It's a punk rock extravaganza! Writers Todd Taylor (Razorcake editor), Jennifer Whiteford, and Mike Faloon will be reading from their works at Arise Bookstore (2441 Lyndale Ave S) on Saturday, April 14th at 7pm. They will be joined by Arise-nik authors, and performances by local music favorites The Hex (featuring members from the Knotwells, Harlequin, and Blackthorns) and Bla Bla Blacksheep (a two-person acoustic pop punk explosion!). The event is free, but donations are gladly accepted.

Todd Taylor heads the Los Angeles-based Razorcake Magazine (www.razorcake.org) and co-heads Gorsky Press ( www.gorskypress.org). Todd is also a regular contributor to Thrasher magazine, and has published work in Suburban Voice, Barracuda, Verbicide, Sleepwalk, and Maximum Rock'n'roll. In 2006, Razorcake became the United States' first bonafide non-profit independent music magazine and it is currently attempting to set up a community center in East Lost Angeles. Todd will be reading from his first work of fiction, Shirley Wins. Shirley Wins is a novel of not giving up and not giving in as seen through the eyes of a physics-obsessed grandmother and her punk music listening granddaughter who, against all odds, will create the pumpkin cannon to end all pumpkin cannons. Shirley Wins is the follow up to 2004's Born to Rock, a collection of in-depth interviews illuminating the often-misrepresented subculture of punk rock.

Jennifer Whiteford lives in the lovely and very cold city of Ottawa, Ontario , where she is a civil servant by day and a rock'n'roll, rollerderbying, novelist by night. Her first book, Grrrl, has been likened to "a killer mixtape from the early 1990s that you want to play over and over again." She has a shy dog and a very loud laugh. She takes no offence to being labeled as a geek and/or a dork. It has become par for the course. She has a blog, too: http://www.jenniferwhiteford.blogspot.com/

Mike Faloon has paid the bills as a DJ, dishwasher, drummer, and school teacher. He is the publisher of two zines ( Go Metric, Zisk) and a contributing writer to magazines such as Chunklet, Razorcake, and Roctober. His work has also appeared in The Zine Yearbook (Soft Skull) and The Overrated Book (Last Gasp). His first book, a collection of essays and stories, is due out on Gorsky Press. He resides in Brewster, NY with his wife and daughter. www.gometric.typepad.com

Here's a link to an interview with Jennifer about Grrrl on the CBC "Ontario This Week" podcast: http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/features/podcast/

Here's a link to a podcast of Todd reading the first chapter to Shirley Wins:

http://www.fallofautumn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=198&Itemid=47