Upcoming Events
Heart of the Story
In partnership with Township of Scugog, Scugog Arts, Blue Heron Books, and the Scugog Memorial Library, Hollay will be reading from her newest book, Rebellion Box, and speaking about the creative process. The event is FREE!
Planet Earth Poetry
In Victoria, BC. Follow along here for more details: http://planetearthpoetry.com/
Canadian Independent Bookstore Day
Join Hollay and other Canadian authors at Blue Heron Books to celebrate Canadian Independent Bookstore Day! Hollay will be there from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., but the store is open from morning to evening for festivities. Learn more at BlueHeronBooks.com.
Poem of the Week at the AWP
Hollay will be reading at this super chill event along with:
Josh Robbins
J Bruce Fuller
Matthew Tavares
Jen Yanez
Reyes Ramirez
Darrel Alejandro Holnes (tentative)
Faylita Hicks
Faisal Mohyuddin
Luke Johnson
Kai Coggin
Major Jackson
Didi Jackson
Cyrus Cassells
DG Okpik
Lauren Camp
Aaron Coleman
Benjamin Garcia
Winter Tales with Jennifer Hosein
WINTER TALES
We hope you will join us on Wednesday, January 24th, for an evening of poetry, non-fiction, fiction and visual art. Featured readers are Hollay Ghadery and Jennifer Hosein, followed by an open mic. Please register via this contact link for the Zoom reading. Open mic registration info to follow. Underrepresented writers are encouraged to submit to read on the open mic.
Hollay Ghadery is an Iranian-Canadian writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions (2021) and is the winner of The Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box, came out Radiant Press in 2023 and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, is scheduled for release with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. She is also a book publicist and the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. www.hollayghadery.com
Jennifer Hosein is a Montreal-born writer, visual artist and educator of Trinidadian and South Asian ancestry residing in Toronto. Her debut collection of poetry, A Map of Rain Days, was longlisted for the 2021 Pat Lowther Memorial Award. Her poems, short fiction, creative non-fiction, and a play have been published in The Fiddlehead, The Quarantine Review, Event, and more, as well as translated into Hungarian for the anthology Crystal Garden/Kristálykert. Her artwork has appeared on book covers, in magazines, and in solo and group exhibitions in Toronto; it is also featured on the cover of A Map of Rain Days. https://jenniferhosein.com
Shab-e She’r
Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night) 10th Anniversary
XCVI
Canada’s most diverse & brave poetry reading + open mic series
Featured poets: Paulina O’Kieffe-Anthony & Hollay Ghadery
+ Open Mic for poetry in any language
Host: Bänoo Zan
Time: Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Place: Main Hall, Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 2M7
This is an in-person event.
Reading at Perfect Books with Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer
Join Hollay Ghadery and Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer at Perfect Books in Ottawa for an evening of bookish conversation!
The Wild Writers Literary Festival
Join poets Hollay Ghadery, Anita Lahey, Ronna Bloom, and Erin Noteboom discuss how poetry acts as a tool to explore, express, and bring ourselves peace. This illuminating discussion will explore how we can use art to alleviate and understand our suffering, and what it is about poetry that lends itself so well to these pursuits. Moderated by Tanis MacDonald.
This event is hosted at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
More info here: https://wildwriters.ca/product/poetry-as-essential-for-wellbeing/
BookFest Windsor
We are kicking off this year’s festival with our Conversations with Poets panel immediately after our opening ceremonies. The poets we will be conversing with are the talented Jan Conn, Hollay Ghadery, and Jake Byrne. The opening ceremonies and conversations will occur in the Performance Hall at the University of Windsor’s School of Creative Arts, Armouries Building, downtown Windsor. The opening ceremonies will occur from 6:30 – 7:00 p.m., and Conversations with Poets will be from 7:00- 8:00 p.m. Stick around after the event for book sales and signings in the Concourse.
Tickets will be on sale at the door and online in advance.
Online tickets will be on sale September 1st at 8:00 a.m. and throughout the festival on our main BookFest/ Festival du Livre 2023 event page https://www.literaryartswindsor.ca/event/bookfest-festival-du-livre-windsor-2023/
Draft Reading Series: Mixed Tongues
Join Hollay at Draft Reading Series! Hollay will be reading a short excerpt from her novel in progress at the Mixed Tongues series. This series is created by Gloria Blizzard. It is a hybrid, lexical, aural experience that builds bridges between Canada’s multilingual literary communities. Our goal is to stretch our minds and hearts by hearing other perspectives and various iterations of human expression.
Blue Heron Book Launch
Join us at Blue Heron Books for the launch of Survivors of the Hive by Jason Heroux and Rebellion Box by Hollay Ghadery.
✷ The event will begin at 5pm and wrap up around 7pm.
✷ Blue Heron Books is located at 62 Brock Street West in Uxbridge, ON. For more information about the venue, please visit https://blueheronbooks.com/
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
✷ Jason Heroux is the author of four books of poetry: Memoirs of an Alias (2004); Emergency Hallelujah (2008); Natural Capital (2012) and Hard Work Cheering Up Sad Machines (2016). He is also the author of three novels: Good Evening, Central Laundromat (2010); We Wish You a Happy Killday (2014) and Amusement Park of Constant Sorrow (2018).Born in Montreal, Jason came to Kingston in 1990 to attend Queen's University and has lived there ever since. Translated into French, Italian, and Arabic, his poetry has been featured in several anthologies, including Breathing Fire 2: Canada's New Poets, and Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008, 2011 and 2016, and has appeared in magazines and journals in Canada, the U.S, Belgium, France, and Italy. Jason holds a BA degree from Queen's University, and was a finalist for the 2018 ReLit Novel Award. He works at ServiceOntario, and lives with his wife Soheir, and their three cats, Akira, Pablo, and Neruda. He was the Poet Laureate for the City of Kingston from 2019 to 2022.
✷ Hollay Ghadery is a multi-genre writer living in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have been published in various literary journals and magazines. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions’ MiroLand imprint in Spring 2021. Rebellion Box is her debut collection of poetry.
Novel Idea Reading
Join Jason Heroux and me for readings from our newest books from Radiant Press.
Toronto Word on the Street
Whether it’s the community, the planet, or a higher power, how does writing connect the writer to something bigger than themself? Can writing itself be a kind of spiritual practice? These authors and poets probe the edges of this question.