Internationally bestselling Japanese novelist Kōtarō Isaka (Bullet Train) makes his first North American appearance with his latest in the Assassins series Hotel Lucky Seven and suspenseful novel Seesaw Monster. Known for razor-sharp plotting and eccentric, unforgettable characters, Isaka blends satire and suspense to expose society’s hidden violence. The author continues his reinvention of the crime […]
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How do bestselling authors keep readers turning the pages? They make the reader see, hear, feel, taste and touch what the protagonist is experiencing in real time. In this Masterclass, Internationally bestselling author Alka Joshi walks you through the craft of sensory writing with tips, tricks, and exercises you can use to hone your narratives. […]
From the New York Times and Toronto Star Bestselling author Alka Joshi in conversation about her latest historical novel, Six Days in Bombay, exploring identity, colorism and colonialism in 1937 India and Europe. At the heart of the novel is Sona, a young woman captivated by the artist Mira Novak, after their friendship blossoms over […]
Join us for an event with two powerful storytellers and stories that span generations. In her debut novel To the Moon and Back, Eliana Ramage explores family, belonging, and identity with luminous prose that reveals the ties binding us across generations. Brian Thomas Isaac presents Bones of a Giant, a haunting and resilient tale rooted […]
Two beloved stars of historical fiction bring their latest page-turning adventures to TIFA. From internationally bestselling author Alyson Richman comes The Missing Pages, a love story, a ghost story, and an elegy to the healing power of books. Violet Hutchins, a Harvard student is working as a page at the Harry Widener Library, when strange […]
From conflict and migration crises, to the rise of nationalist ideologies and political point-scoring, 2025 has seen the fundamental belief in universal human rights challenged and undermined. Built out of the destruction of World War II and the Holocaust, the human rights order has been a cornerstone of good, progressive society. The subject shaped the […]
Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, HP Lovecraft, Stephen King – all great writers who know that the stories that have the biggest impact are often the scariest. In this masterclass, we will look at techniques to elicit fright on the page, dissecting a few famous passages to see what makes them so effective. From there, participants […]
A fiddler from the age of 9, Natalie MacMaster has proven to be an icon on the Canadian music scene, with many awards and nominations to her name. Join her for a conversation on her memoir I Have a Love Story, chronicling her journey from her childhood, to her career, to motherhood, and her reflections […]
Join two award-winning authors as they discuss their latest, highly anticipated novels about the trials and tribulations of two tumultuous relationships. In Eimear McBride‘s The City Changes Its Face, Stephen and Eily’s relationship began full of passion and excitement but after eighteen months, reality is setting in and they’re learning about whether their love is […]
Already tipped as one of the best books of 2025, Chris Pavone’s The Doorman is a pulse-pounding novel of class, privilege, sex, and murder. This laser-sharp satire and literary thriller centers on New York’s Bohemia, the most famous apartment house in the world, home of celebrities, financiers, and New York’s cultural elite. The action unfolds […]
We tend to think that a meaningful writing practice must include hours set aside every day, with ambitious word counts and project deadlines propelling us to completion on a set timeline. But for many writers, both aspiring and established, this isn’t possible, let alone sustainable. In this talk, we will examine how one builds a […]
What role can art and imagination play in resisting exclusion and erasure? In his piercing essay collection, Black Boys Like Me, Toronto teacher and writer Matthew R. Morris confronts what it means to be a young Black man in a school system built on narrow definitions of success. He traces a journey of how identity […]
Discover the art of bringing real lives to the page, and explore the craft of biography, including how to research, shape a compelling narrative, and balance fact with storytelling. Whether you’re working on a biography, memoir, or creative non-fiction, this session with acclaimed writer Francesca Wade will provide insight and practical tools to help you […]
Gertrude Stein’s salon at 27 rue de Fleurus in the 6th arrondissement of Paris is the stuff of literary legend. A place that once entertained and fostered the likes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, but also where Stein herself forged her literary legacy with her partner Alice […]
A storytelling rule of thumb: the wilder and more otherworldly the setting, the more the writer has to do to make it feel real. This workshop looks at how we can bring imagined worlds to life by world-building through character and setting, so the reader feels they are truly living in a created world. We […]
From the bestselling, prize-winning author Linden MacIntyre comes An Accidental Villain, an engrossing, page-turning exploration of the little-known life of Sir Hugh Tudor, a man who changed the course of Irish history. Appointed by his friend Winston Churchill, Tudor led the police in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence, becoming commander of the notorious […]
In some literary circles “politics” is treated almost like a dirty word. Politics gets a bad rap because political literature can often come across as didactic, pedantic, perhaps with images of characters on a soapbox raging against the machine. Who, in their right minds, wants to read that? But done the right way, political literature […]
Join Vinh Nguyen and Jeremy Tiang for a conversation on stories of family and politics in the midst of two wars. In Nguyen’s memoir, The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse, the author tells the story of his family’s journey from Vietnam at the end of the war, and his father’s disappearance. Mixing memories with imagination, […]
From journalist Karen Bartlett comes a new book on the never-before-told story of the Afghan women judges who fought for justice, and to escape the Taliban. Bartlett was able to contact many of the women involved, those who fled the country and those who didn’t. Join the author for a conversation on Escape from Kabul: […]
Join acclaimed author Kiran Desai for a conversation on her latest novel, the Booker Prize long-listed The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, a spellbinding tale of lovers growing apart only to come back together again. Sonia and Sunny, embarassed by a matchmaking attempt made by their families, move on with their lives only to find […]
Two groundbreaking authors come together to discuss how their new works push the boundaries of imagination and storytelling. Acclaimed South Korean writer Bo-Young Kim will discuss her celebrated collection, I’m Waiting for You: And Other Stories, which blends speculative wonder with emotional depth, weaving tales of love, time, and human connection across galaxies. Jacquelyn Zong […]
You can learn a lot about a place through its ghost stories. Tales of phantoms, spirits and apparitions are connected to many of the most dramatic moments from Toronto’s past. The spectres said to lurk in the shadows of our city are tied to war, rebellion, tragedy and transformation. Whether it’s the ghost of a […]
We sometimes think of poems as being expressions of ideas we’ve already figured out, but poems can also be wonderful ways of working through confusion, conflict, ambivalence, and the moment where our feelings change. We’ll explore ways to reflect these dynamic moments in poetry, and look at some inspiring examples. TIFA’s Creative Writing Masterclasses offer […]
Small press publishing is at a crossroads. More writers than ever are seeking to publish, yet fewer readers are buying books, leaving independent presses navigating shrinking markets and shifting landscapes. Still, they persist, driven by passion, creativity, and a deep commitment to voices and work that might otherwise go unheard. This event gathers three small press […]
