As the venerable Canadian poet says “You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone”.  It’s not gone yet but the Chiaroscuro Reading Series (fondly referred to as ChiSeries) needs a bit of help to continue its mission of supporting all that is dark and weird in Canada.

If you’re not familiar with this series, here’s what you need to knows:

•  runs in seven Canadian cities (Calgary, Guelph, Ottawa, Peterborough, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg)
• run by volunteers in each city
• started by the indefatigable Sandra Kasturi of CZP Publications
• showcases writers from all the dark genres – horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir, and general weirdness
• Musical accompaniment!
• Special events such as the Christmas extravaganza and secrets from the childhood writing crimes of your favorite writers
• All performers are paid an honorarium.  I’ll repeat that, because it’s so rarely true: ALL PERFORMERS ARE PAID AN HONORARIUM.

Though the CZP team makes these events happen, it’s not restricted to CZP authors, and writers from all across Canada (and some from across of border) have been featured.

Government funding has helped make this series possible but their grant was not renewed this year (because the granting team felt they needed to spread the money around).  They’ve started a new Paypal link to their site to raise money, so they can keep paying the artists who appear on these events.  As someone who has read, laughed, sang along, discovered new writers, met up with old friends, and drank a fair bit of wine there, I encourage everyone to help support this series.  And check out your local events to experience the best weird writers in Canada,

Next reading in Toronto is August 16h at the Round Venue on Augusta.