"These Personal Effects add up to a life, in all its clutter and grace, its fear and anger and desire. Bloom's voice is a torch, sending its searing, fearless light into the well of self. She knows the well is bottomless, and dangerous. She goes in anyway." - Stephanie Bolster

RONNA BLOOM is the author of four books of poetry, most recently, Permiso (Pedlar Press, 2009), shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award. Her poems have been translated into Spanish and Bengali and broadcast on CBC Radio. Her work appeared in "Poetry is Public is Poetry," an initiative of Toronto Poet Laureate Dionne Brand, which showcases and celebrates the work of Canadian poets to help transform Toronto's public realm into a forum for the written word. Bloom works as a writing teacher and psychotherapist. She has led workshops across Canada and abroad, and currently is Poet in Community at the University of Toronto. www.ronnabloom.com

Ronna Bloom's profile page

Beth Follett is the founder and publisher of Pedlar Press, a Canadian literary house. Her first novel, Tell it Slant (Coach House Books, 2001), a retelling of Djuna Barnes’s 1936 novel Nightwood, met with critical acclaim. Her poetry, prose and nonfiction work have appeared in Brick, Best Canadian Poetry 2019, and elsewhere. She lives in St John’s, NL.

Beth Follett's profile page