Author Dennis Lee reading from his children's hit poem "Alligator Pie" at the Children's Activity tent at Word on the Street in Toronto last year Photo Credit: We're Photography
ARTS- Multi-city “Word on the Street” literary festival
It’s a multi-city event taking place this weekend in five cities across Canada including Lethbridge Alberta, Saskatoon Saskatchewan,, Halifax Nova Scotia, and Kitchener and Toronto in Ontario.
It’s called “Word on the Street” and the idea is to make literature, books and magazines, known and easily available to the public.
Heather Kanabe, Festival Director for the Toronto edition of Word On The Street
To do that, they indeed bring the books out on the street.
In large open air tents, book and magazines are on display, and various authors and artists also read from the works and interact with the public…
…and it’s all free!
The one-day event originated in Toronto, Ontario and is now in its 24th year. Crowds in recent years have been estimated at 200-thousand to come and meet, speak with, and listen to a wide variety of Canadian authors
The list of authors includes: Fiction authors Dennis Bock*, Joseph Boyden*, Austin Clarke, Joy Fielding, Wayne Grady*, Elizabeth Ruth, Michael Winter*, and many more. The four authors shown with an asterisk were longlisted this week for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Non-Fiction authors Carolyn Abraham, Chrystia Freeland, Adam Leith Gollner, and Priscila Uppal, who was just shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize.
Other festival highlights include the Journal Reflections Auction—bidding opens on 20 Moleskine notebooks personalized by Canadian authors in celebration of the festival’s 25thanniversary in 2014!
There will be “Shakespeare in Action” all day on KidStreet, where visitors will also find the TVOKids stage, readings with the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award finalists and a celebration of the TD Grade One Book Give-Away; Another fun event is with the 2013 Poetry Slam Team as they perform ‘Guerilla Spoken Word’ co-presented by the Toronto Poetry Project and The League of Canadian Poets.
Back by popular demand are familiar programming areas like the Bestsellers Stage, the Vibrant Voices of Ontario Tent, The Remarkable Reads Tent, and the Great Books Marquee.
Its a wonderful event and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Heather Kanabe, festival director for the big event in Toronto.
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