The Armadillo
The Armadillo

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now hear this!! is a special project of the Descant Arts & Letters foundation, which is a registered charity. There are three ways to donate. Learn More

Writer in Residence Profile

Larry Frolick

Larry Frolick attended Victoria College, graduated in anthropology and law, and became a field journalist exploring globalization in the Middle East, Asia and Central America. He is the author of four books including Bastard Eden / Our Chernobyl (Portland, 2008), a collaboration with photographer Don Weber on post-atomic life in Ukraine. His long-form documentary essays include: “Last Days of Suburbia” (Walrus); “Police Work in an Ex-Police State” (The Believer); “Making Over Ms. Canada” (Chatelaine); and “Kebabistan” (Descant), on Day 1 of the Iraq War. His latest project is a social history of Modernism in Canada and its lost dream of self-transformation. His nonfiction work has won four National Magazine Awards including the Alexander Ross Award; and the Lange-Taylor Prize (USA) with D. Weber, the first Canadian winners. He lives on a peach farm with his family in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Larry Frolick is the writer in residence for St. Patrick.

Welcome to the home of S.W.A.T. (Students, Writers And Teachers), Toronto’s first-ever ongoing writers-in-schools program.

Welcome to NOW HEAR THIS!

 
NOW HEAR THIS! is the literacy outreach arm of the Descant Arts & Letters Foundation. The program connects professional authors with community groups, students and aspiring writers in order to promote Canadian literature and encourage self-expression, critical thinking and empowerment through literacy education. Explore our website to find out more about our projects, writers, how to bring a workshop to your school or organization, and ways to get involved!
 
This website was recently redesigned with the help of an Ontario Arts Council Compass Grant.
 

Recently on NOW HEAR THIS!!

The Barracuda Launch Is Fast Approaching!

Posted by Becky Russell on Mar 11th 2010
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Here at the NOW HEAR THIS! office, we’ve been busily preparing for the highly anticipated launch of The Barracuda, our newest anthology of student writing. The launch is NHT!’s major event of the year and celebrates the creativity and hard work of all the students in the S.W.A.T. program, but especially those published in The Barracuda. The anthology itself boasts the best work from 2009’s series of S.W.A.T. workshops—including poetry, short stories, dialogues and personal essays—and features reflections from our Writers-in-Residence on their experiences working with these talented young authors. It's also filled to the brim with gorgeous, eye-popping illustrations by Toronto artist Marc Ngui. 
 

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Get to know... Devon Code!

Posted by Rachel Hopwood on Mar 11th 2010
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Over the course of the winter 2010 edition of S.W.A.T., we're posting brief interviews with each of our participating Writers-in-Residence. We want to give all of you a chance to get to know the amazing people who work so hard to make the S.W.A.T. program a success!
 
Today we present the third of our twelve writer interviews - with the deft Devon Code!
 
Devon is from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He studied at the University of King’s College in Halifax and at Concordia University in Montreal. His fiction has appeared in periodicals in Ireland, England and Canada. In a Mist, his debut collection of short fiction, was published by Invisible Publishing. He regularly contributes fiction reviews to Quill & Quire and teaches English at Seneca College. Devon Code is the S.W.A.T. Writer-in-Residence for Dante Alighieri. 
 
Our Q & A with Devon Code… after the jump!

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Youth writing contest alert!

Posted by Rachel Hopwood on Mar 10th 2010
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We just received word from the British short story journal Riptide that they are sponsoring a competition for young writers above the age of 12. They are looking for short stories (up to 5000 words) and the winner will receive  £1000 (about $1,500 by today's exchange rate) and publication. So to all you young authors reading this, you'd better get writing!
 
The deadline for this contest is May 20th, 2010 — and entries coming from overseas can be submitted by email, so there's no excuse not to send your work along!

 
You can find out all sorts of further information over at Riptide's contest page or by continuing to read after the jump...

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Paul Vermeersch - taking over the world one blog at a time

Posted by Jennifer de Visser on Mar 5th 2010
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We told you a little while back about the launch of The Al Purdy A-Frame Anthology which was edited by our very own Writer-in-Residence, Paul Vermeersch. Well, Paul has been keeping busy. So busy, in fact, that he actually had to step down for the year 2010 as a NOW HEAR THIS! Writer-in-Residence. He’ll still always be a member of our family as far as we’re concerned and we are happy to celebrate in his success.
 
 
 

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Get to know... Angela Szczepaniak

Posted by Rachel Hopwood on Mar 5th 2010
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Over the course of the winter 2010 edition of S.W.A.T., we're posting brief interviews with each of our participating Writers-in-Residence. We want to give all of you a chance to get to know the amazing people who work so hard to make the S.W.A.T. program a success!
 
Today we present the third of our twelve writer interviews - with the astonishing Angela Szczepanak!
 
Angela describes herself as having been a student nearly forever; a condition that has most recently landed her neckdeep in a doctoral dissertation on innovative poetry, dysfunctional detective fiction, and comic books. She also writes fiction, poetry, cartoons, and critical essays, and works as a poetry editor for Redwood Coast Press (California). One of her early career highlights was participating in LOCCAL’s first hygiene themed poetry-art project—traces of her visual poetry may still be found on placards in some of the finest public restrooms in Seattle. Her first book is a novel-in-poems, called Unisex Love Poems (DC Books). Eventually forthcoming will be her typeface-cartoon extravaganza, The QWERTY Institute of Cosmetic Typographical Enhancement. Angela Szczepaniak is the S.W.A.T. Writer-in-Residence for Michael Power/St. Joseph.
 
Our Q & A with Angela Szczepaniak… after the jump!
 
 

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