About

TIFA Presents a special event with the award-winning and much-loved author and poet, Michael Ondaatje in conversation with writer, journalist and academic, Amitava Kumar, marking the publication of Ondaatje’s new Selected Poems, The Distance of a Shout.

Michael Ondaatje has assembled some of his finest poems to create a singular poetic memoir that invokes the arc of his own journey over fifty years from the youthful “storm of music’ to the calm of later. Beginning with memories of his childhood in Sri Lanka and his eccentric family, to his life in rural southern Ontario offers a profound understanding of how we lose and find ourselves, and a glimpse into the interwoven life and art of one of our most cherished poets and novelists.

Books will be available for purchase courtesy of Flying Books. Click here to pre-order your copy. Flying Books is an independent bookstore, publisher, and writing school in Toronto, with two locations at 784 College Street and 371 Queen West, offering a thoughtfully curated selection. Sign up for their newsletter and follow them on Instagram!

There will not be a book signing.

Presented in partnership with McClelland & Stewart.

TIFA Presents 2025-2026 Season is generously supported by Presenting Donors Beth Nowers and Jack Curtin.

Michael Ondaatje

Michael Ondaatje is the author of seven novels, including Coming Through Slaughter, The Cat’s Table, and Warlight; a memoir, Running in the Family; a nonfiction book on film-editing, The Conversations; and several books of poetry, including A Year of Last Things, The Cinnamon Peeler, and Handwriting. Among the international accolades, for all his work, The English Patient received the Booker Prize in 1992 and was made into a film by Anthony Minghella.

Read more about Michael Ondaatje

Amitava Kumar

Amitava Kumar is the author of several works of nonfiction and four novels. The books of nonfiction include Husband of a Fanatic, A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb, and A Matter of Rats.

Read more about Amitava Kumar