Readers for the October 27th, 2009 event:

Michelle Alfano is a Co-Editor with the literary quarterly Descant. Her short story “Opera”, on which her new novella Made Up Of Arias is based, was a finalist for a Journey Prize anthology. Her fiction and non-fiction work has been widely published in Canada in major literary publications, and has also appeared in the U.S. She will be featured in a forthcoming documentary on the passengers, and the children of the passengers, of the Saturnia, an immigrant ship which transported thousands of Italian-born immigrants to Canada in the 1950s and 60s and which will be featured on OMNI-TV.

Diane Bracuk is a freelance writer specializing in health and women's issues. Her fiction and poems have appeared in Canadian journals such as The Antigonish Review, TickleAce and Other Voices. In Great Britain, Diane’s work has been published in Image, the largest selling woman's magazine in Ireland, and You Magazine, part of the Saturday Supplement of England's Daily Mail. She will be reading her short story "Shadow Self" which was recently published in Other Voices.

Rocco de Giacomo is a widely published poet whose work has most recently been accepted in the literary journals Vallum and The Carolina Quarterly and has recently appeared The Antigonish Review and Tower Poetry. On October 18th, 2009, his first full-length poetry collection, Ten Thousand Miles Between Us, was launched through Quattro Books. Also, his fifth and latest collection of poems, Catching Dawn’s Breath (LyricalMyrical Press, Toronto) was launched in March of 2008. Rocco has also been a regular contributor of personal essays to Toro Magazine. He is a member of the council for the Art Bar Poetry Series and a member of the bpNichol Coordinating Committee.

Sonia Di Placido is a graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School, Acting Program (1996). She has performed and worked as an actor, theatre director, drama coach, dramaturge and playwright, Canada, UK and Italy. She has worked for the Canadian Press, Toronto Life Magazine and Transcontinental Media Publishing. She holds a post-graduate certificate in Magazine Publishing from Ryerson University, 2003, an Honours BA in Humanities from York University, 2006. She published her first chapbook of poetry, Vulva Magic, (2004) with LyricalMyracle Press and a second chapbook of poems, Forest Primitive, (Aelous House, 2008). She is presently hard at work on her Master of Fine Art in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. She is the publicist for Canadian Scholars' Press/Sumach Press/Women's Press and Kellom Books. Sonia's website is http://www.diplacido.wordpress.com/.

Karen Mulhallen teaches in the English department at Ryerson University. She is an internationally acclaimed editor, and has published essays on the arts both in Canada and in the UK. For almost four decades she has edited the award-winning literary magazine Descant, and through the magazine and other anthologies has promoted the work of Canadian writers nationally and internationally. She has published ten books of poetry including her most recent book of poetry Acquainted with Absence.

Paul Zemokhol is a Toronto-based poet who has written two chapbooks: Apocrypha and No Hope, No Hope, No Tea, both from LyricalMyrical Press. His first full-length book, A River at Night, from Quattro Press, came out in May.

And as emcee:
Giovanna Riccio was born in Calabria, Italy and grew up in Toronto where she studied philosophy at the University of Toronto. Her poems have appeared in journals, magazines and newspapers, including the Eyetalian, Poetry Canada Review, CV2, Tickleace, and Italian-Canadiana. Giovanna completed her first manuscript, Strong Bread, earlier this year and is in the process of getting it published. Her dramatic monologue, Vittorio, will be published by Lyricalmyrical Press in the spring. She has recently retired from teaching and is working on a new book of poetry.