Toronto in 1920 was nothing if not a clean, well-lighted place. In fact, the city’s puritan reputation rendered it so clean—at least in the spiritual sense—that it was near the point of sterility. Certainly, the church spires that dominated the city’s skyline did not inspire the type of exploration of the psyche’s darker elements typical [...]

Chang Liu, former emerging writer, reading his work to fellow TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5 contributors. Photo courtesy Diaspora Dialogues. Diaspora Dialogues isn’t just the name of your English literature grad school seminar—it’s also a Toronto literary organization running innovative programs with the city and the storytellers who live here. Designed to support [...]

Heritage Toronto Legacy Plaque outside Massey College. While London has blue plaques and New York City has bronze plaques and medallions, Paris has thousands of plaques mounted throughout that city paying homage to citizens who died in its defense during the Second World War. Cities the world over approach honouring distinguished citizens and the places [...]

Every Tuesday afternoon, Torontoist rounds up the city’s literary news, including book deals, events, local sales, author happenings, and insider information from the book industry. On Thursday evening Derek McCormack will launch his latest, The Show that Smells (ECW Press), at Trash Palace (89B Niagara Street). Only a few pages into this sprint-paced novella, it’s [...]

Photo by Jen Cooper. Once a year, on the last Sunday of September, Queen’s Park is transformed into a haven for lovers of the written word. Not only is Word On The Street a great chance to find both book and magazine publishers offering deep discounts and freebies, but readers also get a chance to [...]