Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Time, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vulture, The Guardian, and more, Matrix is a triumphant new novel from award-winning author Lauren Groff – her first since the groundbreaking Fates and Furies in 2019. Tune in for an empowering look at this defiant and timely novel, led by interviewer Marsha Lederman. The […]
Read more »
Two debut authors and 2021 literary award contenders, Kavita Bedford and Aimee Wall, present their remarkable first novels in conversation with Stacey May Fowles. Australian-Indian writer Bedford introduces Friends and Dark Shapes, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards. The story chronicles a group of housemates in Sydney contending with gentrification, divisive politics, stalled careers and […]
In a compelling whodunnit investigation, journalist Elaine Dewar shows the science, follows the money, and connects the geopolitical interests that sent the world spinning in early 2020, when news of a SARS-like flu were reported in China. Her book On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years is part field notes and part […]
Join Asha Bromfield for an exciting interview and Q&A about her latest book, Hurricane Summer, creative process and writing inspiration. You may know actor and musician Asha Bromfield from the television series Riverdale and Locke and Key. Her sweeping literary debut, Hurricane Summer, tells the heartfelt, coming-of-age story of Tilla as she deals with colorism, […]
As a small boy growing up in Brazil, Geraldo Valério loved the birds and butterflies in his garden. Now he’s a picture book artist and his passion for the environment can be seen in My Book of Birds and My Book of Butterflies, which depict luscious illustrations and fun nature facts. Travel with Geraldo on […]
In April 1992, the painter Francis Bacon took ill while holidaying in Spain. He died in a Madrid hospital, alone, except for the ministrations of a hospice nun, Sister Mercedes. In his bold and brilliant short work of experimental fiction, Max Porter (author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny) inhabits the great […]
Join Lambda Literary Award author and Amazon First Novel Award-winner Casey Plett in conversation about belonging, the complexities of being and the bond between humans. Plett introduces her latest novel, A Dream of a Woman, a poignant collection of short stories centring transgender women seeking stable, adult lives. Quiet truths are uncovered in prairie high-rises […]
Tune in for a joyful conversation between two master short story writers. From the author of the wildly acclaimed Night Boat to Tangier (a New York Times “Top 10” book of 2019), Kevin Barry presents his latest collection, That Old Country Music. You’ll meet a ragbag cast of West Ireland characters, many on the cusp between love and catastrophe, navigating a contemporary Ireland that is in flux, but where old rhythms somehow […]
Experience text off the page like never before, as the internationally acclaimed Literary Death Match brings its circus to TIFA Kids! A thrilling mix of famous children’s authors will compete with performances of their most electric writing to reach a comic finale! It’s the writing world’s American Idol (without the meanness). This event features readers […]
Don’t miss an unforgettable conversation between two social activists whose pens have proven mightier than swords. As a translator of ancient texts, and artistic director of Theater of War Productions, New York-based Bryan Doerries routinely brings catharsis to the traumatized by framing dramatic readings and facilitating discussions on pressing issues of public health and social […]
Join Toronto writers Therese Estacion and Charlie Petch for an evening of poetry and conversation. Their debut collections are an intimate portrayal and exploration of disability, gender and identity. Estacion’s Phantompains is a visceral, surreal collection dealing with loss and grief, inspired by Filipino horror and folktales, Petch’s Why I Was Late fuses text and […]
Described as “inscrutably brilliant” by The New York Times, poet, essayist, translator, classicist and professor Anne Carson takes to the TIFA virtual stage alongside visual artist Rosanna Bruno to present their fantastic comic book collaboration, The Trojan Women: A Comic. Based on Euripides’s famous tragedy, the classic story follows the fates of Hekabe, Andromache and Kassandra after Troy has been sacked and all its men killed. In this retelling, the characters […]
Experience text off the page like never before, as the internationally acclaimed Literary Death Match brings its circus to TIFA. A thrilling mix of international authors will compete with performances of their most electric writing to reach a unique comic, literary finale! It’s the writing world’s American Idol (without the meanness). This event, hosted by […]
Toronto’s largest poetry showcase returns for a fifth Festival appearance, featuring some of Canada’s best spoken word artists and next generation stars. This high-energy spectacle of original content will leave you feeling inspired. Host: Tanya Neumeyer Feature poet: Kyle Hernandez This event will take place live on Zoom and is only available to view in […]
Enter the gritty and desperate world a compelling young woman fighting for a stable future for her family, in Willy Vlautin‘s The Night Always Comes. This latest novel by the award-winning author and songwriter with the iconic Richmond Fontaine and the Dlines, is a scorching portrait of hope, exploring the hollow promises of the “American […]
From National Book Award Finalist Joshua Ferris, the author of Then We Came to the End, now comes A Calling for Charlie Barnes, a tender portrait of a man whose need to be loved is his downfall, and a brutally funny account of how that love is finally earned. Tune in for a compassionately relatable look at how […]
Since her 2019 shot to literary stardom with her nonfiction work Three Women, Lisa Taddeo has made an international impact writing about feminism, power and rage. In her debut novel, Animal, Taddeo guides us on a visceral exploration of the fallout from a male-dominated society. The story introduces us to Joan, a woman who has […]
Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author André Alexis returns to the Festival with the highly anticipated conclusion to his five-part series of genre-bending novels. Ring comes on the heels of Pastoral, Fifteen Dogs, The Hidden Keys and Days by Moonlight to complete Alexis’s Quincunx, five stories philosophically sophisticated and utterly delightful. Provoked by a reading of Harlequin […]
Ann Goldstein is a renowned editor and translator of the Italian language, and current chief of the copy department for The New Yorker. Her skills have enabled the publshing phenomenon of the enigmatic Elena Ferrante to reach an English reading audience. Her latest translation of the acclaimed Italian novelist is The Lying Life of Adults, […]
A fan favourite on the international circuit, Daniel Hahn’s acclaimed Translation Duels will invite a new pairing of translators to present their own interpretation of the same work. This exercise in nuance and form will demonstrate the complexity of translation as a creative art. This duel will feature text by acclaimed author Laurent Binet, one […]
While teaching a class at the East Jersey State Prison, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges unearthed, and later chronicled, the personal discovery and transformation of his students. Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison provides a glimpse into the lives of inmates who share the grief and suffering endured at the hands of […]
Stories are powerful and those that are the readers, the tellers and the keepers of stories are also powerful. Authors Kate DiCamillo and Joseph Coelho explore all this and more as they discuss their new novels. Kate is a two-time Newbery Medalist, her latest book, The Beatryce Prophecy, a fantastical tale of fate, love and […]
Iconic, world-defining Canadian author, and Officer of the Order of Canada, Douglas Coupland is back with his first new work of fiction since 2013, Binge. The international bestselling author, visual artist and designer offers 60 new stories laced with his trademark idiosyncratic insights on life and living. Once known as the voice of a generation […]
Award-winning French author Laurent Binet returns to the TIFA virtual stage to present Civilizations. From Viking explorers to Christopher Columbus’s fragile sense of superiority, Civilizations (translated to English by Sam Taylor) is an ambitious counterfactual history of the modern world. Join us for an entertaining talk with Binet – author of the international bestselling novel HHhH – on colonization, empire-building […]