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Enter our latest contest for a chance to win seven sizzling books by the authors involved in the Fiery First Fiction Campaign. Click here for details.

 

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Open Book: Toronto

Your connection to Toronto's vibrant literary scene.



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Submitted by clelia on May 1, 2008 - 8:01am.

Fiery First Fiction Contest - Questions for Week Three

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Open Book and the Literary Press Group of Canada have teamed up to offer you four chances to win a library of seven new books by the buzzed-about authors involved in the LPG's Fiery First Fiction Campaign.

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Submitted by clelia on May 16, 2008 - 10:00am.

Ten Questions with Catherine Graham

Catherine Graham

Catherine Graham is the author of The Watch, Pupa and The Red Element. She teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and through Descant’s NowHearThis writer-in-schools program. Her work has been anthologized internationally and published in The New Quarterly, Literary Review of Canada, Taddle Creek and The Fiddlehead. Join Catherine Graham, Jason Camlot and Stuart Ross for the Insomniac Press / Punchy Writers Launch at Dora Keogh Traditional Irish Pub in Toronto on Wednesday, May 21. Visit our events page for details.

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Submitted by clelia on May 12, 2008 - 8:39am.

Video of the Week: "Fer the Pardy" - A Poem by John Stiles

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An adaptation of a poem from Scouts are Cancelled (Insomniac Press, 2002) by John Stiles. The video was created and directed by Lee Wilson, a London poet, in November 2007. Stiles is the author of a novel, The Insolent Boy (Insomniac Press, 2001), and a collection of poetry, Creamsicle Stick Shivs (Insomniac Press, 2006).

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZQeUjqpnGI

recently on open book: toronto

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Submitted by clelia on May 16, 2008 - 1:45pm.

John Scully on Canada AM

Am I Dead Yet? by John Scully

Journalist John Scully was recently interviewed on Canada AM about his latest book, Am I Dead Yet? (Fitzhenry & Whiteside). In his interview, he discusses war zones, depression, terrorists and freedom fighters. He also offers advice to young journalists: "be passionate, believe and have courage... It’s a vocation and you have to be dedicated.... The reason we do it is to give the truth to people who have the right to know what's going on." You can watch the clip here: http://watch.ctv.ca/news/Redirect/?ClipId=52602

The launch for Am I Dead Yet? is on Wednesday, May 21 at Ben McNally Books (366 Bay Street, Toronto). For more details, visit our events page.

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Submitted by clelia on May 16, 2008 - 12:48pm.

Featured Non-Fiction: Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey by Gerald Tulchinsky

Canada’s Jews: A People’s History by Gerald Tulchinsky

The history of the Jewish community in Canada says as much about the development of the nation as it does about the Jewish people. Spurred on by upheavals in Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many Jews emigrated to the Dominion of Canada, which was then considered little more than a British satellite state. Over the ensuing decades, as the Canadian Jewish identity was forged, Canada itself underwent the transformative experience of separating itself from Britain and distinguishing itself from the United States. In this light, the Canadian Jewish identity was formulated within the parameters of the emerging Canadian national personality.

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Submitted by clelia on May 16, 2008 - 12:35pm.

Photos from the Launch for Daughter of War by Marsha Skrypuch

Jessica Westhead and Marsha Skrypuch

The launch for Daughter of War (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) by Marsha Skrypuch was held at Another Story Bookshop on April 23. At the launch, Skrypuch discussed her book with author Jessica Westhead (Pulpy and Midge, Coach House Books). You can look at photos from the event at Open Book's Flickr page.

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Submitted by kickstart on May 16, 2008 - 8:57am.

The Diving Bell and Marsha Norman

In a DVD extra interview for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, American painter and director Julian Schnabel remarks that he made the film to help his ailing father overcome his fear of death. He goes on to say that, though the film wasn't finished at the point where his father passed on, the making of Diving Bell has at least partially succeeded in expunging the fear in himself.

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Submitted by clelia on May 15, 2008 - 6:00am.

The LRC’s "Most Memorable Poems" List (parts one and two)

Literary Review of Canada - May Issue

In April, the Literary Review of Canada asked contributors to the journal to "name and describe the most memorable Canadian poem they knew." The list was so extensive that the LRC had to publish it in two parts. Part One, “Atwood to Lowry, plus Anonymous,” was published in April, and Part Two, “MacEwen to Webb,” was published this month. You can read the contributors descriptions of the poems they nominated at the LRC online.