Mariko Tamaki is a Canadian writer living in California. She is the co-creator of the graphic novels Skim and This One Summer with Jillian Tamaki, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me with Rosemary Valero-O’Connell. She writes superhero comics for DC Comics, Darkhorse and Marvel. Mariko was the recipient of the Eisner for Best […]
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Join children’s author, Sadé Smith for the launch of her latest picture book Julie and the Mango Tree (Macmillan). The event will take place on August 12 from 4pm to 6pm at A Different Booklist. There will be a reading of the book and conversation moderated by fellow children’s author, Nadia Hohn. This is a free […]
Coupled with Sayada Ramdial’s bright and colorful artwork, Julie and the Mango Tree by Sadé Smith will have readers of all ages giggling – and craving a mango of their own! Julie loves all kinds of fruit, but mangoes are her absolute favorite. One sticky summer afternoon, Julie goes to the big mango tree in […]
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Sadé Smith is the Canadian children’s book author of Granny’s Kitchen which was nominated for the Blue Spruce Award for the Forest of Reading 2023 and shortlisted for the 2023 Crystal Kite Award. Her second book Julie and the Mango Tree, illustrated by Sayada Ramdial, has been selected for the CBC […]
Join author and playwright Sean Dixon on October 4 at 6pm for the launch of his novel, The Abduction of Seven Forgers (Freehand Books) at the TRANZAC Club in the Annex. There will be live music and tarot card readings, as well as an artist drawing portraits! Food and drinks will be available. This is […]
“One day, not long ago, I was kidnapped by a bitter but fun-loving South Korean art collector named Mr. Jackie Lin who had been burned one too many times by art forgers and wanted a bit of revenge.” So begins The Abduction of Seven Forgers, a brilliant and immensely entertaining novel with a colourful and […]
Sean Dixon grew up in a family of 12, including his 8 siblings, parents and a grandmother, through several Ontario towns, predisposing him to tell stories about groups of people thrown together in common cause. His debut novel, The Girls Who Saw Everything, was named one of Quill & Quire’s best of the year. His […]
Join us as we celebrate the launch of Craig Shreve‘s rich historical novel The African Samurai (Simon & Schuster Canada) on August 2 from 7pm to 9pm. The event will take place at Supermarket Bar and Variety at 268 Augusta Avenue Toronto, ON. This is a free Toronto Lit Up event. There will be some […]
Set in late 16th-century Africa, India, Portugal, and Japan, The African Samurai is a powerful historical novel based on the true story of Yasuke, Japan’s first foreign-born samurai and the only samurai of African descent—for readers of Esi Edugyan and Lawrence Hill. In 1579, a Portuguese trade ship sails into port at Kuchinotsu, Japan, loaded with European […]
Craig Shreve was born and raised in North Buxton, Ontario, a small town that has been recognized by the Canadian government as a National Historic Site due to its former status as a popular terminus on the Underground Railroad. He is a descendant of Abraham Doras Shadd, the first Black person in Canada to be […]
Join us as we celebrate the launch of author Mai Nguyen‘s debut novel, Sunshine Nails (Simon & Schuster Canada). The event will take place Thursday, July 6 at 7pm ET at 3030 Dundas. Mai will be in conversation with author Ann Y.K. Choi. This is a free Toronto Lit Up event. There will be some light […]
Mai Nguyen is a National Magazine Award–nominated journalist and copywriter who has written for Wired, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star and several major brands. Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she now lives in Toronto. Sunshine Nails is her debut novel. Visit her at MaiNguyen.ca.
A tender and funny debut about a Vietnamese Canadian family who will do whatever it takes to keep their no-frills nail salon afloat after a multimillion-dollar chain opens across the street. Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have made a good life for themselves in Toronto, but their landlord has just jacked up the rent […]
Join Jaypeetee Arnakak on Sunday, July 9 at 2pm ET at Another Story Bookshop to celebrate Nunavut Day and the launch of The Woman and Her Bear Cub (Inhabit Media Inc.). Jaypeetee will be reading from his book. Snacks and drinks will be available. This is a free Toronto Lit Up event. Books will available […]
Jaypeetee Arnakak is a linguist, translator, and educator. He spent many years as a policy analyst specializing in Inuit culture, language and education issues. He is the editor of Unikkaaqtuat Qikiqtaninngaaqtut, a collection of thirty-three versions of traditional stories, transcribed and edited from oral recordings of ten Inuit elders from two High Arctic communities, Arctic […]
Join author Zhang Ling on Saturday, August 12 at 2pm ET for the launch of her novel Where Waters Meet (Amazon Crossing). Hosted by the Canada-China Institute for Business & Development, Zhang will be in conversation with professor Christopher Payne, an East Asian literature expert and a literary translator at the University of Toronto. This free […]
Winner of the Chinese Media Literature Award for Author of the Year, the Grand Prize of Overseas Chinese Literary Award, and Taiwan’s Open Book Award, Zhang Ling is author of nine novels and numerous collections of novellas and short stories, including A Single Swallow, translated by Shelly Bryant; Gold Mountain Blues; and Aftershock, which was […]
A daughter discovers the dramatic history that shaped her mother’s secret life in an emotional and immersive novel by Zhang Ling, the bestselling author of A Single Swallow. There was rarely a time when Phoenix Yuan-Whyller’s mother, Rain, didn’t live with her. Even when Phoenix got married, Rain, who followed her from China to Toronto, […]
Join author Patricia Scarlett on June 24 at 6pm for the launch of her debut novel, Blinded by the Brass Ring (Baraka Books) at the Fairview Branch of the Toronto Public Library. The event will be moderated by Donisha Prendergast, an actor, writer, director and producer, who has contributed to many award-winning productions. They will discuss Blinded […]
Not one to rest on her laurels, Jewelle Joseph is determined to add the new VP of Sales and Distribution to her list of accomplishments. But she’s not the only International Sales Executive reaching for the brass ring. From the glitzy office towers of Toronto to the glamorous world of the international television market in […]
Patricia Scarlett‘s stories reflect contemporary Black life in Canada and explore the intersections of race, class, and culture through a Caribbean-Canadian lens. Her early experience in television was primarily in international sales. Looking to the many journals she had kept over the years about the inner and outer workings of the domestic and international TV […]
Join Daniel Innes & Christina Wong for the launch of their novel Denison Avenue (ECW Press) at Sneaky Dee’s on May 4 at 7pm ET. This free Toronto Lit Up event is a funeral for Chinatown and Kensington Market’s past, featuring with all the speakers talking about the neighbourhood and all the many changes it’s […]
A moving story told in visual art and fiction about gentrification, aging in place, grief, and vulnerable Chinese Canadian elders. Bringing together ink artwork and fiction, Denison Avenue by Daniel Innes (illustrations) and Christina Wong (text) follows the elderly Wong Cho Sum, who, living in Toronto’s gentrifying Chinatown–Kensington Market, begins to collect bottles and cans […]
Daniel Innes’ extensive portfolio includes painting, installation, graphic and textile design, illustration, sign painting and tattooing. He uses traditional commercial art techniques, with a focus on the process. He has a special interest in creating works that have the possibility of an immersive physical experience. Daniel was born in the north end of Toronto and […]
