Writers Read Event at NGPL Dec. 8th 2024
Take a bit of time on Sunday, December 8th, from 2:00-4:00 pm, to join “Writers Read”, at the Kemptville Branch of the North Grenville Public Library at 1 Water Street, Kemptville. Ottawa-based poets AJ Dolman, Conyer Clayton, and Jennifer Baker will each be reading from work that reflects elements of the personal everyday: diversity, identity, mental health, relationships and place.
These three poets are engaging — their poetry adroitly uses a variety of methods, such as
absurdity and irony, within open, lyric and prose forms to convey the multiples of ways that our
experiences and senses of place inform identity. Through direct and nuanced language, their
poetry considers complexities related to how one accepts, adapts or changes societal, personal,
domestic, and environmental influences that shape who we are or how we might be.
AJ Dolman’s (they/she) debut poetry collection is Crazy / Mad (Gordon Hill Press, 2024). They
previously authored Lost Enough: A collection of short stories (MRP, 2017), three poetry
chapbooks, and co-edited Motherhood in Precarious Times (Demeter Press, 2018). Their/her
poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. They are/she is a bi/pan+ rights advocate and founder of Bi+ Canada. (https://www.writersunion.ca/member/AJ-
Dolman).
Conyer Clayton (https://www.conyerclayton.com) is an award-winning writer and editor from
Kentucky living in Ottawa, whose latest book of surrealist prose poetry, But the sun, and the
ships, and the fish, and the waves, (Anvil Press, 2022) won the Archibald Lampman Award. They
are a Senior Editor at Augur and a member of VII, an Ottawa-based poetry collective. Their
fiction, essays, and poetry are published in journals throughout the U.S. and Canada. Their third
full-length collection of poetry is forthcoming in 2026.
Jennifer Baker (https://jennifergbaker.com/) is a poet, editor, and scholar living and working in
Ottawa, Ontario. She has published three chapbooks, Abject Lessons, Groundling (both through
above/ground) and Memento Mishka (co-authored with David Currie) (Apt. 9 Press). She is the
Poetry Editor for Arc Poetry Magazine. Her poetry, essays, and interviews can be found in Arc,
Canthius, and Canadian Literature. Her current projects focus on intersections between
environmental history, material sciences, visual arts, and poetry. Her visual poem, Hands, is
available as an interactive digital poem through Singing Apple Press (UK).
All three poets will be in conversation with Susan Johnson for Friday’s Special Blend on Dec.
6th at 8:00 a.m (CKCU 93.1 FM) or online via https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/158/index.html
