Natalie Zina WalschotsNatalie Zina Walschots' first book of poetry, Thumbscrews, was published by Snare Books in 2007. Her newest manuscript, Supervillains, is nearly complete. Her work has recently appeared in Rampike, A4, Open Letter, Misunderstandings Magazine, Last Supper, ditch and dANDelion. She has served as the Managing Editor of both filling Station and dANDelion magazines. She also co-curated the Flywheel reading series from 2005 to 2008. Natalie completed her MA in English/Creative Writing at the University of Calgary. She currently serves as a board member for Toronto's Draft reading series. She is also a part of the collective behind Small Print, a workshop and reading series for young writers. Her current base of operations is located in Toronto. She lives in a menagerie with several humans, two cats, and a dog.

On May 7th, Walschots will primarily be reading from her manuscript-in-progress 'Supervillains.' This work engages the erotics of villainy, exploring the simultaneous attraction and repulsion Walschots feel towards monstrousness. And, they're a bunch of sexy love poems about comic book super-villains.

The A B Series acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.

Listen to interview with Nathalie from CKCU's Special Blend

Gary Barwin is active as a writer, composer, and performer. His music and writing have been published and presented in Canada, the U.S., Japan, and Europe. He has published numerous books and chapbooks of poetry, visuals and fiction, including Doctor Weep and other Strange Teeth, and, with derek beaulieu, frogments from the frag pool. Forthcoming book include his third poetry collection with Coach House, The Porcupinity of the Stars and The Obvious Flap, written with Gregory Betts (BookThug) and, Franzlations (New Star) with Hugh Thomas and Craig Conley. His chapbook, Inverting the Deer (serif of nottingham) was a co-winner of the 2009 bpNichol Chapbook Award. He edits the Supernova Tadpole series for Paper Kite Press in Pennsylvania. His writing and visual texts have appeared in numerous anthologies, and magazines. His work has been commissioned and broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Barwin received a PhD in Music Composition from SUNY at Buffalo. He graduated from York University with a BFA in Music and a BA in Creative Writing. He was the recipient of the 1998 Emerging Artist Award in Literature from the KM Hunter Foundation and the Ontario Arts Council. Seeing Stars, a YA novel, was a finalist for both CLA YA book of the year, and an Arthur Ellis Award.

Barwin lives in Hamilton, Ontario with vague and often unattainable ambitions for language. He can be found at serifofnottingham.blogspot.com.

The A B Series acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.

The A B Series and Ottawa Art Gallery present a reading in the context of the exhibition, 'Fibred Optics'. Local poets have been commissioned to create literary art inspired by Michele Provost's installation 'ABSTrACTS/RéSuMÉS.' Provost's visual art installation references text from contemporary art criticism and forms the raw material for the commissioned poets' projects. Come see what they do January 28th, 2010!

Grant Wilkins has always liked letters, words and paper. Now that he is older and more mature, he likes letters, words, paper and ink.

Pearl Pirie does haiku and visual, corpus-based poetry, form and formless. She has been published in ditch, Ottawater and by AngelHouse Press. Her last chapbook bOATHouse was published by above/ground press. In 2008, Pearl Pirie was one of Tree's Hot Ottawa Voices. Her blog, Humanyms, which she describes as "a verbal sketchpad of being positively human", is widely followed.

John Lavery lives in Gatineau. He is the author of Very Good Butter and You, Kwaznievski, You Piss Me Off, both published by ECW Press. He is a founding member of the Montreal Guitar Orchestra.

Sandra Ridley’s most recent work can be found as a hand-stitched chapbook Rest Cure, published by Ottawa’s Apt. 9 Press. She won the bpNichol Chapbook Award for Lift, and was a finalist for the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry in 2009. Her first manuscript of poetry, Fallout, won the 2008 Alfred G. Bailey Prize and will be published in Spring 2010 by Hagios Press.

Carmel Purkis is a prairie girl who was born by the Atlantic, raised in the north, fell in love with the Pacific and makes Ottawa, Ontario her home. She has been involved in various sound poetry projects over the last several years, including the last couple of installments of MESSAGIO GALORE.

jwcurry is an editor and publisher.

SEE THE OTTAWA ART GALLERY'S PAGE FOR THE EVENT:

http://www.ottawaartgallery.ca/exhibits/2009/fibred-optics/ab-series-en.php

bill bissettbill bissett's charged readings, which never fail to amaze his audiences, incorporate sound poetry, chanting and singing, the verve of which is only matched by his prolific writing career – over 70 books of bissett’s poetry have been published.

PART OF THE EVENING'S PROGRAM, WE CELEBRATE bill bissett's 70th BIRTHDAY WITH CAKE, PRIZES, MUSIC AND THE FIRST THIRTY GUESTS RECEIVE A LOOT BAG!

Birthday festivities include poetry to be performed by LUNA ALLISON and KEVIN MATTHEWS and music to be performed by ROLAND PREVOST and JOHN LAVERY.

And there's going to be a piñata...

"I know who the great poets are. William Bissette of Vancouver. An Indian boy. Bill Bissette, or Bissonnette." (Jack Kerouac, 1967)

Margaret Atwood's "astral twin" and James Reaney's "one-man civilization", living legend bill bissett gives a feature reading in The A B Series.

The A B Series acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.