Hello Friends,

I am writing this from my brand new MacBook Pro which is absolutely going to make my writing flow off the desktop!! No excuses now, I can even write in the dark using the illuminated keyboard! Cool!

In the world of poetry, citizens of Hamilton can see me read this Sunday evening as part of the very lively LitLive. Here's my performance schedule for the next little while:

Sunday, May 2 – 7:30 pm Lit Live, Hamilton

Sunday, May 16 – 6:00 pm Plasticine Reading Series, The Central, 603 Markham St. Toronto
Saturday, May 29 – As Cobourg's Poet Laureate, I'm reading with Eric Winter, Poet Laureate Emeritus and Patrick Gray (This Grace of Light) at Victoria Hall as part of the 150th anniversary of the opening of that Cobourg landmark.
Friday, June 11 – Dark Star Requiem, Luminato Festival, Toronto
Saturday, June 12 – Dark Star Requiem, Luminato Festival, Toronto
Thursday, June 17 – I'm the emcee for The 3rd Thursday Reading in Cobourg. Barry Dempster is the featured poet with Deborah Panko and Linda Hutsell-Manning.
July 14 - 17 Poet Laureate gathering at the Atlantic Jazz Festival, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Coming up this weekend in my new hometown (where I am also the Poet Laureate :)) of Cobourg, is the POW Festival. Three days of readings, films and workshops - including PerformaPoem which I'm facilitating. Check out the POW site at: http://www.poetrycobourg.ca/pow_2010main.htm and be sure to watch out for quick PL readings at a lot of the events, or at least a queen-like wave!

If you can't wait till the weekend for your Jill fix, then check me out at the Hot Sauced Words series on Thursday night.

How do you like my new head shot? My friend Edie Steiner made it! she's at: www.ediesteiner.com

Friends!

Next Thursday, April 15th I will be reading alongside another poet laureate, Brantford's own John B. Lee, at Hot Sauced Words http://piquantproductions.ca/hotsaucedwords/ This fabulous monthly reading series takes place at the Black Swan Tavern, 154 Danforth Avenue in good ol' Toronto. 8:00 p.m. Always good to see a crowd, so come on out!

The 15th also happens to be the day when the general public (that's probably you..) can order their tickets for the Luminato Festival shows. Skip Rufus Wainwright, skip John Malkovich, and go straight for this link: http://www.luminato.com/2010/events/124 and get your lovely tickets for Dark Star Requiem, Andrew Staniland and my oratorio with the Gryphon Trio, the Elmer Iseler Singers, 4 wonderful soloists and 2 kick-ass percussionists!!! Not to be missed. Especially the venue! Andrew and I will be lurking in the audience and will gladly accept drinks, money, praise or (in my case) young men after the performance(s) June 11 and 12!!!! 

After many weeks of procrastination - if you are a writer of any kind you will know how important it is to clean the fridge, iron clothes, do the grocery shopping BEFORE any writing can be done - I have started work on a new piece of writing. No title, no ultimate plan, but it originates from the experience of losing all my worldly goods back in November. Right now it's a kind of memoir, but we'll see how it progresses!! I'm not a pack-rat, but I do attach a lot of emotion to objects. Thank goodness I didn't lose my lovely poochies Witkin and Ansel.