The short story is an unfortunate middle child. Not romanticized like poetry, nor widely read like novels, the short story finds refuge in literary journals, the New Yorker, and writing contests. In fact, the Toronto Star, Broken Pencil, and Eye Weekly all have contests ready for your masterpiece. First, stalwart Toronto Star has its annual short story contest. The top prize includes $5,000 and tuition to the Humber School for Writers for Creative Writing.......

Empire building is not something you hear about in Canadian art. Ever. Until Friday night. Painter, singer/songwriter and photographer, Thrush Holmes was born in September, 1979. Holmes went to OCAD for two weeks and claims that, "I learned all I needed to know in that time." Flash forward five years and he’s opening a new gallery/installation space at 1093 Queen St W called Thrush Holmes Empire. "There is a major ironic wink attached to the......

The International Readings at Harbourfront Centre unveiled the line-up for their 2007 winter season yesterday. A horde of authors, journalists and poets – some established and some intriguing young talent – will be coming to Toronto over the next few weeks. Book nerds, grab your pens and mark these dates down on your calendars. On February 5, The Globe and Mail’s Ian Brown will be interviewing New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin about his new book,......

Nine graduate students at Ryerson University and York University in the communications and culture program have banded together to create Make the World Your Salon: Modernist Salon Culture, an exhibit that resurrects the salon culture of the early twentieth century frequented by the bohemian artists of the day. The exhibit encompasses photography, artwork, and multi-media, and features graphic photography by New Yorker Carl Van Vechten; a reproduction of Marcel Duchamp’s With White Noise; and the......

If a complete stranger stares into your eyes for two minutes on the TTC you'd probably contemplate pulling that alarm. Now if a stranger stares into your eyes for two minutes at an eye-gazing party that's just par for the course. Torontoist has learnt that eye gazing parties, the brainchild of New Yorker Michael Ellsberg, are coming to Canada. We've also learnt that there are still spots left for the inaugural event this Thursday, e-mail......

One of Toronto's larger theatres will soon be dominated by singing, dancing knights, killer Rabbits and farting Frenchmen. Yep, Spamalot will be making a quick jaunt up to Toronto sometime next year as part of Mirvish's 2006-07 season. We were happy to see the Monty Python inspired musical do very well on Broadway, winning three Tony's and going on a fairly solid run, especially after reading the hilarious Dave Eggers piece in the New Yorker......

Torontoist is well aware that Maisonneuve magazine is out of Montreal, the editors seem to love rubbing that in our Toronto noses. But because they're sooo stylish, smart and funny we forgive 'em for it. Well changes are afoot for the President's Medal winning mag. Maisonneuve is moving away from its general-interest, Harper's/New Yorker for the under-35 set beat and refashioning itself as a Montreal city mag starting this Fall. We have mixed feelings about......

It's probably because of the recent Olympics but Torontoist can't help but feel extremely proud of the amazing work that Canadians are doing all over the world and particularly in our world dominating neighbour to the south. By now most of you know about the honour being bestowed on former Canadian turned American news anchor Peter Jennings in New York City. The ABC anchor, who passed away last year, is having a street renamed after......

There's been a number of unfavourable comparisons of Stephen Harper and George W. Bush of late, both in politics, media and of course those silly attack ads. But what of a legitimate comparison, at least in terms of the campaign? Here is George Jr. on his father's failed 1992 presidential campaign: "First lesson, polls change. I take nothing for granted. Second, we've got a strategy for the timing of policy speeches and set the debate...You......

Torontoist has been busy as a beaver (we wish we could think of a more literary allusion than that, but we're a little exhausted) at the IFOA this week. Monday night found us at a rollicking party full of the week's literary stars. Amazonian Zadie Smith held court in one corner of the room, while we demonstrated why handshaking should be outlawed at cocktail parties in front of our crush-of-the-week Charles Montgomery. Beer in one......

- Bergman is the boss over at the Cinematheque, as the theatre reveals a handful of new 35mm Bergman prints. Through a Glass Darkly and Winter Light are tonight's offerings. Through a Glass Darkly tells the story of a dysfunctional family who have secluded themselves to a remote Baltic island. According to the New Yorker, it was "possibly the most beautiful (of Bergman's films) in its setting and the most heartbreaking in its theme." -......

You’ve heard it here before.  You’ve read it in the New York Times and Spin magazine and countless other publications.  Montreal is where it’s at and the Arcade Fire is THE Canadian band.  Why even bother to offer an adjective, there’s just too many too choose from.  The critically-and-David Bowie-acclaimed Arcade Fire is “Canada’s most intriguing rock band,” as declared by this week’s Time Magazine’s Canadian Edition, on newsstands now. Laura Blue and Hugh Porter......

Torontoist 'hearts' Malcolm Gladwell and a few us would love to spend an evening listening to the New Yorker writer lecture and pontificate on his new book Blink, which looks at how the snap judgements and impressions made on instinct can be just as valuable as those made by long and thoughtful deliberation. Torontoist will get that chance tonight as Gladwell reads at his alma mater, the University of Toronto (MacLeod Auditorium, 7:30 PM).......

It's finally here. The revamped national arts and culture multimedia portal we've been waiting for...CBC Arts. While TOist hasn't actually been losing sleep anticipating the debut of the revamped site, we have been eagerly awaiting its unveiling. We had an inkling of what it might look like, because our own debut interview, Antony Hare, had some CBC arts portal designs up on his site. But we quickly brushed what we'd seen from our mind, wanting......

Let's get it out of the way at the onset: Tarnation was made for a paltry $218.32 (U.S.) and edited on IMovie. There, done. Into the film let us away! Jonathan Caouette is nothing if not personal (of course he has a blog!). He's the 32 year-old Texan (and present New Yorker) whose dysfunctional biography of a film is the hottest bit of outsider art to ever be committed to celluloid. The film is made......

The Year that Was: We won't presume to have seen it all, or read it all, or eaten it all. And so, a digested list of good things that happened in and around the GTA and the universe this year. Okay, in and around this year. Arrested Development, the DVD: A show everyone can love, and a replacement for the Office DVD, which we watched until we could watch no longer. "Unlimited juice...This party's gonna......

Well, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin delivered the political equivalent of a tough spanking to the Sudanese government yesterday, and rightfully so. Khartoum has repeatedly denied assisting or having the capability to stop the janjaweed, the loosely woven group of bandits, looters and rapists that have been terrorizing the western Sudanese province of Darfur for the past year. The clock is ticking now though, as the peace agreement negotiated last week has a shelf......

Who loves Alice more? CBC Schoolmarm Shelagh Rogers had wanted to interview Alice Munro for seventeen years before she got the chance to fawn over the Gilleress last week. And spectacled Jonathan Franzen made a spectacle of his love for Alice in the pages of the Times Book Review yesterday. Torontoist hasn't read Runaway yet, but we listened to a lively Talking Books panel on the work, one in which New Yorker Adam Gopnik used......

Torontoist won't even pretend we'll be venturing outside tonight. Nope, we'll be holed up in front of the tube, eating lime-doritos and scanning the networks for the least offensive pundits, as the vote count rolls in. In honour of the end, here are the two photos that Torontoist feels best represents the estimable candidates. Months of furiously checking Electoral-vote will come to an end today, and Torontoist only hopes that the vote won't have to......