The All Lit Up Inspire! alt-Preview! (aka: Life off the Main Stage)
If you’re at all familiar with All Lit Up, you know that we tend toward the quirky, the new, the different. Our unique Inspire! preview gives you the lowdown of not-to-miss sessions with some of our fantastic authors and publishers for almost every kind of reader: nine things and 19 events to be “Inspire!d” about, away from the Main Stage.
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The first-annual Inspire! Toronto International Book Fair starts tomorrow. Whether you’re looking to get in the spirit of the festival from afar, or simply know where to gather books for author signings: we’ve got you covered! With seven stages, nearly 200 booths and 300 authors, Inspire! is truly a fair of all things literary in Canada.Now, if you’re at all familiar with All Lit Up, you know that we tend toward the quirky, the new, the different. Our unique Inspire! preview gives you the lowdown of not-to-miss sessions with some of our fantastic authors and publishers for almost every kind of reader: nine things and 19 events to be “Inspire!d” about, away from the Main Stage.
Inspire!d by: Indigenous Lit
From the Inspire! schedule: “The First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literary Circle will spotlight the diversity and creativity of Indigenous writers, storytellers and performers from across the country.” Plenty of All Lit Up authors will be representing; sharing Indigenous poetry, fiction, and YA novels.First Nations, Métis & Inuit Literary CircleFriday, November 14–Sunday, November 16 | 10:00am-6:00pmFeaturing appearances from:Thoughts And Other Human Tendencies by Reneltta Arluk (BookLand Press)Halfling Spring by Joanne Arnott (Kegedonce Press)Just Pretending by Lisa Bird-Wilson (Coteau Books)Grey Eyes by Frank Christopher Busch (Roseway Publishing)Chaos Inside Thunderstorms by Garry Gottfriedson (Ronsdale Press)The Comic Book War by Jacqueline Guest (Coteau Books)
What Became My Grieving Ceremony by Cara-Lyn Morgan (Thistledown Press)
Inspire!d by: Literary Publishers
Inspire! will fête several publishing houses at this year’s event, but we find it prudent to highlight Biblioasis, who are celebrating ten years of publishing cutting-edge books in their equally cutting-edge storefront (featuring signage by Seth!) in Windsor, Ontario.
A Decade in Independent Publishing: Biblioasis Celebrates Ten YearsDiscovery Stage | Friday, November 14 | 10:00am–11:00amGlobe & Mail Books Editor Mark Medley in conversation with Biblioasis publisher Dan Wells, editor John Metcalf, and Biblioasis authors:
Canada is a nation of different voices, and all with great literature on offer. The following sessions highlight Québecois authors, stories from around the world, and a chat with the translators of Ontario’s Guernica Editions.Quebeçois Literary ShowcaseDiscovery Stage | Friday, November 14 | 12:00pm-1:00pmWith Felicia Mihali and Louis-Philippe Hébert (author of The Sandcastle Diary).
Put That On Your Bookshelf: The World in WordsDiscovery Stage | Friday, November 14 | 1:30pm-2:30pmWith Byron Ayanoglu (author of A Traveler’s Tale), Denis Sampson (author of A Migrant Heart), and Paul Savoie (author of Nocturnes).
Guernica Editions Presents: Literature in TranslationDiscovery Stage | Saturday, November 15 | 10:30am-11:30amWith Guernica translators Antonio D’Alfonso, Pierre L’Abbé (Palestine), Luisa von Flotow (The Stalinist’s Woman), and Guernica Publisher and poet Michael Mirolla (Light and Time).
Inspire!d by: History
New books about old things, including historical fiction and memoir.
Jacqueline Guest: The Comic Book WarTD Children’s Stage | Friday, November 14 | 10:00am-10:30amJacqueline Guest reads from her Forest of Reading Red Maple-nominated book, The Comic Book War.
Put That On Your Bookshelf: Writing About the PastSpark Stage | Friday, November 14 | 2:30pm-3:00pmA conversation between Binnie Brennan, Lisa Brown, and Christine Fischer Guy (The Umbrella Mender).Toronto Public Library Presents The Eh List Author Series: Martha BaillieDiscovery Stage | Saturday, November 15 | 12:30pm-1:30pmWith Martha Baillie, author of The Search for Heinrich Schlögel – named an Oprah “Powerful book to read this September”. Catherine Gildiner: Coming AshoreDiscovery Stage | Saturday, November 15 | 1:30pm-2:00pmWith Catherine Gildiner, who recounts her days as Cathy McClure in this memoir.
Inspire!d by: Speculative Literature
The future is now! (with these two novels and book of poetry). Indulge your inner futurist with these far-gazing works.
Put That On Your Bookshelf: Writing About the FutureSpark Stage | Friday, November 14 | 3:00pm-3:30pmA conversation between Bertrand Laverdure (Universal Bureau of Copyrights), Yvette Nolan (The Unplugging), and Paul Vermeersch (Don’t Let It End Like This Tell Them I Said Something).
Inspire!d by: Current Issues
After looking backwards and forwards, it might be refreshing to check in with the here-and-now. The following sessions feature the works of Canadian political cartoonist Aislin, and a conversation about bullying with author Deborah Ellis.The World We Live InSpark Stage | Friday, November 14 | 11:00am-12:30pmWith Terry Mosher (also known as Aislin), political cartoonist. Canadian Children’s Book Centre Presents: Read to RememberTD Children’s Stage | Friday, November 14 | 5:00pm-6:00pmWith Deborah Ellis, who talks about bullying and her book, We Want You to Know.
Inspire!d by: Contemporary Feminism
The unconventional heroines of these books are a refreshing refusal of female complacency. These sessions explore marriage, a lesbian relationship, and new fiction from avant-garde women writers.
Weddings and Woe: An Exploration of MarriageSpark Stage | Friday, November 14 | 4:00pm-5:00pmWith Felicia Mihali (A Second Chance).
Great Lives, Great StoriesDiscovery Stage | Saturday, November 15 | 4:00pm-5:00pmNatalie Meisner discusses her and her wife’s experiences being pregnant simultaneously in her memoir Double Pregnant: Two Lesbians Make a Family; Malka Maron shares her biography, Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words.
Put That On Your Bookshelf: Woman, InterruptedDiscovery Stage | Sunday, November 16 | 10:30pm-11:00amFeaturing a conversation with Alisha Piercy (Bunny and Shark), Ursula Pflug (Motion Sickness), and Phyllis Rudin (Evie, the Baby and the Wife).
Inspire!d by: Illustrated Books
Children’s picture books and grown-up graphic novels alike! George Murray: Wow Wow and Haw HawTD Children’s Stage | Sunday, November 16 | 11:00am-11:30amPoet and children’s book author George Murray reads from his picture book Wow Wow and Haw Haw, illustrated by Michael Pittman. Put That On Your Bookshelf: Picture ThisSpark Stage | Sunday, November 16 | 11:30am-12:30pmFeaturing graphic novelists Michael Cho, Jon Paul Fiorentino (Stripmalling), and George A. Walker.
CANSCAIP Presents: Evan MundayTD Children’s Stage | Sunday, November 16 | 4:00pm-4:30pmAuthor and artist Evan Munday presents his Dead Kid Detective Agency series. The second book in the series, Dial M for Morna, was just nominated for the Forest of Reading’s Silver Birch Award.
Inspire!d by: Food
Because who isn’t?
Barry C. Parsons: Rock RecipesPiller’s Culinary Zone | Sunday, November 16 | 12:00pm-1:00pmCreator of RockRecipes.com, Barry Parsons shares mouth-watering, Newfoundland-inspired recipes from his new book of the same name.***Psst. We’ll also be there! Visit our booth #410 and #412 in the Marketplace, and say hi!
