and host a jazz and poetry performance series called the Seldom Sessions. Tara has been commissioned to create original musical and poetic performances for CBC, various dance shows and local festivals including the Cathedral Arts Festival, the Regina and Brandon Folk Festivals, and the Her-i-cane Women’s Art Festival.

After moving to Tokyo in 2005, Tara began to focus on music and performed regularly with bands. Her original music draws on blues and jazz from the 1920 / 30′s and early rock ‘n’ roll. Tara returned to Canada last year and is now working on a new album to be recorded in autumn 2010. She is also in the process of bringing a prairie superhero back to life through the serial poem, “The Adventures of WonderWalker”.

KRIS BRANDHAGEN

Kris Brandhagen used the University rag as a vehicle for her first publications in 2001, and the story goes on from there to publish in Spring Magazine, In Medias Res, Transverse Journal, Carousel, Ramble Underground, Cahoots, Poetry Reviews, Contemporary Verse 2, and Regina Fine Lifestyles Magazine.

As far as education goes, Kris completed a BA in English literature and Visual Arts from the University of sunny Regina in 2004.  She then did a little housekeeping in Canmore, Alberta before heading off to Seoul, South Korea in 2004 to splash her feet in cultural waters and teach English as a Second Language.

Running parallel to the story of Kris as a writer, there is the story of Kris as a photographer.  What brought her back to Canada in 2005 was the Commercial Photography program at Dawson College in Montreal, where she spent two years being squeezed like a lemon.  Regina was happy to have her back in 2007.  She did a little of this and a little of that.

In 2008 she applied for and received a grant from the Saskatchewan Arts Board to work on her book-length manuscript of poems, Jennifer.  Kris is currently hard at work on her second, third, and fourth manuscripts as well as several visual and interdisciplinary projects.