The Toronto-based DIY community and education centre The Academy of the Impossible is starting up a new literary salon series this weekend that pairs a diverse array of Canadian authors with Toronto’s finest young writers. The event has paired up with Toronto Street Writers, a writing group for youth aged 16-29. Each salon will take place on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, starting at 1:30pm at the Academy of the Impossible ((231 Wallace Ave, Lansdowne & Bloor).
At the beginning of each salon, after a pay-what-you-can lunch, writers from TSW will read a selection of short pieces, and then the featured guest will read. At the end of the reading, the young writers will interview the featured guest and the event will close with an open mic.
The first event is this Saturday, September 8 (TOMORROW) with the brilliant George Eliot Clarke. Clarke is best known for his works exploring the lives and history of black communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He is a two-time Governor General Award-winning and will be reading from his incendiary book-length poem, I & I.
You can see the complete schedule for the series below. As you can see, it features a wonderfully broad group of writers of varying ages, backgrounds and orientations who represent Canada’s regional, cultural and political diversity. These events sound invigorating and we can’t wait to start attending. Impossible Words runs right through the long days of winter and ends at the end of May 2013. You can keep up to date with upcoming events through their Facebook group.
September 8, 2012 George Elliott Clarke
September 22, 2012 Mariko Tamaki
October 13, 2012 Kristyn Dunnion & Anand Mahadevan
October 27, 2012 Hiromi Goto
November 10, 2012 Nalo Hopkinson
November 24, 2012 Cherie Dimaline & Moez Surani
January 12, 2013 Martin and Pam Mordecai
January 26, 2013 Susan Musgrave
February 9, 2013 Kevin Chong
February 23, 2013 Farzana Doctor & Zoe Whittall
March 9, 2013 Charles De Lint
March 23, 2013 Margaret Christakos & Souvankham Thammavongsa
April 13, 2013 Carolyn Smart
April 27, 2013 bill bissett
May 11, 2013 Lillian Allen & Robert Priest
May 25, 2013 Sarah Tsiang