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Now Hear This!

June 4th, 2007     by Stacey May Fowles     Comments

Since I’m known for being a bit of a lit geek, I thought I’d let readers know about Now Hear This!, a brilliant program that this year brought young people and professional writers together in the classroom. The calibre of the writing talent is supreme, and from what I hear, students are producing some stellar work while learning hands-on with the writers. The program is constantly expanding, and an anthology of student writing is currently in the works. This week, three of the writers involved will be celebrating the end of a succesful program by doing readings in some of the participating schools. Pictured here is writer and Shameless contributor Zoe Whittall with attending students, taken at today’s reading at Notre Dame High School.

zoe-and-writerscraft-class.jpg

Fair disclosure: I was formerly Descant’s Circulation Manager, the literary journal Now Hear This! works in conjunction with.

STUDENTS, WRITERS AND TEACHERS (SWAT) AND NOW HEAR THIS! ANNOUNCE A CITY-WIDE AUTHOR READINGS SERIES Acclaimed Authors, Colin Frizzell, Zoe Whittall, Catherine Graham and Krista Bridge to Give Readings at SWAT Schools this June

The SWAT Program, run through Now Hear This! an Outreach Program of the Descant Arts and Letters Foundation, has completed a smashingly successful first term! For twelve weeks, ten of our authors have occupied residency terms at ten schools at the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). The writers have worked with high school students and teachers to develop core literacy skills, to foster personal expression and creative innovation.

Now, to celebrate the successes of SWAT, four SWAT authors will hold readings across the city at TCDSB high schools. On June 4, Zoe Whittall will read from her latest collection of poetry, Emily Valentine Poems (Snare, 2006) for 50 students at Notre Dame High School in the Upper Beaches. On June 5, writer Catherine Graham will read from her book, Pupa (Insomniac Press, 2003) for 40 students at Michael Power/St. Joseph in Etobicoke. Krista Bridge, will read from her novel The Virgin Spy (Douglas and McIntyre, 2006) for 70 students at Pope John Paul II High School on June 6. Finally, Friday June 8 at Father John Redmond High School in Etobicoke, Colin Frizzell, screenwriter and author, will read from his latest young adult novel Just J (Orca Books, 2007), recently hailed by The Globe and Mail as “thought provoking” and “engaging.”

Selected student-writers will also read material that they have created in the SWAT program.

SWAT will return to the TCDSB this fall with exciting new program curricula.

SWAT, run through Now Hear This!, is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Trillium Foundation, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the JP Bickell Foundation.

Tags: arts

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