Coffee Room

This one isn't a Coach House event, but probably will be of interest to CanLit fans all over:

On Tuesday, May 20, Toronto's Poet Laureate Pier Giorgio Di Cicco and the City of Toronto unveil the Al Purdy memorial statue in the east side of Toronto's Queen's Park.

Purdy was often considered one of Canada's best and best-loved poets. The winner of two Governor General's Award, the late, great Al Purdy's statue will be unveiled on Tuesday afternoon.

Al Purdy Memorial Statue Unveiling
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Queen's Park North (east side of Queen's Park Circle)
Toronto, ON

How much does Alexander Herman dislike concrete architecture? You can read for yourself how much in his article on Open Book Toronto. He likes, the book, though ...

http://www.openbooktoronto.com/kickstart/blog/city_concrete

The City of Concrete

What does Toronto stand for? Well, it's a good question and one that I imagine has bugged more than a few contributors to this site. Ever since my earliest memories of moving to the city at the age of four, Toronto has been searching for an identity. At least in my mind. Maybe it's because I've never belonged to one of those lucky groups who rarely seem to lose sleep over questions of Toronto's civic identity: the hockey players, the bankers, the immigrants. In fact, those groups are likely the best representatives of the city and the uniqueness it has to offer.

In advance of the book launch for Practical Dreamers: Conversations with Movie Artists (on May 13), editor Mike Hoolboom talked to Pages Books and Magazines. For their new website, he wrote a tribute to one of the many movie-makers he's worked with over the years.

His feet never seemed to quite hit the ground when he entered the room, blown in on some passing whim. He would greet me with a wave that came from the end of his scarf, and a 'hiiii' that drawled the vowel so long we could both land on it. His name, which I glibly mispronounced for years without his ever once correcting it, was Mark Karbusicky. Mark was an editor and through six winters we sat together in the dark, sieving pictures through a computer, his large capable hands interfacing with the machine. I wasn’t able to see then the way his lightness was also a way of erasing every step, as if he were walking backwards through the snow with a broom, leaving no traces. Now you see me, now you don't ...

This past weekend, the National Post interviewed author Maggie Helwig about her new novel, Girls Fall Down. The interview appeared in the Weekend Post's 'Toronto' section.

A sample is below. Visit www.nationalpost.com for the full interview.

If The Streets Could Talk
Maggie Helwig brings the city to life, in her new thriller, Girls Fall Down

CBC's wildly popular Daybreak Alberta will talk with Jordan Scott, the author of Blert, this Sunday, April 27. Scott is in Alberta for two book launches, one in Edmonton that Sunday, and one in Calgary on Tuesday (see our events listings), and he'll talk with host Terri Campbell about the two events, his new book, and the poetics of stuttering.

Daybreak Alberta airs weekend mornings from 6 to 9 a.m. Jordan Scott

Claudia Dey signs copies of her brand-new novel, Stunt. Photo: Rick/Simon.

Author Michael Winter and Claudia Dey (Stunt) discuss writing and taxidermy in front of a fine example of the latter. Photo: Rick/Simon.

If you missed Claudia Dey's interview on CBC Montreal's 'All In A Weekend,' fret not. You can listen to a recording of the interview with the Stunt author at CBC's website:

http://www.cbc.ca/allinaweekend/listenagain.html

Just look under April 12, 2008!