Angela Carr’s most recent book of poetry is The Rose Concordance (BookThug, 2009). Her first book of poetry was Ropewalk. Her poetry and essays have also appeared in chapbooks, such as Handwerk (Beautiful Outlaw Press 2009) and Translating Translating Montréal (Press Dust 2007), and literary magazines in North America and abroad. She is also a translator from French to English, is currently co-editing an Open Letter issue on Canadian poet Lisa Robertson… and she just taught an intensive writing course at the very new Toronto New School of Writing. Angela has read her poetry in cities across Canada, in the US and Europe.

Brian Joseph Davis is an artist and writer based in Toronto. He is the author of Portable Altamont (Coach House Books), the novel I, Tania (ECW Press), and the upcoming short fiction collection, Ronald Reagan, My Father. L.A. Weekly recently declared, “Davis has an amazing head for aural experiments—creating expansive compositions out of found sounds and computer manipulations—that are smart on paper and fascinating in execution.” Slate.com called I, Tania, “The book of your fever dreams.” He is the co-founder of Joyland.ca.

Damian Rogers was born and raised in suburban Detroit. She has published poems in various North American magazines, including Brick, The Walrus, Matrix, Maisonneuve, This Magazine, and MoonLit. Her first collection, Paper Radio, came out with ECW Press in October 2009 and was nominated for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award. Rogers lives in Toronto.

The Element Choir is an improvising choir from Toronto led by vocalist Christine Duncan. This is a group that works with both structured and non-structured elements, based primarily on a system of conduction cues. As an ensemble we explore textural and timbral sound qualities, soundscapes, rhythmic patterns, sound poetry, group and individual composition ideas, musical genre interplay and extended voice techniques. This cinematic approach to group vocalizing presents both tonal and non-tonal material in a constantly evolving and ‘in the moment’ sonic environment.

A musical chameleon with a near five octave range, Christine Duncan uses her voice as an instrument, exploring its full tonal, timbral and textural range. She is involved with everything from jazz, R&B, gospel, improvised music, sound poetry, to new music and musique actuelle.

She performs with many musical groups and projects, most notably Hugh Fraser’s VEJI (Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation) and Barnyard Drama with drummer/electronic artist Jean Martin. Christine also teaches voice in the jazz programs at Humber College and the University of Toronto.

Gil Adamson is the author of two books of poetry (Primitive, Coach House Press and Ashland, ECW Press) as well as a book of linked short stories (Help Me, Jacques Cousteau, The Porcupine's Quill/House of Anansi). Her first novel, The Outlander (House of Anansi), has been nominated for the Commonwealth Prize, the Dublin IMPAC, and the Trillium, and has won the Drummer General's award, the Dashiell Hammett award, the ReLit and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. It was also one of five books chosen for Canada Reads 2009. Adamson lives with fellow writer Kevin Connolly in Toronto.

Photo taken by Krista Ellis

Jeff Derksen is a poet and cultural critic and who works at Simon Fraser University. His books of poetry include Down Time, Dwell, and Transnational Muscle Cars as well as a book of essays Annihilated Time: poetry and other politics (all from Talonbooks). His poetry has been anthologized in The Canadian Long Poem Anthology, The Gertrude Stein Anthology of Innovative North American Poetry, Writing Class, Half in the Sun: an anthology of Mennonite Writing, and in the Portuguese anthology of Canadian poetry, Pullllllllllll. His essays on art and urbanism in the long neoliberal moment, After Euphoria (JRP Ringier), is forthcoming. A former editor of Writing magazine, he also edited ³Poetry and the Long Neoliberal Moment² for West Coast Line and ³Disgust and Overdetermination: a poetics issue² for Open Letter. With the visual research collective Urban Subjects, he collaborated the artist book Autogestion, or Henri Lefebvre in New Belgrade (Fillip / Sternberg). Derksen is a founding member of the Kootenay School of Writing and Artspeak Gallery (Vancouver).

Voted NOW! Magazine’s best character comedian two years in a row! Kathleen has performed on comedy stages in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and in the U.K. She has appeared in various series for T.V including, Cock’d Gunns, (IFC/Showcase) “Good Morning World,” “House Party,” “Hot Box”(Comedy Network) and “This Hour Has 22 mins”(NBC/Global.) She is a core member of Laugh Sabbath, (laughsabbath.com) a comedy collective that hosts regular Sunday shows at the Rivoli. She’s written short fiction for The Pilot Pocket Book (#2 and #6 editions) and enjoyed losing big in Broken Pencil’s 2009 Indie Writers Death Match. She has a series of popular comedy videos and audio recordings featured on YouTube.

Kathleen is also a member of Cow Over Moon, an improv based Children’s Theatre Company.

Ken Sparling's most recent book, BOOK, was released by Pedlar Press in April. HUSH UP AND LISTEN STINKY POO BUTT, a novel he's been making by hand for about 10 years, was released as a paperback, with an introduction by Derek McCormack, by Artistically Declined Press in January -- check it out at StinkyPooButt dot com. He also has an untitled book and a book titled FOR THOSE WHOM GOD HAS BLESSED WITH FINGERS, both from Pedlar Press. DAD SAYS HE SAW YOU AT THE MALL, his first book, was published by Knopf, New York.

Michael Lista is the author of Bloom (Anansi 2010). His poems and essays have appeared most recently in The Walrus, The National Post, Maisonneuve, Canadian Notes & Queries, and the companion book to Guy Maddin's film My Winnipeg, published by Coach House Books. He lives in Toronto.

Sherwin Sullivan Tjia is a Montreal-based poet and illustrator. He is the author of two collections of poetry, Gentle Fictions, and The World is a Heartbreaker, the latter of which was a finalist for the Quebec Writers Federation’s A.M. Klein Poetry Award. He has also compiled two collections of comic strips, Pedigree Girls, and Pedigree Girls Forever, and one graphic novel, The Hipless Boy. His next book, "You Are a Cat!", a choose-your-own-adventure style romp from the point of view of a housecat, will be released in 2011. In his spare time, he organizes Slowdance Nights, Crowd Karaoke Singalongs, Love Letter Reading Open Mic Nights, and Strip Spelling Bees - which are what they sound like.

Tony Burgess writes long and short fiction and screenplays. He was recently nominated for a Genie for his screen adaptation of his second book, Pontypool Changes Everything. The screenplay was also nominated for a Chlotrudis Award and won a Splatcademy award. The film, Pontypool, was directed by Bruce McDonald. Tony’s fourth book, a collection of shorts, entitled Fiction For Lovers: Freshly Cut Takes of Flesh, Fear, Larvae and Love won the Relit Award.

Tony has a novel coming out in October 2010 with Chizine Press entitled People Live Still In Cashtown Corners. He also has a short story collection, Ravenna Gets, out with Anvil Press the same month. Next spring (2011) ECW will release Tony’s first YA novel entitled Idaho Winter.

In film Tony has a writer’s credit on the Cache Films documentary Music From The Big House filmed in Angola prison. He is currently working on a feature about an imagined evening with Chet Baker, to be directed by Bruce McDonald.

Tony co-wrote and performed in last year’s musical Die! Scream! Die! with Derek McCormack.

Tony lives in Stayner with his wife Rachel and their two children, Griffin and Camille.