they've got more *what* in California? Pics from SF and some news about poetry

The first shot is of the incredibly awesome and generous-with-her-genius poet Eileen Myles and MC, on a Sunday afternoon in the Mission the day after our reading. The second pic is with my friend Joey Stevenson, who introduced me at the Small Press Traffic reading series.

The title poem from my next book, Precordial Thump will appear in the next issue of The Fiddlehead. I also have a suite of poems called Sternal Rub appearing in Exile Quarterly, and several poems, including one from a new Hotel series, making their debut in the Gallows Humour issue of Matrix Magazine. Watch for an essay - well, more like a scrappy sarcastic list - on the writing life appearing in a forthcoming issue of Event.

May 8th - reading with Chandra Mayor and Debra Anderson

I just got back from a trip to Northern California with my girlfriend. I have many photos to post, including some fun pics of the reading with Eileen Myles that went super well. Here is info on an upcoming Toronto event. Check back shortly for info on a reading in Montreal on May 18th, Picton on June 21 and possibly more.

Thursday, May 8, 2008 - 7:00pm
Launch of All the Pretty Girls by Chandra Mayor

Toronto Women's Bookstore
73 Harbord Street
Toronto, ON

Triple Threat Femme Invasion at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore!!

Come out for a femme-tastic night of readings as Chandra Mayor, the dynamo Winnipeg author, launches her new short story collection All the Pretty Girls (conundrum press) on Thursday, May 8 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore (73 Harbord Street). Debra Anderson (Code White) and Zoe Whittall (Bottle Rocket Hearts) and will also read and share some Toronto love.

Join us for an evening of kick-ass literature and lipgloss – a one night only event! Authors will have books for sale and be available for book signings. For more info check out www.debraanderson.ca or www.chandramayor.com or www.zoewhittall.blogspot.com or www.womensbookstore.com.

some quick hits

Click here to read my review of Maya Merrick's The Hole Show in the Globe & Mail.

Click here to read the details about my upcoming event in San Francisco with Eileen Myles at the California College of the Arts.

Above is a photo of Marcilyn and I at the recent sold-out launch of SKIM, a graphic novel written by the amazingly talented Mariko Tamaki.

I'm currently teaching creative writing at St.Mary's secondary school as part of Descant's SWAT program. You can read about it here.

Reading in Ottawa with Stacey-May Fowles

Event info - Please let your Ottawa friends know!

First Female Fiction Series
Saturday, April 12, 2008 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Octopus Books - 116 Third Ave - Ottawa, ON
6132332589 - Email: octopus@octopusbooks.ca

We are looking forward to the second part in our reading series, which will bring two of Toronto’s most exciting writers to Ottawa.

Zoe is the author of the novel Bottle Rocket Hearts, which was named one of the Top 100 Books of 2007 by The Globe and Mail and one of the Best Ten Books of 2007 by Quill & Quire. She has also published two books of poetry: The Emily Valentine Poems and The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life and edited the anthology, Geeks, Misfits and Outlaws.

Praise for Zoe Whittall:

"Zoe Whittall might just be the cockiest, brashest, funniest, toughest, most life-affirming, elegant, scruffy, no-holds-barred writer to emerge from Montreal since Mordecai Richler..."
-The Globe & Mail

Stacey May Fowles published her first novel, Be Good, in 2007. Her writing has appeared in Fireweed, subTERRAIN, Kiss Machine and Hive. She is also the publisher of Shameless, an alternative to typical teen magazines, for girls who know there’s more to life than makeup and diet tips.

Praise for Be Good:

“Stacey May Fowles' first novel is a startling and beautiful examination of love sickness in its many forms. It's a novel of true love and dirty secrets, high comedy and heartbreak, and Fowles pulls no punches and misses no marks. Bright, smart, and sexy, Be Good announces the arrival of a wonderful new voice in Canadian fiction.”
– Michael Redhill, author of Consolation

Drinks and Snacks too!!

upcoming appearances

- Reading at Hamilton's GRITlit festival on April 5th at 2pm w/ Sean Dixon.
- reading with Eileen Myles at Small Press Traffic in San Francisco on April 19th
- Being a guest at the Sunshine Coast Writers' Festival in August
- Reading with Michael V. Smith at the Common Magic - The Legacy of Bronwen Wallace conference in Kingston on March 7th.
- You can join the Bottle Rocket Hearts Facebook Group here
- I was a guest at the Toronto Public Library's Book Lover's Ball last week - very surreal. There's a photo of me in the bathroom of the Fairmount Royal York (that is bigger than my entire apartment) but I can't seem to figure out how to connect my cell phone to my lap-top, so alas, no evidence of my first black-tie affair.

Oh, and please order my book now because for my birthday, coming up next week, all I really want in the whole wide world, is a second printing with 100% less typos.

Bottle Rocket Hearts makes the TOP 100 Books of 2007 by the Globe & Mail

Click here to read Martin Levin's comment on the list choice.

can I get a...?

Bottle Rocket Hearts was selected as one of the Top Ten Books of 2007 by Quill and Quire magazine!!!

Thanks, Jake!

I woke up to find a great facebook note from Nova Scotia poet and current Guelph MFA colleague, Jacob McArthur Mooney , who read my book and created my very own wikipedia page in lieu of an Amazon review. I'm heading off to our poetry class - sadly, our second to last class with the awesome Ken Babstock . Our guest today is Karen Solie.

In other news, a little insider bird told me BRH is going to be on Quill & Quire's Best Books 07 list in their upcoming issue. Amazing way to round off BRH's first year on earth.

Named Best Emerging Author by Now Magazine

In Now Magazine's Best of Toronto 2007

Best emerging author
ZOE WHITTALL
"We knew T.O. scenester and poet Whittall had a cool critical sensibility – she edited the excellent anthology Geeks, Misfits And Outlaws (McGilligan) and reviews books for NOW. But she blew us away with her first novel, Bottle Rocket Hearts (Cormorant), about growing up queer in Montreal. Hope the next one's set in T.O."

I *love* when I'm referred to as a scenester because in reality I barely leave my house to go to social events unless I am being paid to be there, or it's a dear friend's birthday or book launch. I get to seem much cooler than I am.