Toronto-based writer and filmmaker, Ann Shin, released her first fiction novel The Last Exiles earlier this Spring.
The novel is about a young North Korean couple whose love is put to the ultimate test when they are forced to flee their country. It is a story about love, family and the price of freedom as Suja and Jin end up deep in the heart of the Chinese underground. As they get separated, Suja’s true mettle shines through in her heroic fight for freedom.
READ MORE
Art Thing in association with Prairie Fire, Please and in celebration of National Poetry Month bring us a new production of Canadian poet and author Molly Peacock’s solo show in poems, The Shimmering Verge.
READ MORE
For many, Christmas is an annual celebration of goodwill and joy. For others, like yours truly, it’s a time to curl up on the couch in the dead of winter for a good old fashioned fright. Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television, the latest book by Canadian micro-publisher Spectacular Optical, offers an in-depth exploration of the history of these subversive film and television presentations that allow viewers to engage in different ways with the complicated cultural history of the Christmas season. Indeed, for many who want to learn more about how to watch these, said films are the hallmark of the season itself. READ MORE
Ryerson University’s annual Social Justice Week Mandela ECI Lecture has always managed to capture the imagination of a wide variety of Torontonians by keeping its finger on the pulse of timely, topical issues tied to race, culture, and the African diaspora. This free event takes place Wednesday, October 25 at Ryerson University.
This year’s Mandela ECI Lecture Black Be/longing: At the crossroads of art, culture, and human rights will spotlight one of Canada’s most important contemporary writers and revolutionary thinkers, M. NourbeSe Philip. READ MORE
The Meet the Presses collective has announced the finalists for the 2016 bpNichol Chapbook Award. The prize, awarded annually since its establishment in 1985, goes to the author of the best poetry chapbook – in the estimation of the judges – published in Canada in the previous year and submitted for consideration. It is named in honour of the late poet, novelist, and micropress publisher bpNichol. READ MORE
Vancouver-based artist Patrick Blenkarn is inviting us to examine English as a language in his SummerWorks performance piece, Soliloquy in English. This piece is Blenkarn’s attempt to pull this lingua franca back upon itself, to get us talking about how we are talking, and wonder at what it means to share this language today. READ MORE
Last month, Shakespeare’s saints and sinners took centre stage to the elegant music of the English Renaissance, as The Musicians In Ordinary (MIO) presented the second of three concerts honouring the man his contemporary, Ben Jonson, called “the Swan of Avon”, on the 400th anniversary of his death. READ MORE
The League of Canadian Poets (LCP) is pleased to announce the 18th anniversary of National Poetry Month (NPM) in Canada will take place throughout the month of April. The official #NPM16 theme is The Road. READ MORE
The end of January is upon us… and with that my birthday week arrives, too! This week, there are many great arts and cultural events in the city. With so much to choose, my birthday week is going to be very fun. Here are a few suggestions for you, so you can join in the good times while supporting local artists. READ MORE
This weekend marked the latest installment of Meet The Presses‘ Indie Literary Market. It only sems fitting that we spend a bit of time learning more about this Toronto-based collective devoted to promoting micro, small and independent literary presses. READ MORE
