By Richard K. BarryFor some reason I got heavily into reading books about war over the winter. I’m generally not a great fan of war, all that death and destruction. Still, as a concept it has played a fairly significant role in the shape of the world w…

Tell the truth. You’ve had this happen. You write a story, and by gum it’s a good one. You polish it, and put it out for the world to see. Then someone comes to you and says, “I really enjoyed the theme of evil, and how the gloves symbolized evil deeds…

With the month of February drawing to a close, Black History Month comes to an end as well. Many see this celebration as an amends to the past, applauding those courageous leaders who marked political moments and defiant changes in our world; however, …

We stayed on Southampton Row near Russell Square when we were in London last week. I saw a lot of people popping in and out and omnibuses but alas no crazy organs.London is enchanting. I step out upon a tawny coloured magic carpet, it seems, and get ca…

Nifty little animated biography of Charles Dickens, the brilliant Victorian novelist who would have been 200 years old today, had he not died 142 years previously. Though not his greatest literary achievement by any means, my personal favourite of al…

I have a smile on my face this morning despite the heavy snow falling outside and the shovelling that lies ahead. Calling Shotgun has taken third place in the Ninjamatics 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards. I will proudly display my bronze meda…

This morning, with a brightening glow from my right I looked up from my newspaper to see a fog of falling snow across the yard, neighbouring street, and rooftops below. The unplanned and surprising sight had taken me back, contrasted all the more by th…

A musical adaptation of Dostoevsky’s masterpiece The Idiot premiered at the PuSh Festival in Vancouver last week. The play is a co-production of Vancouver Moving Theatre and Neworld Theatre and is directed by James Fagan Tait. Adrienne Wong is artistic…

We were short listed in our category as part of the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards! Second year running! Congrats to Evan Jobb who weekly brings to you tales as an emerging screen writing talent in this country! And also a … Continue reading →

Hey! Over here! Over here! Look! Look at meeee!I haven’t really done anything to warrant all this attention. I’m like a kid who begs ‘watch this, watch me, watch, watch this, are you watching?’ and then follows up with ‘wait, I’m not ready.’ But even t…

By Brian Moylan: Every year Lake Superior State University bans a bunch of words and phrases from the English language for good. They just released their list today and, I must say, it is amazing. Oh wait, we can’t say “amazing” anymore. The number one word for removal was “amazing,” which people say is overused [...]

Carmen Rodriguez is an acclaimed poet and author who arrived in Canada as a refugee from Chile after the 1973 coup that ousted President Salvador Allende. Her latest book spans 70 years and follows the lives of three generations of the Martinez family….

Mark Nenadov, who blogs at All Things Expounded, asked me and some other people ten questions about literature and reading habits. You can see my answers here: Christians and Literature – 10 Questions for Ian Clary.

LITERATURE: SO THEY NEVER DID LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER: I have recently finished ‘The Collected Fairy Tales Of Hans Christian Anderson, and am about 80% through ‘The Collected Fairy Tales Of The Brothers Grimm’. Lots of things could …

LITERATURE:SO THEY NEVER DID LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER:I have recently finished ‘The Collected Fairy Tales Of Hans Christian Anderson, and am about 80% through ‘The Collected Fairy Tales Of The Brothers Grimm’. Lots of things could be said about these co…

Award-winning memoirist Joan Didion took some time at the Harbourfront Centre last night to talk about grieving, the subject of her latest book.

Canada’s largest literary award, the Giller Prize, was handed out last night, but in another room across downtown from the Four Seasons, many of Toronto’s aspiring writers, book lovers, journalists, and university students gathered for quite a different evening. They came to see Joan Didion, the widely loved and widely read American author, who was [...]

“A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth has its boots on.” – Donald Rumsfeld
Having never been classically trained in feminism I was painfully unaware of many feminist hall-of-famers until recently. In fact, I remembered this embarra…

Readings, interviews, and round tables that will set your literary heart a-flutter throughout the festival’s 12-day run.

Bookworms, start your engines. The International Festival of Authors kicked off today, and to help you see the best of the fest, we’ve previewed eight events from this year’s calendar that caught our eyeRead: What’s On at IFOA 2011

Today in Toronto: get pumped up for the International Festival of Authors at a pep rally; stop by for a laugh on day one of the Toronto Improv Festival; listen to a lecture to find the cause you want to fight for; and check out an all-Canadian cast in the renowned Broadway play The Normal Heart.

LITERATURE PEP RALLY: If you’re a bibliophile, you have probably been counting the days until the International Festival of Authors opens. While tomorrow is the official start, you can get a quick taste of the excitement today at an IFOA pep rally, “complete with pom-poms and cheering,” as well as contests and book giveaways. A [...]