What to know
- The Word On The Street runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at David Pecaut Square. Admission is free.
- Saturday’s program includes Toronto Poet Laureate Lillian Allen, conversations with Toronto Book Award finalists and panels on food writing, horror and thrillers.
- Sunday brings debut novelists, Toronto stories, romance, fantasy and activities for young readers.
- Visitors can browse books and magazines from independent publishers throughout the weekend. Festival workshops require advance registration.
A free book festival is bringing Canadian writers, poetry and plenty of new reads to downtown Toronto this weekend.
The Word On The Street takes over David Pecaut Square on Sept. 26 and 27 with author conversations, workshops and a marketplace featuring independent publishers, booksellers and writers.
It runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here’s where to start, based on what you enjoy reading.
For poetry that sounds like Toronto
Saturday: Toronto Poet Laureate Lillian Allen takes the Neighbourhood Stage from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. She’ll share her work, speak with Chiedza Pasipanodya about their collection The Sweet Spot, and welcome guest poets to read about Toronto.
The session ends with a collectively improvised piece, giving the audience something that can only happen if you’re there. Allen has also organized roaming poets, including OCAD University creative writing students, who will give spontaneous performances around the festival grounds on both days.
On Saturday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Toronto’s first Youth Poet Laureate, Shahaddah Jack, hosts a spoken word showcase with three young poets at the Neighbourhood Stage.
For a new author to add to your reading list
Saturday: The Neighbourhood Stage hosts a series of short conversations with Toronto Book Award finalists. Jackie Khalilieh appears from 12:45 to 1:15 p.m. to read from You Started It, a young adult novel about a Toronto teen whose plans for senior year unravel after a breakup.
Poetry readers can head to the Vibrant Voices Stage from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. to hear Trillium Book Award poetry finalists Farah Ghafoor and Hajer Mirwali read from their work.
Sunday: Come for a first novel and leave with three possibilities. Liz Johnston, Tyson Stewart and Jinwoo Park discuss their debuts at the Neighbourhood Stage from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m.
Their books take readers in very different directions: Johnston’s The Fall-Down Effect explores family and climate activism, Stewart’s The Return of the Nish draws on Anishinaabe storytelling, and Park’s Oxford Soju Club centres on a Korean restaurant caught up in a spy story.
For stories about food, family and the city
Saturday: Food is the starting point for a conversation about memory and belonging at the Vibrant Voices Stage from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. The speakers include Sonali Menezes, whose illustrated Depression Cooking combines recipes with reflections on feeding yourself through difficult times, and Khalil Akhtar, whose How to Eat with Your Hands explores Punjabi cooking and the idea of home.
Sunday: If you like recognizing places from your own life in a book, try Writing Toronto at the Neighbourhood Stage from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Don Gillmor, Carrianne Leung and Adrick Brock discuss stories of belonging and change set against the city. Brock’s debut novel Islanders, for example, begins with a teenager discovering a body in the ice of Toronto Harbour.
For a reading list with a little romance, magic or fear
Saturday: Vivek Shraya and Alison Gadsby discuss feminist horror at the Love & Shadows Stage from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. If psychological suspense is more your speed, Shari Lapena and Jennifer Hillier close the stage’s Saturday program from 5:15 to 5:45 p.m. with a conversation about secrets, moral ambiguity and twisting plots.
Sunday: The same stage turns toward love and fantasy. Lily Chu, Sonya Singh and Lavanya Lakshmi discuss romance from 11:15 a.m. to noon. At 2 p.m., Anuja Varghese, Jessie Sylva and Elly Blake explore romantasy, including Varghese’s medieval India-inspired A Kiss of Crimson Ash. Fantasy readers can stay for Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Tao Wong and Coltrane Seesequasis at 3 p.m.
For browsing beyond the big-name books
The exhibitor marketplace is open both days. Alongside publishers and bookstores, visitors can find literary magazines such as Room and The New Quarterly, browse small presses, and visit Indie Alley to meet independent authors. Give yourself time to wander as there’s a lot to discover.
Sunday: Curious about how a magazine gets made? A workshop from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. brings together people behind Orbital Studies, Lore Magazine and Serviette to talk about the early, messy stages of independent publishing. The festival says its workshops require advance registration.
Families have options, too. On Sunday from noon to 12:45 p.m., children can make a dragon hand puppet with author and theatre artist Julia Hune-Brown at the Kids Activity Tent. It’s one way to bring home something inspired by a story even if your book bag is already full.
The Word On The Street takes place at David Pecaut Square, 215 King St. W. St. Andrew is the closest subway station. Check the full weekend schedule before heading out, particularly if there’s one session you hope to catch.
