Bestselling author Patrick Radden Keefe paints a grand yet devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family in his latest work of nonfiction, Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. Join him for a rivetting discussion about the family who built an empire on impunity, greed and human suffering in the […]
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Malaika’s Costume, the title selected for the 2021 TD Grade One Book Giveaway, will be distributed this fall to Grade One children all across Canada. Join us for a sumptuous celebration of Carnival as we hear from author Nadia L. Hohn about young Malaika, and follow along with illustrator Irene Luxbacher as she shows us […]
More than ever now we need writers to imagine a new future, to rebuild our world through stories. Through the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program the University of Guelph nurtures and supports many voices and wide imaginaries who recognize the power of language to summon a different world. Please join us in to […]
What’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had? Surprises can come in all shapes and sizes and Malaika’s surprise comes at the perfect time as she’s worried she’s going to be forgotten when her new baby brother or sister arrives. There’s going to be storytelling and drawing with author Nadia L. Hohn and illustrator Irene Luxbacher […]
Highly acclaimed author and Pen/Faulkner Prize finalist Francisco Goldman depicts an intimate yet hilarious auto-fictional account of the deep rooted trauma of growing up Guatemalan and Jewish in America. Don’t miss this entertaining conversation with Goldman on divided identities and the coming-of-age experiences in a predominantly white, working-class Boston suburb, as depicted in his latest […]
From Booker Prize–shortlisted and New York Times bestselling author Paul Auster, comes the landmark biography of the great American writer Stephen Crane. In it, Auster unravels the compelling life of one of the most innovative writers of a generation, a man whose impact on the American literary canon lasted far longer than his own short […]
On her 27th birthday, Tara discovered a lump in her left breast. After a series of terrible choices and bad mistakes, she found herself on a journey of self-discovery and self-reflection while awaiting her diagnosis. Don’t miss Tara McGowan-Ross‘s brutally honest conversation about her life, as depicted in the memoir Nothing Will Be Different, and […]
Scottish-Zimbabwean writer Alexander McCall Smith has been thrilling fans with new stories as part of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series since 1998. The Joy and Light Bus Company, the 22nd instalment of the beloved series, follows Mma Ramotswe as she thinks over a new business venture on the domestic front while investigating a […]
The continent’s leading Indigenous spoken word artists have passionate messages you need to hear. For a second year running, TIFA has partnered with the FLUP Festival of the Peripheries in Rio de Janeiro, where there is a powerful spoken word tradition, to share ideas, dreams and aspirations for the future. This dazzling virtual poetry slam […]
Ian Hamilton, acclaimed author known for the internationally bestselling Ava Lee novels, unveils his first stand-alone novel, Bonnie Jack. Abandoned as a boy, Jack Anderson travels from his Boston suburb with his American wife home to Scotland to track down his long-lost sister and uncover his familial roots. Join Hamilton for a riveting conversation about […]
TIFA Kids is super hyped to welcome to virtual Toronto the award-winning creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick. Known for his genre-defying storytelling, Brian presents his latest novel, Kaleidoscope, which was inspired by the early months of the pandemic. He’ll be joined by his editor, none other than the celebrated […]
Real life best friends, Shannon and LeUyen give the most honest and funny insight into how they created their graphic novel series, the latest of which is Friends Forever! Based on Shannon’s own experiences of school, the latest book sees young Shannon become an Eighth grader. Like so many children and teens, she is struggling […]
Meet the authors gaining international momentum for their bestselling work. The World in Other Words at TIFA offers special events presented in the authors’ own language, representing communities from around the world and across the local neighbourhoods of Toronto. Winner of the Last Girl Champion Award and a Child Protection Ambassador for Save the Children […]
The phrase can you hear me now? has become ubiquitous in the age of digital meetings, but also speaks to global movements for change that call for marginalized voices to be represented, celebrated and heard. TIFA is proud to present a new collection of writing that responds to this phrase, penned by some of the […]
C’mon l’il one! Time to incite an exciting musical riot and set your poetry free as rapper and writer Khodi Dill shows us that “rap is a style that is infinitely free.” Join Khodi as his introduces his first picture book, Welcome to the Cypher, a vibrant, rhythmic, musical introduction to rap, beatboxing and spoken […]
Drawn from millions of words, hundreds of interviews, and six years in the making, Craig Taylor’s New Yorkers is a grand portrait of an irrepressible city and a hymn to the vitality and resilience of its people. This special collection of performances and readings captures the rise and fall and rise of love of the […]
Join New York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay for an exciting look at his latest psychological thriller, Find You First, in conversation with fellow thriller writer Ian Rankin (The Dark Remains). Barclay’s adrenaline-packed novel follows tech millionaire Miles Cookson, who, after receiving a hereditary terminal diagnosis, must locate the nine children he fathered via sperm donation two decades […]
As a young boy, David Suzuki loved spending time outdoors with his father. Today, he’s made it his life’s work to preserve the environment and save all life on Earth. Meet the nature-loving boy who became today’s iconic climate change activist, in Elizabeth MacLeod and Mike Deas‘ brilliant, new biographical graphic novel. Elizabeth talks about how […]
Every poet plays with language to reveal the inexpressible. Tune in to meet a new generation of Canadian poets who are pushing the possibilities and challenging the rules. Curated and hosted by Britta B., this archived presentation from the Toronto International Festival of Authors, celebrates the influence and indelible impact of dub poetry, featuring Afua […]
Alexandra Morton has been called “the Jane Goodall of Canada” for her passionate 30-year fight to save British Columbia’s wild salmon. A field biologist who became an activist, Morton has created groundbreaking research on the damaging impact of ocean-based salmon farming on the coast of Canada’s Pacific coast province. Join Alexandra Morton for a special […]
Fabulous frocks, tremendous tales, scintillating songs… It can only be Fan favourites Fay & Fluffy! Yes, they are back, for a very special TIFA Kids drag storytime. The pair, who have graced many of Toronto’s biggest cultural institutions since 2016 will take the stage to read their stories in their own, unique and delightfully entertaining […]
Canadian novelists Megan Gail Coles and Jen Sookfong Lee come together for a conversation about storytelling through fiction and poetry. After releasing their first poetry collections this year – each received with high praise – the literary masters’ stars are on the rise as they establish themselves as multi-genre masters. Coles’ Satched is an honest, penetrating and […]
Dr. Yusef Salaam, member of the Exonerated Five, served six years and eight months in prison for a crime he did not commit. After he was exonerated of the infamous Central Park Jogger murder, Salaam became an award-winning motivational and transformational speaker, thought leader, trainer, New York Times bestselling author and coach. Join him, in […]
Tune in to an engaging talk with authors Lola Akinmade Åkerström and Helen Walsh about their powerful debut novels, exploring important social issues, from racism, classism and fetishization; to contemporary feminism and toxic masculinity in the #MeToo age. In Nigerian-American writer and photographer Lola Akinmade Åkerström’s In Every Mirror She’s Black, three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build new lives in the most open […]