Join us April 22, for readings by poets Allan Briesmaster, Barry Dempster, and Angela Hibbs at the Black Swan, 154 Danforth Avenue, just east of Broadview (map). Readings commence at 8 p.m.

Allan Briesmaster is a freelance editor, publisher, and literary consultant. His most recent books of poetry are Interstellar (Quattro Books, 2007) and Confluences (Seraphim Editions, 2009). He was centrally involved in the weekly Art Bar Poetry Reading Series in Toronto from its beginnings in 1991 until 2002. His poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, and he has read his work in venues from Victoria to St. John’s. As an editor, working with several literary presses, Allan has been instrumental in the production of more than 80 books of poetry and non-fiction since 1998. In 2008 he co-edited the 256-page anthology Crossing Lines: Poets Who Came to Canada in the Vietnam War Era for Seraphim Editions. Allan lives in Thornhill, Ontario with his wife Holly, a visual artist who has collaborated with him several times on book projects.

Barry Dempster is the author of fifteen books, including a novel, The Ascension of Jesse Rapture, a children’s book, two volumes of short stories and eleven collections of poetry.   He has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award twice and has won a Petra Kenney Award, a Confederation Poets’ Prize, a Prairie Fire Poetry Contest and the Canadian Authors’ Association Jack Chalmers Award for Poetry for his 2005 collection, The Burning Alphabet.   In 2009, he published two new books of poetry: Love Outlandish, published by Brick Books, and Ivan’s Birches, with Pedlar Press.   A new collection, Blue Wherever, will be published by Signature Editions in the spring of 2010.   Barry is acquisitions’ editor at Brick Books.  Over this past year, he was a Wired Writing mentor at the Banff Centre as well as facilitator of a two week poetry workshop in Santiago, Chile.   He lives in Holland Landing, Ontario, where he runs a film series and two book discussion groups.

Angela Hibbs’ second collection of poetry, Wanton, came out with Insomniac Press in the fall. Her work has been translated into Russian and French. Her first collection, Passport was long listed for the re-lit award. She was the winner of the 2001 Starchie Award, was shortlisted for the Irving Layton award and holds a MA creative writing from Concordia University.

+ Poetry in Translation Open Mic Contest:

• 1 Cash Prize for Best Reading of a Poem Translated into English (not your own work)
• 1 Cash Prize for Best Reading of an Original Translation (your translation, not your original poem)
• Sign-up at 7:30 p.m.

As seen @ Open Book Toronto