Artist Bios
Feature Artists
Eva Kolacz
Polish born artist, painter, poet, and actress Eva Kolacz debuted as a young poet and actress in her native Poland, and quickly rose to prestige as a painter.
Graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Eva’s bold and powerful paintings are ignited by our interior and exterior worlds.
Eva's abstract expressionistic art has been Featured worldwide in galleries and exhibitions, most notably in Canada, the USA, and Europe. Her most recent exhibition was at the Kurbatoff Gallery in Vancouver, B.C. Today, she is an active member in Canada’s most prestigious and oldest continuing art society in Canada. Founded in 1872 by a group of seven fore-running Canadian artists, Eva is one of only 200 members. Eva will be participating in Ontario Society of Artists’ upcoming exhibitions.
Eva lives and works in the 905 with her husband, writer and poet Laurence Hutchman.
Yanek Keshavjee
Featurette Artists.
Ronnie O'Byrne
Scottish poet, performer and Robert Burns aficionado, Ronnie O’Byrne has performed throughout Europe, Canada, and the USA. Robert Burns fans know two things: that Robert Burns is a big deal, and that the performances are a bigger deal.
Ronnie has performed at the top 3rd and 5th rated Robert Burns clubs and dinners in the world. This year he has been invited to present the Immortal Memory to Burns and perform “Tam ‘O’ Shanter” at the 2nd rated club - Perth Burns Club in Scotland.
In 2006 Ronnie won first place in the world at the annual Tam ‘O’ Shanter competition hosted by the Robert Burns World Federation at The Globe Inn, Dumfries, Scotland (where Burns himself used to frequent)
Two years ago, he was exclusively invited to be the Director of the Canadian faction of the Robert Burns World Federation.
On Jan 23rd, Ronnie hits the stage again for International Robert Burns Dinner and Poetry Night at the Caledonian Club in Toronto. Check out our Events Page for more info.
Eryk Burns
Eryk Burns has traveled extensively, as a soldier, a wanderer, a writer, poet, theatre actor, bird-watcher, culture seeker, believer, and teacher.
He has lived and taught abroad, all the while unable to let go of his passion for the written word. Eryk’s poetry seizes the moment of loneliness, confusion, and captures the transience of the human condition.
In Poland, Eryk collaborated with renowned poet and Anglo-Saxon translator Krystyna Lenkowska. Together, they translated two-time Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize winner Anne Carson’s poetry into Polish.
Eryk’s poems have been translated into Italian, Polish and French. As a ‘Frostian’ (read: Robert Frost) poet, Eryk’s influences include Robinson Jeffers, Robert Lax, Wisława Szymborska and Pier Giorgio di Cicco. Eryk is fluent in French, German, Italian, and English.
This February, Eryk will be back on the stage in A Man of All Seasons. Check out our Events Page for more info.
Lindsay W Albert
Darrell Epp
Poetry
Josie DiSciascio-Andrews
Born in Italy, educator, linguist, and award-winning author, Josie DiSciascio-Andrews has written five collections of poetry, her latest A Jar of Fireflies (Mosaic Press). Josie’s two non-fiction books How the Italians Created Canada (Dragon Hill Press) and In the Name of Hockey (FriesenPress) are expertly researched, clearly written, poignant, and relevant.
Josie’s won numerous awards for her poetry, including: first prize in Toronto's Big Pond Rumours Journal Contest (2015), and The Malahat Review's Open Seasons Award (2013).
Memory, social justice, and our place within nature are Josie’s muses. Josie studied French and Italian Literature at the University of Toronto and Harvard and has her Masters of Education, and she is fluent in English, French, and Italian. Josie lives, writes, and teaches in the 905.
In April 2016, Josie was nominated to be the host and event-coordinator of the Oakville Lit Café at the Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre. Keep up-to-date about the Oakville Lit Café and more on our Events Page.
Dave Taylor
Dave’s poetry is like a best kept secret; decadent, poignant, yet quiet. He has been writing poetry and short stories for decades, and is well-known on the 905 circuit, most notably: Oakville, Georgetown, Milton, and Mississauga.
Dave taught secondary-school for many years, and recently retired. He finds his muses in the river and nature of the Credit Valley parks, where his mind can mingle freely with the sublime emotions and poetic form that have distinguished all great poets of the past.
Claudia Williams
Claudia Williams has been writing—journal entries, poems, short stories, novellas—since her early teens. She wrote for one reason only: she could not stop writing. At ‘fortyish,’ she started to come out to the Oakville Lit Café, and from there her career as a writer took off. For the last four years, her knack for writing deeply emotional, that capture the heartbreak and laughter of life. Her undeniable poetic inclination has drawn audiences to her. She has been heralded as a new voice not to be missed, and her magnetic stage presence has landed her on the stage throughout the 905 and beyond.
“Williams' poetry is more like an oral history of today's 40-somethings awkward and complicated attempts at finding love, peace and self in the age of lust, porn and selfies…”-Joseph Willison, Amazon review
Her first collection of poems, Fourteen to Fortyish: The Formative Years (Cawing Crow Press) by critics! and has a 5-star rating on Amazon. In Vol. 1 No. 1 of The Artis, Claudia gives us an exclusive sneak-peak of her upcoming material.
Lawrence Hutchman
Trevor Trower
Short story writer and notorious poet. Loved for being a “rhyming” poet, once you hear Trev you'll understand why people can’t get enough of his work. Born in Wales, Trevor served in the Royal Navy and traveled the world for 35 years with Air Canada. Witty, sharp, and profound, Trevor’s words capture the present, the past, and the changes in-between. Attuned to both Canadiana and Britannia, he doesn’t miss a beat.
In addition to a lifelong passion for the written word, Trevor paints with water-colours, and is into model trains, and R/C planes and boats. Trevor’s poems have been published in Canada, England, and the BBC North Wales. His repertoire includes two books of poetry, "Poetry for Everyday Use" and "A Sea of Pink Blossoms," and two short-story collections, "The traveling man, early days" and “The Traveling man, an Air Canada memoir.”
Trevor lives in the 905 with Kay, his wife of 60 years, and has 5 grown children.
Meena Chopra
Pat Connors
Short Prose
Eric Koch
Eric Koch’s career in broadcasting and radio at the CBC has put him at the centre of public affairs for over 50 years, followed by an 18 year stint as a media professor at York.
Eric has been publishing fiction and nonfiction books since 1978, and writes daily about contemporary issues on his blog Sketches. His latest collection Golden Years: Encounters with Glenn Gould, Marshall McLuhan, Lester B. Pearson, Rene Leveques and John G. Diefenbaker (Mosaic Press) is Eric’s inside view of the five Canadian figures who shaped Canada’s culture and identity.
Don’t miss Eric’s upcoming Artist Profile interview in our next issue of The Artis.
Zohra Zoberi
Zohra is the Artistic Director and Founder of Bridging the Gap Productions, a writer, play right, and poet who has travelled to 36 countries around the world and her words captures the picture of our world on a vast canvas.
Zohra has appeared on TV and the stage in Sweden, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates. Her work has been published in USA and Canada in 12 anthologies/magazines in English and Urdo and her plays have been staged numerous times and are still being staged numerous times to capacity audiences! In 2015, Zohra was short listed for Hazel McCallion Volunteer Award from the Mississauga Arts Council. Her awards include: the Woman of Courage Award (2012) in the category of the literary Arts for her outstanding work in social issues and women, Ambassador of Peace Award (2012) from the Universal Peace Federation, and the Literary Arts Award (2011), Writers Forum Award from York University (2008).
Zohra’s works include the award-winning play Questionably Ever After (IOWI), the short story “That Deadly Exhale” (Canadian Voices Anthology, Bookland Press), and a much raved about poetry collection True Colours—from the Universe to the Inner Mind (IOWI). Zohra is a regular reader at the Courtney Park Writers group in Mississauga.
In issue of The Artis, Zohra gives us a sneak peak of her upcoming memoir, excerpts of which have been well-received. Zohra lives in the 905 with her husband
Jasmine D'Costa
Kim Cayer
Op-Ed
Frank Veri
Frank is breaking onto the art scene as an motivational writer with an empowering style. His travel reviews have placed him in the top 5% of read reviews on Trip Advisor.
He is currently working on his first book about how to find your passion and succeed as an online entrepreneur. His observations on life, people, and events are akin to a true story teller. Frank is also working on an investigative-detective series that pivots on real-world issues.
Patricia White
Lily Stevenson
Essays
Ed Hamer
Ed is an art aficionado, with an abiding, life-long interest in art. A frequent guest at art galleries, his faves include Guelph U, which he calls “a small beauty,” and the First Nations gallery north of Van is a “jewel.”
Ed believes it's important to know how to look at art, fathom it carefully, and not get overwhelmed because it's "Art."
Ed can also be found a poetry events, and an avid reader reader of philosophy, and Freudian and Lacanian psychology, and sociology, Ed's observations on life find their way onto the page in what is colloquially known as his ‘Ed-ifications’!
Ed studied under Canadian writer Ania Szado at Humber College's Writer’s School. He is currently working on a pocket-sized art book for the art lover and museum goer.
Ivy Reiss
Visual Art
Rita Plampe
Rita has been an artist for 0ver 30 years. Currently her favorite medium is water-colour. She is avid ceramic sculpture, makes from art from drift-wood, bones, stones, and other natural objects, and even paints onto fabrics!
Her inspiration comes from daydreams, books, as well as natural and found objects and wonderful things in books.
Rita says, "If you don't feel like talking, you can create art instead."