life rattle Radio show no. 1144

Aired on CKLN FM 88.1 march 20, 2011

Hosted by Yanique Bird

Featuring

Robert Bickford reading:

"The Silver Infiniti Without the Pom-Poms"

and

Norm Reynolds reading:

"Canada Packers"
"My Father's Birthday"

tonight's Writers and Stories

Norm Reynolds has published short fiction in the United States and Canada and book reviews in the Canadian national press. He currently teaches English and Drama in Toronto.
Reynolds is the author of the plays Put Up Your Hand and The Good-bye Play. His short story “Living in Reverse” appears in paperplates.
In his first piece, Reynolds will make you laugh and then make you cry as he wraps you in the fold of a family, in their love and their pain as Dad learns of his son’s sexual orientation.
His second reading, along with teaching you how to make sausages, will make your muscles ache and leave you feeling really, really happy that you don’t work at Canada Packers!

Robert Bickford teaches at a special needs school in Toronto. He draws inspiration for his writing by walking and biking in downtown Toronto, swimming in Lake Superior, and carefully planning his time off.

Robert Bickford’s sharp and spot on observations of a mother exchanging needles at an AIDS Resource Network office with her young daughter and Barbie in tow, a foodcourt conversation with Jian-Li, an engineering professor in Beijing who now works as a lunchroom and educational assistant in Canada, and the nervous tension when wedding day preparations go slightly awry will enthrall you.

Bickford’s characters vibrate with life and intelligence and laugh out loud dialogue.