Kirk DeMatas is a Toronto-based multi-disciplinary artist, dancer, actor, poet, and the author of the collections Wordspeak and Conversations with Skeletons. In 2022, he incorporated poetry with original music for his first EP. His poetry also features in his music videos and the 2024 award-winning short film “Coffee, Black.” Shapeshifter: Manifesting your poetry across mediums Poetry is an ancient…

We had a wonderful group of writers talk about their work and share their stories with us this past Wednesday. Click here for the recorded live stream of our January 14th event featuring Tamara Jong, Jes Battis, Leslie Shimotakahara, and Maurice Vellekoop, with guest speaker Kirk DeMatas who spoke to us on the topic “Shapeshifter: Manifesting your poetry across mediums.”…

Leslie Shimotakahara is an award-winning author of three novels and a memoir, as well as numerous short fiction and essays. She won the Canada-Japan Literary Prize and has been shortlisted for the K.M. Hunter Artist Award. Her fourth novel, THE BREAKWATER, will be published in April 2026 by Cormorant Books. Video: Interview with “Shawn Breathes Books”…

Tamara Jong is a Tiohtià:ke (Montréal) born writer of Chinese and European ancestry. Her work has been published in literary magazines, and long and shortlisted for various creative non-fiction prizes. She is a Writer’s Studio graduate and lives on Treaty 3 territory, (Guelph, ON). Worldly Girls is her first book. How to be a writer I…

Maurice Vellekoop is a Toronto illustrator and cartoonist. His work has appeared in major magazines, books and advertising for 40 years. His graphic memoir, I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together, won the Toronto Book Award and the Trillium Book Award. Excerpt from I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together