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TRB Podcast: Elizabeth K. Meyer at the UofT
On October 11, 2011, Elizabeth K. Meyer, faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and registered landscape architect, presented “Sustaining Beauties 2.0: Aesthetics as an Ecosystem Service” at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto, the second talk in the Daniels 2011-2012 Public Lectures. Considered one…
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Getting the World Just Right: Q&A with Heather Jessup
Heather Jessup’s first novel, The Lightning Field, was published this fall by Gaspereau Press. Described in The Telegraph-Journal as a “supersonic debut,” the book follows the life of Peter Jacobs, who engineered wings of the Avro Arrow jet plane, his wife Lucy, whose poignant struggles with motherhood and suburban life are interrupted and permananently altered…
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A TRB Q&A with Grant Lawrence, Author of Adventures in Solitude
Grant Lawrence is probably best known to Canadians as a voice on the radio (or podcast). He has been the host of various CBC Radio shows for years, and has weekly podcast, CBC Radio 3 Podcast with Grant Lawrence, that showcases Canadian indie music. He was also the lead singer in The Smugglers, an indie…
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A World Elsewhere, by Wayne Johnson
Reviewed in this essay: A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnson. Knopf Canada, 2011. A tale of fathers, real and make-believe, is the backbone of Johnson`s new novel. Landish Druken is an exile at home, estranged from his father, starving in a garret, writing a book that he burns every night. On the edge of Dark…
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The In-Between World of a Toronto Reader in Slovenia
Five years ago, in a café, in a town called Izola, by the rippling waves of the Adriatic, I settled into a comfy wicker chair on the sun-drenched patio, ordered a cappuccino, and complimented the waiter on his nipple. He was less happy than I felt he should have been. I later replayed the exchange…
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The Sudden Departure of Normal Life: A Review of Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers
Reviewed in this essay: The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta. Random House of Canada, 2011. Four years after The Abstinence Teacher, and seven years after the massive success of Little Children, Tom Perrotta is back with The Leftovers, a novel that manages to strike just the right balance between complete absurdity and dozy normality in his…
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TRB Podcast: Bill Sherman at the University of Toronto
On September 23, 2011, Bill Sherman, Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Renaissance & Early Modern Studies at the University of York, spoke at the Toronto Centre for the Book lecture series. His talk was entitled “The Reader’s Eye: Between Annotation and Illustration.” Listen here! [audio:Shermanlecture.mp3] Or read his abstract: The margins…
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Giller Prize Shortlist Reading
The reading event for the Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlisted finalists, on Saturday, October 29th, was entirely sold out. With the Fleck Theatre filled to capacity, it was immediately clear that this was one of the most highly anticipated events of the International Festival of Authors’ schedule. Carol Off of the CBC’s As It Happens hosted,…
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International Festival of Authors: Michael Ondaatje
There was a flutter of excitement when Michael Ondaatje walked onto the stage of the Fleck Theatre: this is a writer of serious calibre, and the auditorium filled nearly to capacity attests to his popularity. He was at the International Festival of Authors on October 29 to be interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel; the interview was…
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The Magicians and The Magician King: Review
Reviewed in this essay: The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Viking Press, 2009. The Magician King by Lev Grossman. Viking Press, 2011. Lev Grossman’s books The Magicians and The Magician King are fantasy as it ought to be: dark, funny, and brilliantly realized. The books cannot avoid comparisons to Harry Potter — geeky boy, magical school,…
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Magic, Myth, and Forces Beyond Reason
On Tuesday the 25th, Lev Grossman (The Magicians, The Magician King), Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus), and Simon Toyne (Sanctus) were all on hand for an excellent roundtable discussion, moderated by Lesley Livingston, on the topic of magic, myth, and forces beyond reason. This event, a part of the International Festival of Authors, took place…
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Governor General’s Awards Finalists Reading
On Monday night, the finalists for the 75th Governor General’s Literary Award in Fiction (English) gathered in the Fleck Theatre to read from their nominated works; although the International Festival of Authors attracts an astounding number of literary luminaries, awards events such as this are notable for their impressive rosters. Shelagh Rogers of The Next…