The International Festival of Authors begins

Ontario-wide event offers up a few queer bits


The International Festival of Authors (IFOA) starts today, Oct 16, and runs until Nov 2, but you won’t see much evidence of it in Toronto until this coming weekend. Most of the early events take place outside Toronto at various Ontario locales.

The first Toronto event, the annual PEN Canada Benefit, is Oct 18.

Below are some authors and events of note for queer audiences:

Nora Young, a CBC radio host, will read from her new book, The Virtual Self, on the afternoon of Oct 20. Young will share the stage with Jian Ghomeshi Oct 20 for a group interview conducted by Sook-Yin Lee. Lee gained experience with group work with her role in the movie Shortbus.

Author Kamal Al-Solaylee, who has been nominated for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for his book Intolerable, will be joined by other nominees on Oct 21 in an event moderated by Rachel Giese.

Emma Donoghue will read from her new collection of short stories, Astray, on Oct 28 and take part in a panel discussion on Oct 27.

Below is a recent interview with Kamal Al-Solaylee and an interview with Emma Donoghue and Colm Tóibin from 2008.

On occasion, the number of editors and other staff who contribute to a story gets a little unwieldy to give a byline to everyone. That’s when we use “Xtra Staff” in place of the usual contributor info. If you would like more information on who contributed to a particular story, please contact us here.

Read More About:
Books, Culture, Toronto, Arts

Keep Reading

The cover of Work to Do by Jules Wernersbach; Jules Wernersbach

‘Work to Do’ shows just how dramatic a grocery store can get

Jules Wernersbach’s energetic novel delves into the intricacies of queer entrepreneurship, climate change—and class revolt
Side-by-side images of author Sara Ahmed holding her dog, wearing pink sparkles with dark hair, and the cover of her book "No! The Art and Activism of Complaining." The book cover is light pink with black text on a white background.

Sara Ahmed says we need more complainers, not less

Whether it’s queer community, academic or government institutions, the feminist scholar says there's value in complaints
Nini Coco with an up arrow behind her; Juicy Love Dion with a down arrow behind her

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18, Episode 14 power ranking: The final three

Who can win? Who will win?
Zane Phillips

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18, Episode 14 recap: Top of the morning to Ru

We’ve finally reached the end of in-season play, with just a LaLaPaRuZa and finale to go
Advertisement