Tartan Turban Secret Readings #42

You are invited to the 42nd session of The Tartan Turban Secret Readings, curated by Paul Edward Costa and featuring Dakota Jeane Phillips, Tahira Rajwani, Ghazal Faridi, Vasily Selyuminov and Amy Liou.

​Our featured writers will be performing on-site and in person.

​The in-person event will be live-streamed and recorded to provide access. A link will be provided to attendees who register for the live stream.

​We do ask that you register if you plan to attend.

​Tickets are free and reserving a spot helps us track numbers and access funding.

​​Curator

​Paul Edward Costa (He/Him) is an award-winning poet, spoken word artist, and teacher. He is a former Poet Laureate for the City of Mississauga and he's won the 2019 Mississauga Arts Council Emerging Literary Arts Award. His poetry has appeared in publications such as Punk Monk Magazine, Blank Spaces Magazine, Train: A Poetry Journal, and Brickyard Spoken Word. His full-length poetry collection, The Long Train of Chaos, was released by Kung Fu Treachery Press and his book of flash fiction, God Damned Avalon, was published by Mosaic Press. He has two collections forthcoming from Mosaic Press in Fall 2024 and DarkWinter Press in Spring 2025. As a spoken word artist, Paul has featured at poetry reading series such as Shab-e She’r, Wild Writers, the Oakville Literary Cafe, Laureate City by VerseFest in Ottawa, and the Victoria Poetry Project. He's hosted or co-hosted poetry/open mic series like the YTGA Open Mic at Studio.89, Verses Out Loud, and Outer Haven Poetry.

​Books:

​-The Long Train of Chaos: Poetry –Kung Fu Treachery Press– ($15.00)

​-God Damned Avalon: Flash Fiction –Mosaic Press– ($20.00)

​

​​Featured writers

​Dakota Jeane Phillips (She/Her) is a 24-year-old queer woman from the Treaty 13 region of Richmond Hill, Ontario. She has published two full-length poetry collections, Forbidden and Forgotten and Flourish, Norma Jeane, as well as two chapbooks, Dream, Norma Jeane and Witchery. She currently resides in another region of Treaty 13 territory, Scarborough, Ontario and is pursuing a modelling career.

​Tahira Rajwani (She/Her) is a South Asian spoken word artist based in Mississauga, Ontario. Her poetry, rooted in themes of diaspora and women's empowerment, aims to uplift marginalized stories, empower young artists, and foster community dialogue. She is the winner of the 2022 Mississauga Poetry Slam and was runner-up in Button Poetry's 2022 Poem Cover Contest. She is currently Promotions Lead with Sauga Poetry, an arts organization focused on fostering community amongst local poets. As a recipient of a 2024 Mississauga Arts Council Microgrant, Tahira has recently competed at the Womxn of the World Poetry Slam in Baltimore, Maryland.

​Ghazal Faridi (She/Her) is a queer Persian poet and activist for the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. She was one of the first viral TikTok creators to discuss the oppression inflicted on Iranian people. Her work is heavily inspired by absurdist writers, theatre and psychological phenomena. You can find her on Instagram: @cherry_vvin

​Vasily Selyuminov (They/Them) is an emerging Toronto poet, currently working on publishing their first poetry collection. Inspired by religious narratives, fantasy, sci-fi, underground Soviet absurdist poetry and classic rock lyrics, Vasily blends spirituality with nihilism and emotional vulnerability with existential themes. A parent of two elementary school kids and a product marketer at a global research & advisory firm by day, Vasily firmly believes in the healing power of artistic self-expression. Vasily’s mission as a poet is to prove that our true identities are not defined by normative roles or societal expectations; and to encourage more creators to get out of their shell and shine. Vasily has an MBA degree from Babson College (Massachusetts, USA), their works appeared in certain theology journals and websites, such as The Wheel, but mostly under aliases. Vasily has also published a children’s book in 2017.

​Amy Liou is a Taiwanese-born queer Canadian author living in Mississauga, Ontario. She studied Environment, Resources and Sustainability and International Development at the University of Waterloo before pursuing a teaching degree at Ontario Tech University. Amy has been a passionate writer dating back to her middle school days. She has been featured on Bell Let’s Talk Day panels, on Howl 89.5 FM, at Off the Page at Grimsby Public Library and in magazine publications, such as the uWaterloo Wat Is Zine. She has also performed at several in-person and virtual open mics, including Matt Zaddy, Studio 89 Bridging Borders, Sauga Poetry, OCAD, Howl 89.5 FM and Toronto Reference Library. Can We Talk About It? is her first and current poetry collection featuring intimate and radical poems about relationships, mental health, LGBTQQIP2SAA stories and other social justice issues. It takes you on a journey to explore one’s identity, navigate heartbreak, plunge into escapism, heal the broken heart and provide it with wings to fly and celebrate success stories from the greater community. Can We Talk About It? has already achieved literary recognition and was selected to be part of the Brampton Local Authors Showcase for 2024-2025. Her book has also been reviewed locally and internationally in countries like India.

​Books:

​-Can We Talk About It?

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Want to receive updates? For updates on the next reading, or this one, and for author headshots, follow our Facebook group and our Facebook event page.

You can also sign up for our email list here.

Open mic

Anyone attending is welcome to read or perform (if you are a musician) in our limited-room open mic sessions.

If you are a writer or musician who would like to perform in the open mic session, we ask that you listen in to at least one session to get the flavour of the evening and join in on your next visit.

To participate in TTSR #42, please contact Gavin or Paul. This allows them to line up readers and manage the evening in a way that respects each writer's work.

The ambience at our readings is intimate, extremely informal and very supportive. Open mic readers are given 4 minutes in total, including a brief introduction to themselves and their work. There are detailed open mic guidelines posted in our FB group.

Open mic readers who have published works they would like to offer for sale are free to mention these upon finishing their readings.

About The Tartan Turban Secret Readings

​​In good weather, Barrett and Welsh hosts a (not so) “secret" reading series on its rather lovely open-air office rooftop deck or in its large open-concept studio space in Toronto. In winter, our readings migrate online in a virtual reading format that accepts writers from across the country and can be attended from anywhere in the world.

​​The Tartan Turban Secret Readings feature poetry, drama and prose readings and celebrate Canadian multicultural writing created by multicultural, minority and IBPOC writers. The idea is to provide a platform for IBPOC writers with few such platforms. At the same time, all writers who want to celebrate Canada’s multiculturalism, literary diversity and Indigenous heritage and have talent to share are welcomed.

​​Curators change from reading to reading. If you would like to curate an evening, contact Gavin Barrett, who is the series curator.

​​The sessions are photographed, filmed and streamed on FB/YouTube live and recordings will eventually be posted on YouTube and the series website. Please be aware that by attending this event, you agree to be photographed and/or filmed and give permission to use your likeness in promotional and/or marketing materials.

https://tartanturbansecretreadings.org/

Tartan Turban Secret Readings are variously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the League of Canadian Poets and The Writers’ Union of Canada.

About Barrett and Welsh

Barrett and Welsh is a minority-owned, creativity-powered, change-making ad agency that puts ideas first to make ideas last. A certified B Corporation, it has specialty practices in inclusion communications (mainly addressing multicultural/visible minorities and persons with disabilities) and sustainable urban development (mostly transit and economic development).

About the series co-curators

Gavin Barrett is the series curator of the Tartan Turban Secret Readings, which he co-founded with the late Mayank Bhatt in 2017.

novel was published in 2016 by Mawenzi House. The novel explores youth radicalization and alienation and the impact of terrorism on a family in the context of the failure of the immigration and settlement framework in Canada. Mayank Bhatt immigrated to Toronto in 2008 from Mumbai (Bombay), where he worked as a journalist. His short stories have been published in TOK 5: Writing the New Toronto and Canadian Voices II. In Canada, he worked as a security guard, as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce and as an organizer for the Festive of South Asian Literature and Art. He lived in Toronto with his family and passed away after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer in the summer of 2022.

is a poet, creative entrepreneur, and the author of a collection of poems titled (Mawenzi House, 2020), a CBC Books recommendation. He was born in Bombay and lived in Hong Kong for several years before immigrating to Canada. Gavin’s poetry has been published in Reasons for Belonging (Viking Penguin India), an anthology of 14 Indian poets; The Joao Roque Literary Journal; the Pen India journal; The Folio; The Independent (Bombay); The Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad; and Poiesis, the Bombay Poetry Circle journal. He was a contributing writer to This|ability, a book on Canada’s art brut and outsider artists. He is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of idea consultancy and brand advertising agency Barrett and Welsh. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Canadian Authors Association (Toronto), PEN Canada and The League of Canadian Poets.

Host or Publisher Gavin Barrett/Barrett and Welsh