I should be there right now instead of blogging about it. I am really despising school this very minute. WHY ARE YOU NEEDED SCHOOL? WHY!?
Anyway...
WotS or Word on the Street, is a free community festival held in Toronto and other cities across Canada in support for reading and advocating literacy. It is a national book and magazine festival, and a place where you can meet authors by the dozens, finding great reads almost at every turn. Mostly, it is a place where we can celebrate Canadian literature at its best.
Apparently Kelley Armstrong, the author of the immensely popular Darkest Power series is going to be there.
So here's a little history of the festival from the WotS site, in case you're interested:
Somehow, I will attend next year. Hopefully I'm free. What about all of you? Do you have something like Word on the Street in your city? If so, tell me about it!
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| Pic from WotS |
WotS or Word on the Street, is a free community festival held in Toronto and other cities across Canada in support for reading and advocating literacy. It is a national book and magazine festival, and a place where you can meet authors by the dozens, finding great reads almost at every turn. Mostly, it is a place where we can celebrate Canadian literature at its best.
Apparently Kelley Armstrong, the author of the immensely popular Darkest Power series is going to be there.
So here's a little history of the festival from the WotS site, in case you're interested:
Created as a vehicle to promote Canadian authors, books, magazines and literacy, the concept for the Toronto Book and Magazine Fair grew out of the Promotions Committee of the Book and Periodical Council. Looking for new promotional opportunities, the Committee determined that the time had come for Toronto, Canada's publishing capital, to join other major publishing centres and host their own large-scale public festival of the written word.
In November 1989 the concept became reality: a Board of Directors was appointed, staff hired and an office established, and the inaugural festival took place a year later in September 1990 to coincide with International Literacy Year.
The Toronto Book and Magazine Fair, otherwise known as The Word On The Street, has grown from a small festival of 40,000 booklovers to become Canada's largest, annual book and magazine festival. Despite attracting more than 200,000 visitors annually, the festival has remained true to its original mandate: to foster the awareness and appreciation of the written word in our culture, promote local artists, bring the people of Toronto together in a celebration of reading and champion literacy as an essential element of a healthy community. As part of its commitment to support emerging artists, one quarter of the festival's exhibit space is available at cost to small presses, independent authors and writing associations; literacy organizations are accommodated at no charge.
The festival's place in the national literary community has attracted some of Canada's most celebrated authors over the years, including: M.G. Vassanji, Richard B. Wright, Elizabeth Hay, Timothy Findley, Margaret Atwood, Alistair MacLeod, Vincent Lam, Robert Munsch, Nino Ricci, John Ralston Saul, Kenneth Oppel, Pierre Berton, David Suzuki, and Dennis Lee. However, the festival's reputation does not only come from presenting such notable talent; The Word On The Street is also known for its track record of helping launch emerging authors, such as Tish Cohen, Joseph Boyden, Leah McLaren, and Stephen Marche.
To learn more about WotS, click here.
Somehow, I will attend next year. Hopefully I'm free. What about all of you? Do you have something like Word on the Street in your city? If so, tell me about it!
