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Negotiating Postmodern Nightmares: Jonathan Ball on Writing
Jonathan Ball is a poet, professor, and film director based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was shortlisted for the John Hirsch Most Promising Writer Award at the 2012 Manitoba Book Awards. His column, Haiku Horoscopes, runs quarterly in Grain. W: Could you tell us about your earliest writing? B: My earliest works were poems that resulted…
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Wandering the stacks with space superstars: Bookishness for August 19, 2013
Finalists! “Once again I’m struck by the range of perspectives on the city… A novel and a memoir each tackle questions of identity; a volume of poetry connects an iconic Canadian artist to urban life; a book of photographs invites us to really look at the city around us; and a second novel paints an…
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Life According to Ai Weiwei (at the Art Gallery of Ontario)
Reviewed: Ai Weiwei: According to What? at the Art Gallery of Ontario, August 17-October 27 2013 In 2011, ArtReview magazine named Ai Weiwei the most influential person in the art world (he beat out the likes of Larry Gagosian for the honour), and though he’s effectively been under house arrest since 2011, when authorities in China took…
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Zombies, Podcasts, and The Paper Bag Princess: T.O. Events for August 15-29, 2013
Soundstreams is inviting actors, playwrights, composers, and directors to Behind the Curtain: Developing New Musicals and Operas, a salon to discuss and learn about these underrepresented genres. Meet Acting Up Stage’s Mitchell Marcus and SummerWorks Musical Works’ Tracy Michailidis. 7PM. August 16. Pre-registration required. Gardiner Museum. Free. StoryMobs stages a reading of Robert Munsch’s The…
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Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 5
Margaret Atwood’s best tweets, every two weeks. [View the story “Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 5” on Storify]
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Not So Far Away: David Foster Wallace: The Last Interview and Other Conversations
Reviewed in this essay: David Foster Wallace: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (Melville House Publishing, December 2012). In a recent essay about his late friend, Jonathan Franzen laments the way in which Wallace’s (September 2008) suicide “took him away from us and made the person into a very public legend.” Released this winter, David Foster Wallace:…
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Great Books and Café: A Taste for Great Books from Jarvis Street to the Williamsford Mill
Great Books and Café is located at 316070 Highway 6, Williamsford, Ontario. The first thing one notice when visiting Great Books and Café at the Williamsford Mill is the serene beauty of the building. Located in the small village of Williamsford, Ontario, the bookstore is housed within a converted mill constructed in 1850 on the banks…
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Flying Hare, Problem with Pleasure, Zen Buddhism, and Fighting Crohn’s Disease: New Books of Note
Much-anticipated, curious, or simply thrilling, here are some new and notable books out this month. A Gut Reaction: A True Story About a Mother’s Fight to Save her Son’s Life and his Amazing Recovery from Crohn’s Disease (Inanna Press) by Sky Curtis — This is a true story about Curtis and her son’s battle against…
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Finding Community in Music: Hillside Festival Celebrates its 30th Birthday
Camping, spontaneous drumming, a smorgasbord of musical variety, an artisan market, and so much more —Hillside is a place where people forge communities united in the transformative power of music. The three-day Hillside Festival has gifted Guelph and the world with amazing music over the last 30 years. The festival is known for pioneering (primarily…
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Coming Home through African-Canadian Literature: George Elliott Clarke’s Directions Home
Reviewed in this essay: George Elliott Clarke’s Directions Home: Approaches to African-Canadian Literature. In 2011, Toronto city councilor Doug Ford dismissed Margaret Atwood’s rally to protect some 99 library branches, adding insult to injury when he said, “I don’t even know her, if she walked by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is.” Assumingly…
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Manhunt Toronto, Fright Film Academy, and A Topology of Disaster: T.O. Events for August 1-August 15, 2013
Manhunt Toronto turns specific sections of Toronto into pulse-rattling games of hide and seek. The last fugitive standing is the winner. 9:00PM-11:55PM. August 7. Casa Loma. Free. PPS: Do You Copy? is a reading of conceptual poetry based on the exhibit Postscript: Writing After Conceptual Art. Moderated by Margaret Christakos, the lineup reads thus: Gary Barwin (The…
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Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 4
Margaret Atwood’s best tweets, every two weeks. [View the story “Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 4” on Storify]