Linden MacIntyre! His novel, The Bishop's Man, is a complex, nuanced portrayal of a Catholic priest dealing with the aftermath of sexual abuse scandals, and bested the four other short-listed authors to take home the most prestigious literary prize in Canada.
The clock is ticking, usually reticent authors are primping, and in a few short hours Canada's literary establishment will be donning tuxedos and evening gowns in preparation for tonight's Giller Prize black-tie gala dinner and awards ceremony. Writers typically tend to elbow patches and cozy knits—the "sequins and spit-shine shoe" look comes but once a year. The Giller is the most prestigious of Canada's literary awards, guaranteeing the winner a firm spot on the bestseller list through the peak holiday shopping season and providing a level of exposure few fiction writers are lucky to find in this country. (To a lesser extent, all the shortlisted writers see these benefits.)
Twelve thousand dollars. That’s the budget the organizers of the first edition of the International Festival of Authors (or Harbourfront International Authors' Festival, as it was called then) had to work with in 1980 to showcase twenty-two writers of varying infamy. Capacity crowds throughout the six-day event proved to organizers and potential sponsors that Toronto could support a literary festival.
Book season is well and firmly upon us. Like the changing colours of the leaves and the rediscovery of the scarves in the back of your closet, the sudden surge of literary prizes and the annual return of the International Festival of Authors signal that autumn is decidedly here. And it makes sense, really: what better way to combat the chill than with a pile of books that keep you safely indoors?
The internet, many people like to remark offhand, is killing print. With a twenty-four-hour news cycle better served by the instant response times of broadcast and online outlets (including the online arms of print publications who will run those same stories in the next morning's paper), e-books finally taking off, and shortening attention spans that prize bells and whistles over the sedate pleasures of slow perusal, the old-fashioned printed word is facing hard times. Or so this line of thought goes.
With the closure of Pages Books a couple of months ago, Toronto lost one of its great literary institutions. As we reported at the time, however, the news wasn't entirely grim: "There is, fortunately," we said, "the silveriest of silver linings, which is that Pages' much-loved programming, run under the banner This Is Not A Reading Series (TINARS), will continue."
Finally! We've been to a few disappointing Luminato displays of late, and a few disappointing "marquee" literary events, and so it is with great pleasure and relief that we can report that last week, both fiction lovers and Luminato-goers got exactly what they've been craving: well-executed programming that was as warm and inviting as it was ambitious. World Voices in Fiction brought four of the brightest new luminaries in contemporary fiction to the Al Green theatre Thursday night, to read from and discuss their recent works, and did so in a most satisfying fashion. The authors were brilliant and also, happily, comfortable in front of an audience. The space was welcoming and the pace relaxed, just right for a reading on a lazy summer night. (Organizers of all literary events take note: acoustics matter. So do lighting and sightlines. Please book your venues accordingly.) In short, it was just what a book-ish night should be.
Book readings are, in a certain way, transgressive. In bridging the usual remove between author and audience, and in reinstantiating the written word as performance, they breach the boundaries which usually govern our experience as readers. Book readings rely on that transgressive quality for their success: a good book reading is one in which listeners feel genuinely connected to the author they are hearing, and in which the performance conveys something more than whatever is contained in the written work alone.
This upcoming weekend is the inaugural Open House Festival, the Globe and Mail's new celebration of books and the people who write them. We have a bit of a thing for words and wordsmiths around here, and so will be attending in force to report on how the festival fares in its first year out. Organizers have pulled together an all-star line-up and kept ticket prices for most events reasonable ($15 for McInerney, Rakoff, Toews, and Trillin is a pretty sweet deal), so with any luck this will turn out to be the first installment of a new annual tradition.
Toronto is full of great stories and great storytellers who can convey every feeling and every action into words. To celebrate the city's literary pedigree, Torontoist sat down with Judy Fong Bates and Terry Fallis, two acclaimed Toronto-based authors, for a four-part series to discuss their journeys as writers and their visions for the future of storytelling.
Toronto is full of great stories and great storytellers who can convey every feeling and every action into words. To celebrate the city's literary pedigree, Torontoist sat down with Judy Fong Bates and Terry Fallis, two acclaimed Toronto-based authors, for a four-part series to discuss their journeys as writers and their visions for the future of storytelling.
Toronto is full of great stories and great storytellers who can convey every feeling, every action into words. To celebrate the city's literary pedigree, Torontoist sat down with Judy Fong Bates and Terry Fallis, two acclaimed Toronto-based authors, for a four-part series to discuss their journeys as writers and their visions for the future of storytelling.
Toronto is full of great stories and great storytellers who can convey every feeling and every action into words. To celebrate the city's literary pedigree, Torontoist sat down with Judy Fong Bates and Terry Fallis, two acclaimed Toronto-based authors, for a four-part series to discuss their journeys as writers and their visions for the future of storytelling.
Michael Ondaatje, with Art of Time violinist Julia Wedman.
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.
This Saturday, Pride Toronto has teamed up with The Word On The Street for the second annual Proud Voices Reading Series. It's a talent-packed day-long celebration of queer writers, showcasing the best of Canada's literary skill by bringing both established veterans and emerging authors to the James Canning Gardens Stage (Gloucester and Dundonald).
Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.
Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.
Photo by Pete Nema from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's hard to believe it's already been over six months since the Rheostatics played their final show at Massey Hall. You may be wondering what each of the members have been doing since, and in Dave Bidini's case the answer is easy: he has already found the time to travel the world, write about his journeys, and get his book published by McClelland & Stewart....
Rocket Talk: Can Sunday Subway Service Start Sooner?
Newsstand: November 19, 2009
Gender Studies Coming to a High School Near You
Please Insert Station and Try Again
The Art of Not Knowing
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