In this very special event, the great author, John Irving will be in conversation with Nazanine Hozar to discuss her Giller-longlisted novel, The Small Ones. This gripping fable tells the story of children who are caught up in a military insurgence along the Iran–Iraq border in the early 1980s. This ragtag group of boys and […]
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What does Canadian poetry sound like now? At a moment when ideas of Canadian identity, culture and belonging are being challenged and reshaped, poetry offers a powerful space to reflect, resist and reimagine. Selected by award-winning poet and editor Tolu Oloruntoba, Best Canadian Poetry 2027 gathers some of the most compelling poems published across the […]
Poetry leaves the page and takes centre stage as we turn up the volume for an electric evening of readings, spoken word and performance, showcasing emerging writers from Toronto’s universities and creative writing programmes. At the heart of the night is the inaugural Fabienne de Cartier Award for Performance Poetry, celebrating a young Ontario poet […]
Award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki takes her turn typing short stories in her latest work, The Typing Lady. The collection spans decades and countries, bringing together characters with the common thread: the written word. From letters to manuscripts to disappearing ink, each shows how much of ourselves we leave in stories and how much it connects […]
Join renowned illustrator, Jackie Morris, as she shares her process of illustrating while summoning wonders onto paper using words and pigment. In this workshop, learn from a master of book illustration paired with a live painting demonstration from start to finish.
All the world is Shakespeare’s stage. Join Daniel Hahn and Ann-Marie MacDonald as they discuss translating and adapting the bard. Hahn is a translator who travelled the world talking about Shakespeare with actors and writers alike for his book If This Be Magic, discussing the challenges when it comes to translating meaning, rhythm, and clever […]
Journey through the familiar streets of Toronto and the distant land of California with Maria Cichosz and Alex Pugsley, as they discuss their novels set in the city we call home and beyond. Middlemen, Cichosz’ story set in the mid-2010s, is described as a “break-up letter to Toronto”, following Beau’s move to California to see […]
Join Gary Barwin and Ferdia Lennon for a conversation about comedy in the face of death, and the surprising ways humour can help us navigate grief, loss and suffering. In The Comedian’s Book of the Dead, Barwin presents Death as a comedian whose journey into the underworld forces him to confront love, loss and fatherhood. […]
Join Canadian artist, educator and bestselling author Mark Liam Smith for a one-hour drawing masterclass inspired by his new book, The New Artist’s Guide to Drawing Animals. Using his signature five-step method, Smith will show participants how to transform basic geometric shapes into expressive animals, adding lifelike details such as fur, feathers and scales. What […]
Marie NDiaye is an award-winning author from France. Her psychologically incisive fiction explores identity, family, belonging, and displacement, often blending realism with the uncanny. Widely translated and internationally celebrated, Marie Ndiaye’s most recent English publication, The Witch, translated by Jordan Stump, was shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. The author will be in conversation […]
Raoul de Jong is an award-winning Dutch writer and his work has been translated into German, French, and English. He has written for numerous magazines and newspapers, and his novel Jaguarman was nominated for multiple awards. The author will be in conversation with Canisia Lubrin.
Pull up a chair and join Jess Janz for a Tea and Talk about her book, The Table Where We Meet. After starting Dinner with Strangers, organized meals where people can meet new people, Janz felt inspired to share what she had learned from guests, from funny stories to vulnerable moments. In this conversation, she’ll […]
The Toronto Poetry Slam returns with a high-energy spectacle of original content to leave you feeling inspired! Since 2005, TPS has featured some of Canada’s best and most engaging spoken word artists and next generation stars. Presented in partnership with Toronto Poetry Project, this hit slam is a competition in two rounds with multiple contestants, […]
You’re in for a bloody good time with Craig DiLouie and Emily A. Weedon, as they discuss their classic stories of slashers and vampires. DiLouie’s The Summer Fun Massacre follows a Texas deputy investigating a new massacre at a summer camp where a deadly tragedy occurred nine years earlier and his connection to the case. […]
A century ago, the idea of a Canadian literary canon — and who might belong in it — looked very different. Women have moved from the margins of Canadian publishing to become many of its most celebrated and widely read voices, but that transformation has not happened equally for everyone. Who has been published, reviewed, […]
Enter the haunted house with Jessica Hamilton and Sophia Hannan as they discuss their thrilling stories where something is lurking just behind every door. In Hamilton’s The Woods, a grieving mother moves her family into a secluded house in the forest, only to discover that something ancient and malevolent may be lurking among the trees. […]
History is never simply a record of what happened: it is shaped by who was there to document it, whose accounts were preserved, and whose experiences were considered worth remembering. Women writers today are widening that lens, recovering lives and perspectives pushed to the margins and challenging assumed versions of the past. Panelists will explore […]
Murder. Romance. Dragons. Domestic suspense. Women aren’t just writing genre fiction — they are driving some of the biggest publishing phenomena in the world. From crime and thrillers to romance, romantasy, horror and speculative fiction, women writers and readers have transformed genres once dismissed as formulaic or frivolous into cultural and commercial powerhouses. But why […]
Home is more than a commodity; it is the foundation of our lives and communities. In Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home, the 2026 CBC Massey Lecture, Leilani Farha examines how homes around the world have increasingly been treated as financial assets, with devastating consequences for affordability and access. Farha explores […]
Younger women writers are entering a world in which traditional boundaries — between literary and commercial, page and screen, fiction and memoir, writer and creator — are increasingly porous, while questions of representation, appropriation, authenticity and access have become more complicated, not less. Panelists look at the stories their generation wants to tell, the assumptions […]
In association with Humber Polytechnic’s Professional Book Publishing program https://humber.ca/explore-programs/programs/professional-book-publishing How does book publishing work? Why do some books get published and not others? How can I make my manuscript more attractive to publishers? What happens after a book is accepted? How do books get marketed in 2026? Do I need an agent? (And what […]
As the days grow shorter and the air cools, it’s time to slow down, turn inward, and take stock. This 90-minute workshop blends grounding yoga with journaling using prompts inspired by our festival programme. Led in a welcoming, mixed-ability environment, the session draws on the long tradition of autumn as a season for storytelling, quiet […]
