Toronto Literary Salon, featuring Joey Comeau, David Eddie, Russell Smith & Nathan Whitlock

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 6:30pm

The Spoke Club
600 King Street West
Toronto, ON
M5V 1M3

Some good news for people who want to know their Canadian authors better. Toronto’s The Spoke Club, soon-to-be-opened Thompson Toronto and Open Book: Toronto have partnered to present a new event series, the Toronto Literary Salon.

Do what engaged and curious people have done for centuries and gather with writers for a salon. The point? To amuse each other, to be inspired by writing and culture, to expand one’s knowledge and opinions through conversation. Salons are where true dialogue (and yes, often feisty arguments) emerge.

The Toronto Literary Salon is pleased to present a fascinating series of Canadian writers throughout 2010, writers who will spark discussion and provoke an exchange of ideas with you. The series will be quarterly and rotate between the two arts & culture hubs, The Spoke Club and the Thompson Hotel.

The inaugural Salon features an amazing roster of Canadian authors: Joey Comeau, David Eddie, Russell Smith and Nathan Whitlock, who will host. This free event opens at 6:30 p.m., the Salon discussion will start around 7 p.m.

Attendees also have the unique opportunity to reserve a $35 prix fixe dinner with the authors: the limited-seating dinner will follow the one-hour Salon. Please contact The Spoke Club at 416.368.8448 or concierge@thespokeclub.com for details and if you would like to reserve a spot at the dinner.

Joey Comeau writes the comic A Softer World, which has appeared in The Guardian and been profiled in Rolling Stone, and which Publishers Weekly called “subtle and dramatic.” His self-published first novel, Lockpick Pornography, sold out its print run of 1,000 books in just three months. In 2007 he published It’s Too Late to Say I’m Sorry, a collection of short stories. Overqualified (ECW Press, 2009) is in its third printing. His new novel is One Bloody Thing After Another. The A Softer World website has been online since 2003 and has an average daily readership of 70,000 people worldwide. Comeau lives in Toronto, ON.

David Eddie is the co-author of Damage Control (McClelland & Stewart). He has written two previous books: Chump Change, a novel, and Housebroken: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad. He co-authors with Pat Lynch the advice column, also called Damage Control, in the The Globe and Mail's Life Section.

Russell Smith, born in South Africa and raised in Halifax, is a writer of wide acclaim. His debut novel, How Insensitive, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. Both his short story collection, Young Men, and his novel Muriella Pent were shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. He is also the author of Noise; The Princess and the Whiskheads (a fable); Diana: A Diary in the Second Person; and the style guide Men’s Style. Smith works regularly with the CBC and The Globe and Mail. His new novel is Girl Crazy (HarperCollins Canada).

Nathan Whitlock is the author of A Week of This: A Novel in Seven Days (ECW Press). His writing and reviews have appeared in The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Fashion magazine, Maisonneuve, Best Canadian Essays 2009, and elsewhere. He is the Books for Young People editor for Quill & Quire magazine and the former fiction editor for Driven magazine. He has hosted numerous events for the Authors at Harbourfront as well as This Is Not A Reading Series, and has appeared as a books commentator on CBC Radio and Television. He lives in Toronto.

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