Morris House Reading Series 2009-2010

Armand Garnet Ruffo's work is strongly influenced by his Ojibway heritage. He is the author of two volumes of poetry, Opening In the Sky and At Geronimo's Grave, winner of the 2002 Archibald Lampman Award for Poetry, and the creative biography, Grey Owl: the Mystery of Archie Belaney. His work includes directing a feature film adaptation of his CBC Showcase award winning play A Windigo Tale (2009) and writing a creative biography on the acclaimed Ojibway painter Norval Morrisseau. His poetry appeared in the latest issues of Exile and Event and was recently featured on the Toronto subway system. He currently teaches Aboriginal literature and creative writing at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Sarah Dowling is originally from Regina, Saskatchewan. She received a B.A. in English from Bishop's University, an M.A. in Creative Writing from Temple University, and is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Capilano Review, Cue, Dusie, EOAGH, How2, the ixnay reader, and West Coast Line. Her first book of poetry, Security Posture, won the 2009 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry.

Claire Rothman has lived all her life in Montreal. She has worked as a lawyer, a columnist for the Montreal Gazette, a literary translator and a teacher at Marianopolis College and McGill University. She currently makes her living translating for film and television. She has written two collections of short stories, Salad Days, and Black Tulips, a novel, The Heart Specialist, and she won the John Glassco Translation Award in 1993 for The Influence of a Book.

Pam Calabrese Maclean lives in Antigonish, Nova Scotia where she works in the Library of St. Francis Xavier University. Her poems have appeared in such literary journals as The Antigonish Review, Dandelion, subTerrain, Concrete Wolf, Passager, and The New Writer. She was the recipient of the 2000 and the 2003 Ray Burrell Poetry Award. In 2003 a suite of her poems, On A Chair Outside The Living, was awarded 3rd prize in an international competition from Britain's The New Writer. Her flash fiction has appeared in two US anthologies: Women Behaving Badly, in 2004 and Blink, in 2006. Her first book of poetry, Twenty-four Names for Mother was published in 2006. Her first play, Her Father's Barn, was produced by Festival Antigonish in 2002. Her Father's Barn went on to award-winning performances at The London Fringe Festival and Liverpool International Theatre Festival, before being invited to The Uno Festival in Victoria, BC in 2007. Her latest play, Sunnyside Cafe, recently appeared in The Atlantic Fringe Festival.

Sally Clark is a playwright, painter and filmmaker. She has been the resident playwright at Theatre Passe Muraille, Nightwood Theatre, The Shaw Festival and Nakai Theatre. Her play Moo won the Chalmers Award, and she was nominated for the Governor General's Award for her play The Trial of Judith K. She has written and directed two short films, Ten Ways to Abuse an Old Woman and The Art of Conversation. Ten Ways to Abuse an Old Woman won the special Jury Award at the Henri Langlois International Short Film Festival. The Art of Conversation won the Bronze Award for Best Dramatic Short at the Worldfest Charlston Festival in 1993 and has been screened at several film festivals around the world.