Photo of d’bi.young.anitafrika and her son, Moon, courtesy of Women’s Press. Last week’s literary listings featured a number of events celebrating one man (Michael Redhill, who is likely exhausted and has since gone back to Narbonne, France) and One Book (Consolation). This week the obvious literary picks are two very talented, very different women. Recent winner of the Toronto Arts Council Foundation Emerging Artist award and one of Canada’s most celebrated young performers, d’bi.young.anitafrika......

Today is the first day of the Bali United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will continue until December 14. The purpose of the conference, which is being attended by over 20,000 delegates and observers from 180 countries, is to set out the framework of negotiations for the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol when it ends in 2012. There are several events taking place this week in Toronto to mark the occasion. The first......

Faithful readers might remember Lisa Pijuan from previous Torontoist stories, and we're sure you'll be pleased to learn she is as inimitable and inexhaustible as ever. RED is still going strong at the Lula Lounge every couple of months or so, and tonight's edition is a special one commemorating Women's Remembrance Day with a talented all-female line-up. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Sistering. Be prepared for the usual eclectic mix of......

This fall is shaping up to be a busy one, as everyone and their dog seems to be touring right now. If you haven't spent all of your OSAP money yet, might want to stash away a few pennies for some concert tix. However, if you've already blown your student loan on cheap beer and (even cheaper) Ikea furniture, take comfort in the fact that you can visit your local public library to catch......

The last 10 days have been a great time to be a film nut, but now Christmas comes early for book nerds as over the next few weeks two of the biggest events of the year take place, starting with next Sunday’s Word on the Street, which will be followed by the start of the International Festival of Authors in mid-October. A few events taking place today. Poet Lorette C. Luzajic launches her first book,......

A couple of Sunday night events to kick-off or end your week, depending on how you see it. Gypsy Eyes, who is all over the place this week, hosts Last Call Poets at the Cadillac Lounge – 1296 Queen W. – tonight at 8pm. Admission is $7. Depending on how long Last Call Poets runs, you may be able to make it over to the Gladstone – 1214 Queen W. – for Haunted Fishtank poetry......

The last time a vote was this close the Supreme Court had to be called in. Last night's Downtown and East York final for City Idol went to three ballots and a run-off before Desmond Cole (shown here in between Boy Reporter and fellow finalist Karen Sun) was picked by a raucous crowd at Lula Lounge to be downtown Toronto's first City Idol. Cole will be running in Ward 20 alongside former TV broadcaster......

We have not one but two civics related events tonight in Toronto. At Trinity St. Paul's church just near Bloor and Spadina we have Jane Jacobs: A Public Celebration. There have been plenty of smaller celebrations for the life of Jane Jacobs but one more never hurts. Anne-Marie MacDonald and John Sewell are among some of the readers and to lighten things up we have music from Caitlin Broms-Jacobs and friends, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer......

Come next Tuesday, Toronto will have its first four City Idol winners. Last weekend part-time Grad student and Ministry of the Environment employee Bahar Aminvaziri won the title of City Idol for North York. She's declared that she's running in crowded Ward 26, vacated by Mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield. This Saturday, Scarberians will be picking their own City Idol. The event starts at 6:30pm at the Scarborough Civic Centre. Monday sees the final for......

Hey, remember when you were a little kid and your parents would take you to the library every Saturday morning for storytime, and the air was just buzzing with energy and noisy kids but as soon as the storyteller started to speak everyone magically shut up? And even if you don't, don't you wish you did because it sounds like such a lovely memory? Yeah. Well, you're in luck, because Speak! is here to fill......

The inimitable Lisa Pijuan (who recently started a blog about nifty goings-on about town) presents the last RED of 2005 tonight at the Lula Lounge. The bi-monthly performance series is sure to wrap up the year with a bang, with curator Pijuan's usual eclectic and inspired mix of performers. Tonight's line-up includes seasoned storyteller Dan Yashinsky and dynamic performance poet Wakefield Brewster, as well as a varied slew of comedians, dancers, musicians, and performers of......

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One lucky Wednesday evening every other month, a wonderfully eclectic hoard of musicians, comedians, dancers, and all other manner of performer descends on the Lula Lounge for RED: A Night of Live Performance. Tonight is that lucky night this month. Wonderwoman Lisa Pijuan-Nomura has been curating and hosting RED for almost three years now, when she decided there weren't enough venues for performers and artists to simply play. Pijuan-Nomura, a dynamic performer in her......

If the most inspired feminist action we take in Canada is to challenge those silly Bell Canada ad campaigns, perhaps author Judy Rebick is right to call for more activism. Or, conversely, if the Bell ads are in fact our call to action, maybe next we could target Nickelback for being latent sex offenders? (Was it just us, or was that "Figured You Out" song about some sort of Chad Kroeger sexual assault? Gross......

Though based out of New York City, Shivaree's sound harkens to a place far removed from the big city. Their unique blend of smoky, torch songs and deep Western twang conjures images of some mythical cabaret in the Arizona desert. Front and centre are the bewitching vocals of Ambrosia Parsley, by turns wry, sad, innocent and seductive often in the same verse. Combined with some very sharp songwriting and musical arrangements, Shivaree definitely bring something......

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…Former Modern Lover Jonathan Richman is in love with the old world, and apparently the city of Toronto. Richman will take up a three-night residency at Queen St’s Lula Lounge beginning on Monday, Nov. 8. The notoriously unpredictable rock’n’roller will play back-to-back-to-back shows promoting his new album, Not So Much To Be Loved But To Love. For those unfamiliar with Richman’s oeuvre, the eccentric cult figure came to prominence with......