-
A Review: Giles Benaway’s Ceremonies For The Dead
Reviewed in this essay: Ceremonies for the Dead by Giles Benaway. Published by Kegedonce Press. Poetry never ceases to amaze me. I began my writing career with pieces of poetry published here and there, but then with time, I discovered short stories and turned my attention to them. I don’t know if I will ever go back to…
-
Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 6
Margaret Atwood’s best tweets, every two weeks. [View the story “Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 6” on Storify]
-
Sensing Silence: Ars Mechanica’s “Show and Tell Alexander Bell” at SummerWorks
Reviewed in this essay: Show and Tell Alexander Bell, Ars Mechanica. Ran August 8-18, 2013 at the SummerWorks Performance Festival. I need to start this review with an apology to Mary, the lovely telephone operator played by Sasha Kovacs who politely, if a little desperately, asked for my digits upon entering the theatre. I obliged,…
-
Becoming an ex-vegan, starting your new life, and riding with Jack: Bookishness for August 26, 2013
Corey Mintz sets out to become an ex-vegan The food writer cut out animal products for four days. And gets the chance to see his vegetarian friends. Naturally, you have questions about embarking on your new life: Will you ever be able to resume your old identity? What happens to your Netflix queue? You are…
-
Canada’s Small Presses Hold Court at the Fisher Library
The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is to Torontonian readers what Arcadia is to gardeners. From a dimly lit exhibition space, I felt in the company of every book that was or could ever be written. Strong in ten core subjects including philosophy and incunabula, Fisher’s seven-hundred thousand volumes make for a sublime sight. The current exhibition is called…
-
Writers and Editors, Murders and Infatuations, Love and Comics: New Books of Note
Much-anticipated, curious, or simply thrilling, here are some new and notable books out this month. Scissors: A Novel (Random House) by Stéphane Michaka — This fictionalized biography is based on acclaimed American writer Raymond Carver’s last ten years of life, with particular focus on the relationship between the writer and his editor and their creative…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 5
Margaret Atwood’s best tweets, every two weeks. [View the story “Atwood’s BookTweetables No. 5” on Storify]
-
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:…