3rd Annual Open Mic Night

The 3rd Annual Open Mic Night took place on Tuesday, April 23rd at the Orangeville Public Library. We maxed out at 15 participants again and had a good crowd.

Dufferin County's Poet Laureate Harry Posner hosted and shared some of his poetry.

Linda Rebhan read some of her poetry

Emma Pink works at Mochaberry, a local coffee shop. "Words have the power to change lives," she said as she spoke on the coffee and words connection.

Clare McCarthy read from his latest work, "Growing Old Isn't For Wimps", a reflection on aging.

M.J. Moores read from her steampunk novel "Shadow Phoenix".

A rapt audience.

Marilyn Kleiber read from "The Healers", the second book in a series of myth/fantasy novels written under the name J.M. Tibbott. The first book is called "The Arrival". Book 3 of a possible 7 books is currently in the works.

Matt Griffin was his usual peculiar but very entertaining self. His impersonations of Jimmy Stewart and Kermit the Frog were on point.

Winston Utenbogaart read from his book of poetry "Leaves O'er Weathered Stones". We heard "From My Heartfelt Store", "By The Table Lamp" and "Dusky Evenings".

Eight-time published author of cozy mysteries, Diane Bator read from the first of her new series of Glitter Bay Mysteries, "All That Sparkles".

Dancer, choreographer, director and writer, Roland Kirouac entertained us with details of his memoir "Message From a Fool".

Andrew Welch read from his first book "The Value Crisis - from dollars to democracy, why numbers are ruining our world". He shared with us Chapter 8 - Numbering Our Days.

Healer, author and motorcycle enthusiast, Liz Jansen read from her memoir, a collection of stories, "Women, Motorcycles and the Road to Empowerment".

Jenn Crole read the poem "Current", inspired by the beauty in all things.

David Mcguinn shared his poetry on meditation and nature.

Judy Zarowny read three poems on the topic of relationships. "The Argument", "Fix Me", and "Forfeit".

Our talented group of writers!

See you next year!

Writers' Open Mic Night, April 20, 2017

The Headwaters Writers' Guild in partnership with the Orangeville Public Library held a Writers' Open Mic Night on Thursday evening. The evening was a huge success as you can see by this photo:

Our esteemed host, Spoken Word Poet and author of 4 published books, Harry Posner opened the evening with a poem he wrote, "From the Crotch of the Invisible World", a rant about the electronic world. Many thanks to Harry for being Mr. Personality.

Harry first introduced Headwaters Writers' Guild founder Nancy Rorke who shared the history of the Headwaters Writers' Guild and emphasized that new members are always welcome.

First up was HWG member Donald Bowles who read from his current work in progress.

Mike and Sandy Bergner have recently moved to Mulmur. Mike read a children's short story, "Child's Fantasy", written by Sandy.

HWG member Judy Zarowny followed with three poems: "My Face Fell Off", "Forfeit" (a sonnet), and "Old Age".

Okssana Crawley made the drive from Brampton to share her series of children's books called "Super Hammy", a box set of 15 teachables which she also illustrated.

Amanda Cirinna read from her children's short story called "Never Eat Spumoni Ice Cream Twice", the moral of which is 'don't make the same mistake twice'.

A brave 14 year old, Vanian, was introduced with her quote, "I used to be a liar but became a writer instead." She read two poems, "Heartbroken" and "Half-Brother".

Our feature reader, U.S.A. Today best selling author and HWG member Diane Bator closed out the first half with a reading from the second novel in her Gilda Wright Mysteries series of novels.

HWG member and Banner columnist Clare McCarthy started the second half of the evening reading a short story he wrote from a group writing prompt. The prompt was "He tied a rope to the bag and lowered it carefully from the second floor window at the back of the old house". The title of the story, "It's In The Bag".

Emma Pink read from her newly published book "It's Going to Be a Really Good Day" about her struggles with bi-polar disorder.

We were then blessed with a second reading from feature author Diane Bator, this time from her yet-to-be-published novel "Steeped in Trouble". This will be Diane's 10th published novel (if I haven't lost count).

Following Diane was Matt Griffin from Collingwood. Matt's writing is a little on the eccentric side. I can only describe his performance as humorous, along the lines of stand-up comedy.

Winston Uytenbogaart read a collection of poems he wrote. This was his first performance and he did great. He read two poems entitled "When I Was Young", "Leonard 11/10/16" in honor of the late Leonard Cohen, "The Red, Red Rose", "Good-Bye Old Molar", "The Festival Roadie Blues", "The Farmer", and "Leo's Song" in honor of his late brother.

M.J. Moores has published a series of novels called The Chronicles of Xannia. She delighted us with her beautiful singing voice in a-capella before reading from "Cadence of Consequences". You can check out her website at mjmoores.com.

Nancy Rorke returned to the floor to read a short story on her experience surrounding learning to ride a motorcycle.

Our final performance of the night was from former HWG member Jenn Crole who we hope will be returning to the group. She read a poem she wrote called "The Awakening".

(sorry for the poor quality as this picture is a snip from a video)

We would like to thank the Orangeville Public Library for co-hosting this event with us and for providing delicious cookies, fruit and beverages. Added props go out to group Administrator, Patricia Gallant (aka Mary Patricia Bird), pictured here with Diane Bator. She, Harry and Nancy worked hard with the Orangeville Public Library to put this event together. And thanks to Judy Zarowny for providing photography.

Thank you everyone who came out to support our writers. We hope to see you at the next Open Mic event. Stay tuned.

A Literary Pairing - Theatre Orangevile

2015 Headwaters Arts Festival Authors Night

Note the new location: Orangeville Opera House

W.O.W. Words The Orangeville Way in Pictures

Saturday, November 15, 2014, The Headwaters Writers' Guild participated in W.O.W. at the Orangeville Public Library. This event featured many local authors, poets, story tellers, and our writing group. For the first year of this event there was a fair turn-out of people. We thank the Orangeville Public Library for bringing writing to the forefront in the Orangeville community. It's been a long time coming and now there are events on a monthly basis if not more often. Kudos to our great Chief Librarian Darla Fraser who has worked diligently to bring writing, reading, and authors to the library from the Dufferin area and beyond.

Below are pictures taken by our group secretary (who is not a professional photographer or blogger):

Rapt Audience

Clare McCarthy

Harry Posner

Diane Bator

Joseph Gilbey

Jayne Self

June Hustler (Duncan)

Nancy Rorke

Judy Zarowny

The Headwaters Writers' Guild members in attendance

Anthony Carnovale & Harry Posner on Storytelling

Marilyn Klieber, HWG Moderator of the Day

.... and these pictures are not going to post the way I set them up. It's the best I could do.

Creative Writing Workshop for Adults: Session 1

Join Canadian award-winning author, teacher and entertainer Richard Scarsbrook for the first in a four part series of creative writing workshops for adults (18 years and older). This two hour workshop focuses on Writing, Revising & Editing and Words: The Writer's Tools.

Richard Scarsbrook has published a number of works of poetry and fiction, including Cheeseburger Subversive, Featherless Bipeds, Destiny's Telescope, and The Monkeyface Chronicles - winner of the 2011 Ontario Library Association's White Pine Award. He teaches creative writing workshops at Humber and George Brown Colleges. His latest novel, Indifference League, is due to be released in 2014. 

Light refreshments provided. No registration required.

For more information about Richard Scarsbrook:

Website: http://www.richardscarsbrook.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/richscarsbrook

Blog: http://www.richardscarsbrook.blogspot.ca/

• Date: Monday, March 25, 2013
• Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
• Location: Mill Street Branch - Meeting Room (lower level)

Follow up sessions scheduled for Monday, March 25th; Monday, April 22nd;, Monday, May 13th; Monday, June 10th.