|
|
news feed
Submitted by maeve on May 21, 2013 - 11:33pm
The second annual Scotiabank Pongapalooza took place last Tuesday, May 14. The event, a ping pong tournament at SPiN Toronto, was in support of First Book Canada — a national organization that fights low literacy rates by providing children in need with new, age-appropriate books. This year, teams from Scotiabank, CIBC, TD Canada Trust, Target, Frontier College and every major Canadian publishing house competed for the ultimate title of Pongapalooza Champion.
Click on a thumbnail below to access an image gallery of the event.
Submitted by Grace on May 21, 2013 - 1:04pm
Did you make it to TCAF (The Toronto Comic Arts Fesitval) this year? If you did, you can keep the vibe going with Whazamo!, our month-long celebration of Graphic Literature at Open Boo — and if you missed out, it's never too late to embrace your love of all things comic arts.
Michael DeForge is the creator of Very Casual (Koyama Press), which collects many of his short stories. The collection is filled with litter gangs, meat-filled snowmen, righteous cops, beagle/human hybrids and forest-bound drag queens and also features Michael's award-winning Spotting Deer comics.
Submitted by aireland on May 21, 2013 - 11:56am
Scouting Berkeley/Oakland Bookshops
“Someone should open a store dedicated only to the work of Joyce Carol Oates.”
“There’d certainly be enough.”
I’m browsing the stacks of Diesel Book Store on the border of Berkeley and Oakland and listening to the booksellers as they shelve.
"Are we re-ordering Telegraph?"
She’s referring to the latest by local bestselling novelist, Michael Chabon: Telegraph Avenue.
“It’s over. Off the lists.”
Ouch, I think.
“When’s Fathers’ Day?’
“Third Sunday in June.’
“Because we need to start thinking of adding Dads to the Grads table.”
Dads and Grads. Of course. I’ve spotted U.C. Berkeley grads in their black robes and mortar boards all day.
Submitted by clelia on May 21, 2013 - 8:28am
On May 8, 2008, Hamilton writer and composer Gary Barwin reported on his own experience with Margaret Christakos’ Influency series, posting a short write-up on his blog:
Margaret Christakos runs a fantastic course through continuing ed at University of Toronto called Influency. She invites eight poets to read and lecture. Each poet gives a half hour reading and is invited to give a talk about the work of one of the other poets.
Submitted by maeve on May 21, 2013 - 8:00am
East York author and historian Mel Bradshaw’s new novel, Fire on the Runway, is the follow-up to his acclaimed Quarrel with the Foe and the next in the Paul Shenstone Mystery series. Set in Toronto’s Jazz Age, this latest installment finds police detective Shenstone trying to solve the mystery behind a European woman’s sudden disappearance from a Queen Street hotel following a grenade explosion.
Bradshaw will present Fire on the Runway at Q Space (382 College St.) on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 7 p.m.
Submitted by aireland on May 20, 2013 - 12:49pm
Can Writing Be Taught?
Of course.
Well, sort of.
I’ve been teaching writing since I was in my twenties and I am a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing Department. I’ve been to a workshop or two in my life – put it that way.
What I find remarkable is how much CAN be taught, even in the ten-week classes I and my colleagues teach at Ryerson University’s Chang School of Continuing Education.
Over and over again, students come in with a vague idea of a story or a creative non-fiction piece they’d like to write, and they walk away, ten weeks later, with a publishable article or a much improved tale. And I know that they walk away with a sense of how to live in the world as a writer, with a writer’s sensibility and observant eye.
Submitted by ssmith on May 19, 2013 - 11:49pm
Submitted by maeve on May 18, 2013 - 10:45am
A lot happened this week at Open Book: Ontario. In case you missed it, here's a recap:
Poet Charmaine Cadeau reveals the children's books, classic novels and poetry that have left a lasting impression on her during her WAR (Writers As Readers) interview.
In his On Writing interview, Michael C. Ashton, a professor of psychology at Brock University, shares the details of his latest book, The H Factor of Personality, which he co-authored with Kibeom Lee, also a professor of psychology.
Submitted by maeve on May 17, 2013 - 8:13am
From our friends at Authors at Harbourfront Centre:
Submitted by aireland on May 16, 2013 - 6:33pm
Dear Reader.
Hello Reader. I love you. I’m in love with you. Please sit next to me on the couch- right here. See, I’m patting a spot for you and feel free to drop your feet on the coffee table. I hope you like Earl Grey tea. Sorry that these cookies are a touch stale, but as we know, sugar isn’t good for us. I opened the window to let some of that tasty urban air stream in. Now we can knuckle down and talk. What’s your name again? Pardon? Will you spell that?
By the way there is no ‘e’ on ‘Ann.’
Video of the Week
Submitted by Grace on May 13, 2013 - 2:25pm
Today Roch Carrier, author of The Hockey Sweater (Tundra Books) — the same beloved story you remember from childhood — turns 76 years old.
Between our suddenly chilly weather and Toronto's recent hockey fever, it's perfect timing to celebrate CanLit's classic story of hockey, two solitudes and a mortifying sweater mix up.
Check out the National Film Board's treatment of the enduring favourite (a story so iconic that it was quoted on the five dollar bill) and join us in wishing one of our most celebrated writers a happy birthday!
|
Writer In Residence May 1 to May 31, 2013Ann Ireland is the author of A Certain Mr. Takahashi, The Instructor and Exile. Her most recent novel is The Blue Guitar. She lives in Toronto.
|
|
Coming Next MonthAndrew Faulkner
|
Random Recommended Reading
Exile Editions, 2012
dgroulx writes...
This new collection is imaginative, illuminating and a delightfulfeast of poems that explores intimacy, mythology, perception,desire, youth, aging and the self.
from Exile Editions
|
Recent comments
Submission Guidelines
Have something to say about the lit scene? Write about it for Open Book.
Submission guidelines »