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Art & Books Books

Word heads lakeside

THE WORD ON THE STREET at Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West), Sunday (September 27), 11 am to 6 pm. Free (Authors Cruises $25, child $10). thewordonthestreet.ca/toronto.


It used to be The Word On The Street – literally, a whack of publishers and literary orgs setting up tables along Queen West for avid book lovers. Then it turned into The Word in the park at Queen’s Park. Now it’s become The Word by the lake: The Word On The Street has officially moved to Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with the International Festival Of Authors

Many of the readings have moved indoors to the Studio Theatre and the Harbourfront Centre Theatre – good if the weather’s bad, but unfortunately, indoor venues mean fewer will be drawn by chance into the audiences.

But WOTS will take advantage of the water, offering Author Cruises, where you can get face time with the likes of Terry Fallis, Lynn Crosbie, Andrew Pyper and more.

As usual, children get major attention via a kids’ marketplace in the Brigantine Room and an activity tent at Pawsway.

Meet NOW writers at the NOW table throughout the day (see ad, page 61). And the roster of official Word authors is as strong as ever. (I’ll be hosting some stellar ones at the Great Books Marquee, 3:15 pm to 5:45 pm.) 

Here are five we’re really looking forward to.

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ANDRÉ ALEXIS

The Trinidad-born Canadian started off strong when his debut novel, Childhood, was Giller shortlisted and then went on to win the Trillium Award in 2000. Fifteen years later, his fifth novel, Fifteen Dogs (Coach House), which speculates on what might happen if canines were given human intelligence, just copped a spot on the Giller long-list.

11:30 am and 4 pm, Toronto Book Awards Tent 

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CATHERINE GILDINER

The memoirist extraordinaire has followed up her knockout debut, Too Close To The Falls, with two more series of remembrances mining her fascinating life. The newest, Coming Ashore (ECW), describes her coming of age in the 60s, including an unbelievable – except it’s true – encounter with Jimi Hendrix. Onstage, Gildiner is as funny as her books.

5 pm, Wordshop Marquee

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MICHAEL SMITH

T.O.’s rife with foodies, so it’s no surprise that food books make up a large component of The Word’s program this year. Look out for Food Network chef Michael Smith, who’s here with his latest book, Make Ahead Meals (Penguin), and who continues to promote sustainable eating and no-nonsense recipes.

4 pm, Amazon.ca Bestsellers Tent

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NEIL PASRICHA

Is there anybody on the planet more positive than Neil Pasricha? He parlayed his 1,000 Awesome Things blog into the bestselling The Book Of Awesome and has followed it up with two more Awesome books and now a book for kids, Awesome Is Everywhere (Penguin/Puffin). He’s the happiest guy ever – he even liked working in the Proctor & Gamble marketing department before his writing blew up. Now he just blisses out on life’s littlest things.

1 pm, Amazon.ca Bestsellers Stage 

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PAUL YEE

The Governor General’s Award winner (Ghost Train) comes to the festival with his new book, A Superior Man (Arsenal Pulp), which mines a key historical period in Canada – the building of the Canadian National Railway, mostly by Chinese workers. Yee’s a fearless writer, this time taking on some of the conflicts that festered during the construction between the Chinese and native populations. 

5:15 pm, Great Books Marquee

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