What to see and where to see it
A sample of more than 200 authors and presenters at the festival — the best place to learn about new, must-read Canadian books. It’s a lakeside kickoff to the fall season
Amazon.ca Bestsellers Visit The Word On The Street’s flagship venue at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre to see some of the biggest names in CanLit today. Amazon.ca Bestsellers will feature new titles by celebrated Canadian talent. Start your day with Kenneth Oppel’s new graphic novel, Inkling, illustrated by Sydney Smith. Michael Kaan reads from his 2018 Amazon.ca First Novel Award-winning The Water Beetles. Star of the page and screen Joel Thomas Hynes thrills readers with We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night, winner of the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction. Poets Najwa Zebian and Hana Shafi grace the stage with their newest collections, Nectar of Pain and It Begins With The Body. Karl Subban will reveal the secrets to his family’s athletic achievements with How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey. Don’t miss Linwood Barclay with his newest tale of suspense A Noise Downstairs, Amy Stuart’s anticipated sequel Still Water and Elisabeth de Mariaffi’s breakout psychological thriller Hysteria. End your day with Wayne Grady and his new historical fiction Up From Freedom. Audible Presents Great Books
Join literary greats in the light and airy Lakeside Terrace for a day featuring spring and fall 2018 titles including fiction, short stories and poetry. Featured authors include award winners Sharon Bala and Lisa Moore; bestseller Joanna Goodman; suspense writers Nathan Ripley, Sharon Butala and Kevin Major; takes on modern love with Uzma Jalaluddin, Andrea Bain and Kelli Korducki; and music buffs Michael Barclay and Nicholas Jennings. Author Cruises
Join bestselling author panels for three 60-minute Author Cruises on the tall ship Kajama. Cruises board at 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Be romanced by the “Love Boat” cruise with Harlequin authors Maggie K. Black, Stefanie London and Mary Sullivan; solve the “Mystery Aboard the Kajama” with Kelley Armstrong, Joy Fielding and Ian Hamilton; and ride the waves “Across Water, Through Time” with Alex Boyd, Andrea Curtis and Kerri Sakamoto. For tickets, head to an information booth ($20 adults, $5 children). Canadian Magazines
Take a peek behind the scenes of the magazine world with seven panels featuring professionals from great Canadian titles. Five panels focus on Careers in Canadian Magazines, a professional development series on topics such as design, finding funding, digital journalism, surviving as a freelancer and what it takes to build a successful contemporary magazine. When you’re done learning, visit the Magazine Mews marketplace to renew your subscriptions! Indigenous Voices
Returning from a compelling debut in 2017, Indigenous Voices will feature more great writers from across Turtle Island, as well as expanded learning opportunities to pick up a few new phrases in Anishinaabemowin and Cree. This stage will host recent poetry, literary fiction, young adult fiction and memoir from Billy-Ray Belcourt, Waubgeshig Rice, David A. Robertson, Adam Garnet Jones and Lindsay Nixon. Learning Station
Literacy comes alive at the Learning Station with a braille challenge, ASL storytelling, blackout poetry and the opportunity to write a love letter to your city. These inspiring literary activities (and more) are hosted by literary organizations including the Ripple Foundation, Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf and Silent Voice, and Frontier College. Sculpting New Reads
This exciting visual arts venue brings together Canadian art- ists and authors to explore how books can inspire new ways of thinking, creating and innovating.
Four local artists are ready to unveil their works, inspired by four very different books: Kelli Korducki’s Hard to Do: The Surprising, Feminist History of Breaking Up, Emma Healey’s hit poetry collection Stereoblind, Howard Akler’s novel Splitsville, set at the time of Toronto’s fight against the Spadina Expressway, and Rabindranath Maharaj’s surrealist tale Adjacentland. Teen Spirit
See your favourite YA authors in action in genre-based and interactive programming showcasing great new 2018 titles. Featured authors include Hadley Dyer, Isabelle Lafleche, Chantel Guertin, Star Spider, Sarah Raughley, Regan McDonell and slam poets from BAM! Toronto. Returning this year is the by-teens-for-teens book pitch competition “Inspire Teen Reads” — this fastpaced competition will be judged by authors Kenneth Oppel, Evan Munday and Nancy Cooper. La scène francophone Viamonde
Returning after a successful first year in 2017, this venue is home to francophone programming for the whole family. Join us in the morning for presentations with acclaimed chil- dren’s authors Mireille Messier, Caroline Merola and Élise Turcotte, along with the curious Feèli Tout, the fairy who reads everything. In the afternoon, hear from journalist and author Samuel LaRochelle, two panels of 2018 Prix Trillium finalists and recipients, as well as a conversation with Le legs d’Eva author Waubgeshig Rice and translator Marie-Jo Gonny. The Franc’Open Mic poets will finish the day with a poetry slam, with a top prize of $500. Toronto Book Awards Tent
Kick off the day at the Toronto Book Awards Tent with a panel on diversity in YA literature presented by Diaspora Dialogues, before heading into a full day of readings from this year’s 2018 Toronto Book Awards finalists. This year’s presentations include a panel on The Unpublished City, an anthology of new writers selected by writer Dionne Brand, and readings from Lee Maracle’s My Conversations With Canadians, Kerri Sakamoto’s The Floating City, David Chariandy’s Brother (writer Catherine Hernandez will read) and Carrianne Leung’s That Time I Loved You (editor Jennifer Lambert will read). Toronto Star Tent
Join some of your favourite Star writers including Robert Benzie, Martin Regg Cohn, Daniel Dale, Peter Howell, Kristin Rushowy, Judith Timson, Susan Delacourt and Thomas Walkom, as well as Star editor Irene Gentle and host Dan Smith for an afternoon of analysis and discussion on some of the year’s standout stories. Vibrant Voices of Ontario
This is the place to be to catch the very best in fiction, short stories and poetry by authors and publishers across Ontario. Explore the science writing of Christopher Dewdney, the poetry of Emma Healey and the magical realism of Rabindranath Maharaj. There’s something for everyone at this popular programming space. Wordshop Marquee
The Humber School for Writers presents a full day of discussion on topics for aspiring and experienced writers. Learn how to write difficult characters, what goes into a mystery and what to avoid when looking to publish your manuscript. Presenters include Lynn Coady, Trevor Cole, Jessica Johnson, Robert Rotenberg and Alana Wilcox. TD KidStreet Kids Activity Tent
Hosted by author and educator Jeff Szpirglas, kids can flex their imaginations and create their own superhero with author and illustrator Kevin Sylvester, draw their own comics with Story Planet and complete cool science experiments with CBC Kids bird Chirp. All this and more with a day chock full of crafts, activities and creativity! TD Children’s Literature Tent
A full day of readings from Canada’s favourite children’s authors and illustrators, including Qin Leng ( I Am Small), Kelly Collier ( Team Steve), Cary Fagan ( The Hollow Under The Tree) and presentations from the nominees for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. In the afternoon, don’t miss the TD Grade One Giveaway of Rebecca Bender’s Giraffe and Bird. ... and more KidStreet Surprises
This year, we’re bringing even more fun to KidStreet! Tag along with Mike Ford as he roams KidStreet singing and strumming his Canadian history-inspired songs. Go on the hunt with Philip and Lucinda, dinosaur explorers extraordinaire, as they sing, dance and tumble their way through the Paleozoic era. Take up a tune with the Zoosemobile — an interactive musical bike. Get festive and decorate your face with our face painters, and don’t forget to look up — there might be a stilt-walker in your midst!