25 Toronto St
Barrie, ON L4N 1T8
Canada
Pro and amateur writers in Simcoe County are welcome to perform their original work in an encouraging environment. Poets, spoken word performers, rappers, comedians, song writers, motivational speakers and anyone who loves the magic of language is welcome to join us. We meet monthly at Unity Market in Barrie to read, to perform and to share our art. Each month we bring in a little extra inspiration in the form of published authors of all genres.
Featured authors are Michael Mirolla and Rocco de Giacomo
Michael Mirolla is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, playwright, and poet. Michael describes his fiction as a mix of magic realism, surrealism, speculative fiction and meta-fiction. His latest literary award is the 2016 Bressani Literary Prize for his short story collection Lessons in Relationship Dyads (Red Hen Press, 2015). In 2010, with business partner Connie McParland, Michael took over the reins at Guernica Editions, one of Canada’s thriving independent presses.
Born in Italy and raised in Montreal, Michael now makes his home near Toronto.
Rocco de Giacomo is a widely published poet whose work has appeared in literary journals in Canada, Australia, England, Hong Kong and the US. His work has recently been accepted for publication in Arc Poetry and Event, and has most recently been published in Existere. Rocco’s poetry has also been featured on the CBC. He is the author of numerous chapbooks including, in 2008, Catching Dawn’s Breath. In 2009, his first full-length poetry collection, Ten Thousand Miles Between Us, was launched through Quattro Books. His forthcoming collection, Every Night of Our Lives, will be published with Guernica Editions. In 2010, Ten Thousand Miles was longlisted for the ReLit Poetry Award. In 2011, it was selected for Poetry NOW’s 3rd Annual Battle of the Bards. From 2008 to 2014, Rocco volunteered on the committee for the Art Bar Poetry Series, Canada’s longest running weekly series. Rocco lives in Toronto with his wife, Lisa Keophila, a fabric artist, and his daughters, Ava and Matilda. He is currently working on his third poetry manuscript.
