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ISSUE FOUR: Call for Pitches!

The Toronto Review of Books is currently looking for a few 800-word pieces, and a few 1500- to 2000-word pieces, as well as a poem or three, for our fourth issue. Essays in our regular issues review print and e-books, old and new, but also anything else that intrigues our contributors. We’re open to essays that look like reviews, essays that don’t look like reviews, and reviews that don’t look like essays—including video, illustration, and audio pieces.

Since we think the Occupy Movement has done interesting things to the word “occupy,” for our fourth issue we’re inviting proposals to reflect an “occupy” theme—without necessarily focusing in particular on the protests. How have writers occupied places, how do books occupy readers, how do audiences occupy theatres of all shapes, how do times and places occupy each other, how do conversations occupy culture? I want to emphasize that by no means are we requiring all submissions to follow this theme—it’s just an option.

Please send casual proposals to me, Jessica Duffin Wolfe, by Monday, March 5th. Let me know what you’re thinking about, what shape you’d hope your essay would take, and whether you’d need any review copies or press passes to write your piece. If you’re submitting poetry, please send three to five poems.

CHIROGRAPH: Call for Writers!

For our daily-ish blog, Chirograph, we’re always looking for 350- to 400-word reviews and mini-essays on bookish, delicious, diverting, enraging, or generally artful topics. We’ve found that in this setting reviews work best if they devote their first two thirds to exposing what the book (or other thing) does and what it tries to do, leaving appraisals to the end. Please let our current blog editor Dylan Gordon know if you’d like to review something in particular, including books, but also films, performances, restaurants, and pretty much anything you like. We’re generally able to secure press passes for our writers when need be, and often have review copies for interested reviewers who can pick them up in Toronto.

TRB & The Toronto Public Library: We’re currently setting up a collaboration with the Toronto Public Library to cover many of their author programs at individual branches, and we’re looking for volunteers who might be willing to record and/or write about one or more of these library events. If you’d like to be a part of the TRB’s TPL project, please send a note to Ange Friesen.

PODCAST: Call for Volunteers!

Since our launch we’ve maintained a podcast of lectures and events around Toronto, and we’re always looking for more volunteers. If you might be interested in recording an event, or have one to suggest, please send a note to our podcast coordinator, Sydney Hyatt.