Recently lauded “a profound new talent” by eye Magazine, a.rawlings is a poet, editor, and multidisciplinary artist who has presented work throughout Canada and the U.S. In 2001, angela received the bpNichol Award for Distinction in Writing when she graduated from York University. Since then, she has worked with a variety of literary organizations, including The Mercury Press, The Scream Literary Festival, Sumach Press, Word: Canada’s Magazine for Readers + Writers, The Lexiconjury Reading Series, and the TV documentary series Heart of a Poet.
angela frequently leads youth-oriented creative writing workshops for organizations such as terminus1525.ca, the Toronto District School Board, and the Toronto Public Library system. The last two years, she has co-adjudicated the Toronto Public Library’s Young Voices poetry contest.
angela is the co-editor of Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry (The Mercury Press, Fall 2005), an anthology featuring over forty innovative poets from across the country. angela’s first book-length poem, Wide slumber for lepidopterists (Coach House Books, Spring 2006), was hailed by The Globe and Mail as “one cool collection, a fresh combination of unashamedly brainy and unabashedly horny.” Wide slumber for lepidopterists was translated from page to stage by Theatre Commutiny as part of Harbourfront Centre's prestigious Hatch: Emerging Performance Projects series in November 2006.
Awards
bpNichol Award for Distinction in Writing (2001)
Vanier College Poetry Contest (2001): 1st prize
Selected Publications
Wide slumber for lepidopterists (Coach House Books, 2006), ISBN 1552451690
dyssomnia (things like press, 2004)
silmaril iritidan & somnoptera (things like press, 2003)
[a,r] [s'c] (collaboration with Stephen Cain, housepress, 2002)
pins in ings if (collection with derek beaulieu, housepress, 2002)
Selected Anthologies
Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry (co-editor and contributor, The Mercury Press, 2005) ISBN 1551281163
Desire, Doom, & Vice, a Canadian Collection (contributor, Wingate Press, 2005)
Pissing Ice: An Anthology of 'New' Canadian Poets (contributor, BookThug, 2004) ISBN 0973564024
The Common Sky: Canadian Writers Against the War (contributor, Three Squares Press, 2002) ISBN 0-9732578-0-6
Books in Print
Wide slumber for lepidopterists (Coach House Books, 2006), ISBN 1552451690
Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry (co-editor and contributor, The Mercury Press, 2005) ISBN 1551281163
a.rawlings
angela@thescream.ca
Website: http://www.commutiny.net
Blog: http://commutiny.blogspot.com
Poetry Toolbox Workshops: http://www.commutiny.net/workshops.html
Coach House Books: http://www.chbooks.com
The Mercury Press: http://www.themercurypress.ca
The Lexiconjury Reading Series: http://www.commutiny.net/lexiconjury
The Scream Literary Festival: http://www.thescream.ca
Poet in the School
(Toronto, but extremely willing to travel)
email: angela@thescream.ca
Grade Levels: 9 - 12
Fees: standard
Classroom Approach:
Poetry Toolbox Workshops with angela cover an expansive curriculum, including opportunities for personal creative writing development, peer-to-peer collaboration and feedback, editing skills, alternative reading techniques, and oral reading/performance development. The workshops are designed to provide learners with practical opportunities to familiarize themselves with an holistic understanding of how we create, share, and promote Canadian literature. Learners will participate in individual and group hands-on activities that explore the creative process, individual and collaborative production, multidisciplinarity and the interconnectedness of the arts, editing, performance, the publishing industry, and Canada’s rich and diverse literary scene. Discussion and assignments will focus on useful and inventive approaches to writing, reading, research, and presentation. There are ten distinct workshops available, and they can be easily adapted to classroom and time allotment. More info available here: http://www.commutiny.net/workshops.html
For the 2006/7 school year, angela has been awarded an Ontario Arts Council Artists in Education project grant. This project grant combines all Poetry Toolbox Workshops into a 25-hour in-school program for Ontario high school students. There are six spaces available this year; please contact angela directly for more information.
angela is also available for classroom visits to read from and/or discuss her work, and is happy to collaborate with teachers to create a workshop experience ideal for their students.