Monkey ranches and violin lovers

UPEI's Winter's Tales Reading Series has always boasted a fantastic lineup of poets and fiction authors, and this year looks to be no different. To kick off the 2013 season, the talented Susan Glickman and Julie Bruck will give a combined reading on Thursday, September 26, at 7:30 pm in the Faculty Lounge, UPEI Main Building. These Montreal-raised poets have been working on and teaching others their craft for years, and that dedication and practice shines through in their works.

Glickman studied and travelled in Europe, Asia, and America, and has made a home for herself in Toronto. She has published poetry books since the early 80's, and in 2006, published her first novel, The Violin Lover, which won the Stan and Helen Vine Award for Fiction at the Canadian Jewish Book Awards and was named one of the year's best novels by The National Post. This success adds to her Gabrielle Roy prize and Raymond Klibansky prize, for her work of literary criticism The Picturesque & the Sublime: A Poetics of the Canadian Landscape.

In 2008, she made the foray into writing juvenile fiction and has put out a trilogy. The first book garnered a starred selection in the annual Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids & Teens list. Glickman has received Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council Awards for her work.

Joining Glickman is Julie Bruck, whose work has appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and anthologies as well as her three books of poetry: The Woman Downstairs, The End of Travel, and Monkey Ranch, winner of the 2012 Governor General's Award for Poetry. The book was a contender in The Globe and Mail 100 Best Books of 2012, a finalist for the 2013 Canadian Authors' Association Award for Poetry, and the 2013 Pat Lowther Memorial Prize.

Bruck's work has been described as poetically powerful, with a pitch-perfect elegance, and as stories-in-poetry. Her conversational voice is refreshing and inviting to readers. Her witty and intimate ability to weave moments into words has contributed to her A.M. Klein Award for Poetry, two Pushcart Prize nominations, and two Gold Canadian National Magazine Awards.

The reading by these exciting and vibrant authors is sponsored by the UPEI English Department with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. A reception and book signing will follow. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.