Diaspora Dialogues

Here is Where Literary anthology explores the contemporary Canadian city

(TORONTO) “Where is here?” Northrop Frye’s classic conundrum gets a refreshing spin in TOK: Writing the New City (Zephyr Press), a luminous new anthology from Canada’s established and emerging literary voices. From Vancouver to Halifax, and Toronto to Montreal, writers, poets and dramatists explore the diverse and contemporary issues of urban Canadian lives.

TOK: Writing the New City launches on Wednesday April 8, 2009 at the Gladstone Hotel with readings, conversations and live music!

Hosted by CBC’s Matt Galloway, the launch will feature fiction writers Antanas Sileika, Gul Joya Jafri, Sandra Tam, and Sabrina Ramnanan; and poets Ken Babstock and Marge Lam.

The writers will read selections from the book and discuss the process of capturing their particular takes on the city.

Copies of the brand-new book will be available, followed by a very special musical jam performance by LAQR – a group of Toronto musicians curated by LAL's Rosina Kazi especially for the launch, including Santosh Naidu, Matt Maaskant, Nuno Gervasio, Ian de Souza and Kazi.

TOK: Writing the New City is the fourth book in an annual anthology series published by Zephyr Press, and marks the anthology’s expansion into the creative exploration of Canadian cities beyond Toronto, including Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver.

The TOK anthology is the product of the annual Diaspora Dialogues mentoring program. “The mentorship is an opportunity to discover, develop and promote new literary voices,” says Diaspora Dialogues president Helen Walsh, “as well as to contribute to the expansion of contemporary urban Canadian literature. It’s always an exciting process to bring these diverse voices together, and we are very proud to present this newest volume which for the first time draws from writers outside of Toronto.”

Included in this anthology are: Anar Ali, Ken Babstock, Tanya Bryan, Maria Corbett, Shauntay Grant, Rawi Hage, Yiwei Hu, Gul Joya Jafri, Marge Lam, Jen Sookfong Lee, Daniel David Moses, Yvette Nolan, Sabrina Ramnanan, Pratap Reddy, Antanas Sileika, Moez Surani, Sandra Tam, and Naya Valdellon.

WHAT: Launch of TOK: Writing the New City, Book 4
WHEN: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 – doors open at 7 pm
WHERE: Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen Street West (at Gladstone)
COST: Free

CONTACT: Julia Chan, julia@diasporadialogues.com; 416-944-1101 x 277

Biographies

Ken Babstock has authored three poetry books (Mean, Days into Flatspin, and Airstream Land Yacht). He has won the Trillium Award for Poetry, the Milton Acorn Award, the Atlantic Poetry Prize, and the K.M. Hunter Award. He has been nominated for the Griffin Prize, the Governor General’s Award, and the Winterset Prize. His poetry is translated in five languages. He lives in Toronto.

Matt Galloway has been working at CBC Radio for almost 10 years, hosting the programs The Current, Sounds Like Canada, Metro Morning, The Arts Today, Global Village, Music and Company, Q and many others. In 2008, he hosted CBC Radio’s coverage of the Summer Olympics live from Beijing, mixing breaking sports results with interviews and insightful looks into the changing face of contemporary Chinese culture. Since 2004, he has been the host of Here & Now, the daily drive-home program on CBC Radio One 99.1 FM in Toronto.

Gul Joya Jafri was born in Pakistan and raised in Toronto. She has worked in international development in Ottawa, Amman, Ramallah, and Beirut. This is her first published work.

Marge Lam was born in Vancouver. A multimedia artist and community worker, she was published in The Colouring Book, a collection of multi-racial writing, and from this, created her first video short, Unkept, for the National Film Board of Canada. She freelances for CBC Radio One and CKLN, and co-hosts a show on CFRO. She lives in Toronto.

Sabrina Ramnanan was born in Toronto to Trinidadian parents. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto. Her poetry has been published in Cerulean Rain. Antanas Sileika is a novelist, magazine writer, and broadcaster. His last novel, Woman in Bronze, was a Globe and Mail Best Book. He is the artistic director of the Humber School for Writers. Sandra Tam writes about gender and racial aspects of women’s working lives, and has published articles in several newspapers, academic journals, and magazines. She lives in Toronto.