The second instalment of Toronto Poetry Remix is coming up on Wednesday, July 23, and Tears for Fears are the focus this time around.

Five performers will be remixing Tears for Fears lyrics into original poetry, and they are free to choose any song and incorporate their own interpretation of the word "remix."

The line-up includes: Neal Arbic, Valentino Assenza, Ronnie Blake, Spencer Gordon, and Sarah Pinder.

About the performers:

Neal Arbic is the author of the novels WHITE and Mermaid Caf. Neal has been published in leading magazines, and his latest publishing credits appear in the anthology The Caledon Collection fiction and in the anthology Stories From the Yogic Heart non-fiction which featured Madonna's yoga teacher and Sting.

Neal was the head writer and singer for A Neon Rome. His life was the inspiration for the Bruce McDonald film Road Kill, which won Best Canadian Feature Film at the 1989 Toronto International Film Festival and today is considered a seminal film in Canadian cinema.

He has also appeared on CBC radio and Bravo and Star!TV.

Valentino Assenza has been a published poet and spoken word performer based in Toronto for nearly two decades. He was the organizer of Cryptic Chatter, a poetry series in east Toronto, and is currently on the board of directors for the Art Bar Poetry Series, Canadas longest-running weekly poetry-only series.

Valentino has published four chapbooks of his poetry Wandering Absence 2004 and Il Ritorno 2006 with Labour of Love Press; and Quiet Confessions of a Loudmouth 2008 and Make Our Peace with Rattlesnakes 2009 with Lyricalmyrical Press. He also has had a number of poems published in journals such as Descant Magazine and Labour of Love Poetry Magazine.

valentinoassenza.wordpress.com

Ronnie Blake is a DJ, producer, and musician. He's been a lead singer, performance poet, actor, and music critic.

As singer and lyric composer for a number of Toronto based punk and new wave bands he toured Southern Ontario.

He developed a character 'Nuclear Apocalypse Guy' to perform poetry as part of the Exit Revue. He's also given readings on CKLN, CIUT and for a memorable event at the White Horse pub in Brixton. He has a number of electronic music projects that explore the art of the remix:

https://soundcloud.com/the-protoplasm-population

Spencer Gordon is the author of the short story collection Cosmo Coach House Books, 2012 as well as the poetry chapbooks Conservative Majority Apt. 9, 2013 and Feel Good! Look Great! Have a Blast! Ferno House, 2011, shortlisted for the 2012 bpNichol Chapbook Award. He's co-founder/editor of the online literary magazine The Puritan and the micropress Ferno House. He lives in Toronto.

Sarah Pinder is the author of the poetry collection, Cutting Room Coach House Books, 2012. Her writing has been shortlisted for the Expozine Small Press Awards and included in the anthology Shes Shameless, and magazines like Geist and Poetry is Dead. She lives in Toronto.