Episode 1: Lori Hahnel and Todd Devonshire

Reading West

Reading West features Canadian writers talking about their books...specifically writers who live in Western Canada.

This episode features Lori Hahnel reading her short story, Vermin, and Todd Devonshire reading from his novel Rink Burgers.

Lori Hahnel is the author of two novels, Love Minus Zero (Oberon, 2008) and After You’ve Gone (Thistledown, 2014), as well as a story collection, Nothing Sacred (Thistledown, 2009), which shortlisted for an Alberta Literary Award. Her work has been nominated for the Journey Prize three times and has appeared in over forty publications in North America, Australia and the U.K. Her credits include CBC Radio, The Fiddlehead, Joyland and The Saturday Evening Post. Lori teaches creative writing at Mount Royal University in Calgary.For more on Lori, visit https://lorihahnel.ca/

Todd Devonshire was born and raised in Big River, Saskatchewan. It is here he learned to love hockey, rock n roll and the TV show Jeopardy. Upon graduating from high school, he went to broadcasting school in Saskatoon. His first job was with CJVR Radio in Melfort, Saskatchewan. After leaving CJVR, the station went on to win all kinds of awards. Coincidence? We think not. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2001 with degrees from the College of Education and Kinesiology (hmmm…is that the correct spelling?); however, there was a strong desire to teach overseas and travel. For over two years, Todd travelled the world making stops in England and Japan. The idea for his novel Rink Burgers came to him while riding the trains and subways in Tokyo. Eventually he returned home to Saskatchewan and finished the book. He has developed an interest in play writing. His first play, The Baby Boomers, was produced in 2012. He is currently finishing his second play and working on a second novel. Todd currently teaches at the Saskatoon Business College. For more on Todd, visit www.rinkburgers.com/

Theme music is Flax Flower Blue by Best Kept Secret Girlfriend.

This podcast features Western Canadian authors reading from their novels, short fiction, poetry, memoirs, or non-fiction. It is created and hosted by Saskatchewan novelist Lisa Guenther. Reading West is open to featuring published authors from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. For the most part, the podcast focuses on literature, but writers working in other genres are welcome to inquire. For more information on submitting, visit lisaguenther.com/reading-west-podcast/ You can also check out the show on Facebook at www.facebook.com/readingwest/