Word on the Hills Radio Program

This week we welcome back Patricia Arato as part of our encore series. Patricia Arato’s book The Language Thief is her “personal story, one that has taken a life-time to unfold.” Her memoir tells of her many years caring for and rehabilitating her aphasic ex-husband and how, because of that work, she became the driving … Continue reading Patricia Arato

As we continue our encore series, we welcome again, Beth Bruder, who, at the time of this interview, was Vice President at Dundurn Press. Beth is experienced in all aspects of publishing books, both nationally and internationally. She worked in the reference world of Wiley Canada before transitioning to Canadian trade publishing at Dundurn Press. … Continue reading Beth Bruder

Our encore presentation this week is from December 2014 when we interviewed memoir writer Diane Taylor. Diane has had several careers as a medical lab tech, a teacher, a sailor and a writer. She is the author of The Gift of Memoir and is well known as a workshop presenter and teacher of memoir writing. She started writing while sailing … Continue reading Diane Taylor

In this week’s encore presentation from July 2014, we talk to Erika Rummel. Erika  is the author/editor of many non-fiction, historical works, and an established novelist. In 2020 one of her historical novels, THE INQUISITOR’S NIECE, a story from the time of the Spanish Inquisition, received the award for “best historical novel” from the Colorado Publishers’ … Continue reading Erika Ru...

For our encore summer presentation this week we welcome Richard Pope. Richard was born in Toronto and lived and birded there until 2006. He is a retired professor of Russian literature and culture. Richard is a long-standing member of the Toronto Ornithological Club, The Ontario Field Ornithologists, and the Willow Beach Field Naturalists. He is … Continue reading Richard Pope

Join us for an encore presentation of interviews with Sher Leetooze we made in November 2014. Sher wanted to write all through school, and to that end submitted material to the annual High School Year Book. In 1994 she published her first local history book and it was an instant success. Sher went on to … Continue reading Sher Leetooze

This week’s summer encore interview is from November 2014 with Melody Crowe. Elder Melody Crowe is an Ojibway woman from the Alderville First Nation, where she has lived all her life. Melody is an Eagle Feather Carrier and for more than 25 years she has taught the Ojibway language and culture to children, youth, adults and elders. … Continue reading Melody Crowe

Joel Varty is CTO of Agility CMS, where he’s spent over 21 years working as a builder of content management platforms, now at the intersection of AI and content infrastructure. Joel is a frequent speaker, blog writer and video content writer. Joel holds a BA in English from the University of Guelph and regularly writes … Continue reading Joel Varty

A former newspaper reporter and editor, Janet Richards lives and writes in Belleville. A word lover, art dabbler and stand up comic, Janet has two published poetry collections. In this encore program from the summer of 2014, Janet tells us about her life as a journalist and editor for a small-town newspaper, as well as … Continue reading Janet Richards

Mark Richardson is a journalist and author. Based in Cobourg, Mark is the former automotive editor of the Toronto Star and now contributes regularly to Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, among other publications. His books include Zen and Now, Bird on a Wire, The Drive Across Canada, and Running on Empty. This encore … Continue reading Mark Richardson

Peggy Dymond Leavey made her first programme with Word on the Hills in June 2014. She worked for many years as a librarian in the public library system in Prince Edward County, but once she retired, she had more time for her writing. She is an award-winning and prolific author of middle grade stories and … Continue reading Peggy Dymond Leavey

Word on the Hills interviewed Bridget in July 2014. She was an active member of The Cobourg Poetry Workshop and involved in its organization. She gave many readings from her work. Her collection “Niagara Falls Trilogy”, displayed her chief poetic themes. Born and raised on the peninsula her poems concentrate on the minutiae of smalltown … Continue reading Bridget Campion

Jessica Outram is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario with roots in the Georgian Bay Métis Community. An educator for over twenty-five years, Jessica specializes in Indigenous Education. She was the fourth Poet Laureate of Cobourg and is a playwright, children’s writer, singer and actress. She currently lives in Peterborough. We are delighted … Continue reading Jessica Outram

This week we are replaying an early interview with Ruth Clarke. Ruth is the author of a number of books of nonfiction, but has sometimes used fictional characters as narrators in her historical works. She has also written a field guide to Alderville’s Black Oak Savannah, with biologist and artist Rick Beaver, and Buffers, Boundaries and … Continue reading Ruth Clarke

This summer we plan to look back over the years to the first programmes we archived in 2014. This week we are rebroadcasting a conversation between Gwynn and Felicity made to introduce themselves to the audience for Word on the Hills. We hope you enjoy it.

This week we are delighted to welcome Shane Joseph again to Word on the Hills. Shane is a well-known Canadian novelist, blogger, reviewer, short story writer, and publisher at Blue Denim Press. He began writing as a teenager living in Sri Lanka and has never stopped. He is the author of an ever increasing number … Continue reading Shane Joseph

In this episode, Gwynn interviews Felicity about how Word on the Hills began and her new book of poetry Where Sun Meets Shadow. Felicity invited Gwynn to partner her in a proposal  for this radio series, Word on the Hills, when the new radio station northumberland897.ca  was looking for content in 2013. To our enduring … Continue reading Felicity Sidnell Reid

Josée Sigouin is French Canadian and lives in Toronto/Tkaronto with her Chinese Canadian husband and their two sons. Watching South Korean films and television series in the mid-2000s launched Josée on a quest to understand the fascinating culture in ever greater depth. She has learned the rudiments of the Korean language, visited the Land of … Continue reading Josée Sigouin

This week we welcome Leslie Bradford-Scott to Word on the Hills. Leslie is the author of the upcoming memoir The Liar's Playbook (Simon & Schuster, 2026), an Indigo Most Anticipated pick for 2026. Her path to publication was anything but conventional — she sold the book on proposal in three weeks, without an agent, after … Continue reading Leslie Bradford Scott

Welcome to Patricia Calder! Pat Calder started writing as a teenager. Inspired by an uncle who reported for the CBC, she secretly wrote stories about her life in the 50s and 60s. As a young adult she travelled around Europe as far as Moscow. Inspired by Russian writers she studied in university, she explored communism. … Continue reading Patricia Calder

This week we welcome Ted Staunton. Ted Staunton wrote his first story long ago, as a class assignment at university. He barely handed it in on time, but he’s glad he did: it became the picture book Puddleman. Now the author of something like fifty books, he writes for all ages, and he’s getting better. … Continue reading Ted Staunton

Kim Fahner lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario. Her latest book, a novel, is The Donoghue Girl (Latitude 46 Publishing) and her next book of poetry, The Pollination Field, will be published by Turnstone Press in 2025. Kim was a finalist for the 2023 Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize, and she recently won first place in … Continue reading Kim Fahner

Our guest this week is Kate Rogers. Her poem “False Spring” is forthcoming in the Caitlin Press anthology, Sublime: Poems for Vanishing Ice, Editor Yvonne Blomer. Kate won first prize in subTerrain Magazine’s Lush Triumphant Award for her five-poem suite, “My Mother’s House.” Her poem “The Giraffe-bone Knife Set” was shortlisted for ROOM Magazine’s Poem … Continue reading Kate Rogers