Barrett and Welsh #301
You are invited to the 23nd session of The Tartan Turban Secret Readings curated by Charles C Smith and featuring charles himself, Maureen Hynes, Dane Swan, Michael Fraser, Robin Richardson, Sonja Greckol and Justin Lauzon.
charles c. smith is a poet, playwright and essayist who has written and edited fourteen books. He studied poetry and drama with William Packard at New York University and Herbert Berghof Studios, drama at the Frank Silvera’s Writers’ Workshop in Harlem. He won second prize for his play Last Days for the Desperate from Black Theatre Canada, edited three collections of poetry and his poetry has appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including Poetry Canada Review, the Quill & Quire, Descant, Dandelion, Fiddlehead and others. charles is the Executive Director of Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario and Artistic Director of the wind in the leaves collective. His recent books include travelogue of the bereaved, The Dirty War: The Making of the Myth of Black Dangerousness, and, whispers (2014) and destination out (2018).
Michael Fraser is published in numerous national and international journals and anthologies. He’s in Best Canadian Poetry in English 2013 & 2018. He’s won various contests including Freefall’s 2014 and 2015 Poetry Contests, the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize, and Exile’s 2018 Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Competition. His latest book is To Greet Yourself Arriving (Tightrope Books, 2016).
Maureen Hynes’s collection, Rough Skin, won the League of Canadian Poets’ Gerald Lampert Award for best first book of poetry by a Canadian. This was followed by Harm’s Way and Marrow, Willow. Her fourth book of poetry, The Poison Colour, was shortlisted for both the League’s Raymond Souster and Pat Lowther Awards, 2017. This fall she launches Sotto Voce, from Brick Books. Maureen’s work has been included in over 25 anthologies, including two volumes of Best Canadian Poetry in English (2010 and 2016), and in The Best of the Best Canadian Poetry in English: Tenth Anniversary Issue (2017). Maureen is poetry editor for Our Times magazine. (www.maureenhynes.com).
Robin Richardson is the author of Sit How You Want, Winner of the Trillium Poetry Award for Poetry, and named one of CBC's best books of 2018. She is the founder of CITADEL, an Intensive Writer’s Resource, and is Editor-in-Chief at Minola Review. Her work has appeared in POETRY, The American Poetry Review, The Walrus, Hazlitt, and Tin House, among others. She holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and is a MacDowell and Berton House Fellow.
Sonja Greckol is grateful for subways, LRTs, and bike lanes wherever. She published three poetry books No Line In Time, which was listed for the 2018 Raymond Souster Award, Skein of Days (Pedlar Press, 2014) and Gravity Matters (Inanna Press, 2008). Her long poem 'No Line In Time' won the 2017 Briar Patch Writing In the Margins Contest. She has edited poetry for Women and Environments International magazine since 2007, was a founding editor of Influnency Salon, taught college and university, written a dissertation on humor, and done organizational gender equity including pay equity and diversity consulting specializing in statistical analytic models: (It's all data reduction!) Her work has appeared most recently online in bilingual Spanish English La Presa and previously in Rusty Toque, Ditch, Literary Review of Canada, Canadian Literature, Dalhousie Review, CV2, Fiddlehead, Canadian Women’s Studies, Matrix, and Atlantis.
Dane Swan is a Bermuda raised, Toronto based, internationally published poet, writer, and musician. His first collection, Bending the Continuum, was published by Guernica Editions in the spring of 2011. The collection was a recommended mid-summer read by Open Book Toronto. In 2013 Dane was shortlisted for the Monica Ladell Award for his poem "Stopwatch." In 2016 Guernica Editions also published his second collection of poetry, A Mingus Lullaby, a finalist for the 2017 Trillium Book Award for Poetry. His first novella, Tuesday, is forthcoming from Grey Borders Books. Dane is also an accomplished slam poet and touring spoken-word performer, placing second at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, third at the Rust Belt Regional Slam and touring the US Midwest and West Coast regions. He has graced numerous festival stages, including IFOA, Hillside, Lab Cab, Parkdale Arts, Junction Arts, and Pitter Patter festivals.
Justin Lauzon is a writer, poet, photographer, and the founder of Lexical.ca. His work has been published in untethered Magazine and The Rusty Toque. Justin lives in Toronto and works with Word On The Street, Slant Reading Series, and the Hear Here Salon. His first book, this is why we’re made in the dark, was published by Quattro Books in 2018. He is currently the co-organizer of Birds of a Feather Storytelling Series, and in the past, he has helped organize several other Canadian literary events including The Word On The Street, Hear Here, and Book Summit. His work has appeared in untethered, Sewer Lid, and The Rusty Toque.
Open mic:
Anyone attending is welcome to read or perform (if you are a musician) in our open mic sessions. If you are a writer or musician who would like to perform in the open mic session, we ask that you listen in to at least one session to get the flavour of the evening and join in on your next visit. To participate in TTSR #23, please contact charles, the evening's curator, beforehand. This allows him to line up readers and manage the evening efficiently. You may also contact series curators Gavin or Mayank.
The ambience at our readings is intimate, extremely informal and very supportive. Readers are given 4 minutes in total, including a brief introduction to themselves and their work. They may read any form of creative writing (fiction/poetry/drama/screenplay) – or a work of reportage or creative non-fiction. The Tartan Turban Secret Readings is not a lecture or motivational speaking series, so no academic or self-help works, please.
There are detailed open mic guidelines posted here in our FB group.
Open mic readers who have published works they would like to offer for sale are free to mention it on finishing their readings.
About The Tartan Turban Secret Readings: Barrett and Welsh hosts a (not so) “secret" reading series on its rather lovely open-air office rooftop deck while it's warm, and in its large open concept studio space in colder weather.
The Tartan Turban Secret Readings feature poetry, drama and prose readings that celebrate Canadian multicultural writing created by multicultural, minority and BIPoC writers. The idea is to provide a platform for BIPoC writers who have very few such platforms. At the same time, all writers who want to celebrate Canada’s multiculturalism, literary diversity and indigenous heritage, and have talent to share, are welcomed.
Curators change from reading to reading. If you would like to read or curate, contact Gavin Barrett or Mayank Bhatt, who are co-curators for the series.
The sessions are often photographed, filmed or streamed on FB/YouTube live. Please be aware that by attending this event, you agree to be photographed and/or filmed and give permission to use your likeness in promotional and/or marketing materials.
Seating: For those wishing to attend, please note that our indoor space can comfortably accommodate no more than 35 people (including our features).
Refreshments: Barrett and Welsh does provide complimentary drinks and light snacks. But in keeping with the community-centric spirit of the series, we encourage attendees to bring and/or share their beverages and snacks. Please carry your own drinking cups/glasses, as we avoid the use of disposables unless they are biodegradable. Filtered water is available to all.
Entry: Please arrive before seven and encourage your guests to do the same. If they arrive later, they may need to text one of us to let them in. Contact info will be posted on the door; we’ll swing by in 10 min intervals (sorry!)
Accessibility: Barrett and Welsh’s offices are at the top of an office building that was once a large townhouse, so there are a couple of steep flights of stairs to get in. If you (or any guests) have mobility challenges, please be aware that you may need a helping hand up the stairs, as there is no elevator. Please let us know if we can be of assistance.
Want to receive updates on the next reading? Follow our FB group for updates on the next session and the link to the Eventbrite registration page for each reading. (we do ask that you register if you plan to attend). You can also sign up for our email list here.
About Barrett and Welsh: Barrett and Welsh is a minority-led, creativity-powered, change-making ad agency that puts ideas first to make ideas last. A certified B Corporation, it has specialty practices in inclusion communications (mainly multicultural/visible minority and persons with disabilities) and sustainable urban development (mostly transit and economic development).
About the series co-curators:
Mayank Bhatt's first novel Belief was published in 2016 by MG Vassanji’s and Nurjehan Aziz's Mawenzi House press. The novel explores youth radicalization and alienation, and the impact of terrorism on a family in the context of the failure of immigration and settlement framework in Canada. Mayank Bhatt immigrated to Toronto in 2008 from Mumbai (Bombay), where he worked as a journalist. His short stories have been published in TOK 5: Writing the New Toronto and Canadian Voices II. In Canada, he has worked as a security guard, as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and as an organizer for the Festive of South Asian Literature and Art. He lives in Toronto with his family.
Gavin Barrett was born in Bombay and lived in Hong Kong for several years before immigrating to Canada. Gavin’s poetry has been published in Reasons for Belonging (Viking Penguin India), an anthology of 14 Indian poets; the Pen India journal; The Folio; The Independent (Bombay); The Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad; and Poiesis, the Bombay Poetry Circle journal. He was a contributing writer to This|ability, a book on Canada’s art brut and outsider artists. He is the host and the founder and series co-curator (with Mayank Bhatt) of the Tartan Turban Secret Readings, a series promoting BIPoC writers. He is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of idea consultancy and brand advertising agency Barrett and Welsh. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Canadian Authors Association (Toronto) and an associate member of The League of Canadian Poets. Understan (Mawenzi House), his first collection of poems, launches this spring.