July author events!

Peter Behrens (The O’Briens):

Saturday, July 16, 7:45 p.m.
Lakefield Literary Festival (with Lisa Moore)
Bryan Jones Theatre
Lakefield, ON

Follow Peter Behrens on his virtual book tour! Peter also been participating in a tour of great Canadian literary blogs, making stops at:

Chapters/Indigo Fiction Blog: on screenwriting vs. novel writing
Literary Treats: how The Law of Dreams and The O’Briens are linked (includes a book giveaway!)
Kevin from Canada: family connections in The O’Briens
Sail Books: the geography of The O’Briens
Bella’s Bookshelves: on Peter’s blog, autoliterate
Reading for the Joy of It: the editing process
Book Discovery: writing women (coming July 13)
Books Under Skin: Q&A with Peter Behrens (coming July 15)

Julie Booker (Up Up Up)

Saturday, July 30, 7:00 p.m.
Reading
Holy Oak Book Club
1241 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON

Ian Hamilton (The Disciple of Las Vegas)

Thursday, July 14th, 7:30 p.m.
Gulliver’s Bookstore
157 Main Street West
North Bay, ON

Tuesday, July 19, 7:00 p.m.
Words Worth Books
100 King Street South
Waterloo, ON

Sunday, July 31, 7:00 p.m.
Bayfield Village Bookshop
20A Catherine Street
Bayfield, ON
Toronto, ON

If you would like to attend the book launch for The Disciple of Las Vegas on July 21, please RSVP to Bridget Haines (bridget [at] anansi [dot] ca).

Tweets and photos from last night’s Poetry Bash

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Anansi Poetry Bash last night! It was so lovely to see so many people supporting our spring poetry titles. Congratulations to Ken Babstock (Methodist Hatchet), Matt Rader (A Doctor Pedalled Her Bicycle Over the River Arno), and Sharon Thesen (Oyama Pink Shale) for a fantastic launch.

Our Poetry Bash space, the upstairs of Levack Block, inside and out (click for bigger photos):

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And here’s a little taste of what was being said about the Bash on Twitter last night and this morning:

Julie Booker launches UP UP UP at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore

Watch the livestream from Saturday’s launch of UP UP UP now!

JUliE BOOKER April 16th, 2011 on FacingOut – li…, posted with vodpod

Thanks to everyone at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore for hosting this wonderful event (as well as facilitating the livestream), and congratulations to our star, Julie Booker!

VIOLA DESMOND WON’T BE BUDGED launches in Toronto

Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged, the new picture book written by Jody Nyasha Warner and illustrated by Richard Rudnicki, launched last night at 918 Bathurst in Toronto. Here are a few photos from the lively event:

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PHOTO CREDIT: Fred Horler

Thanks to everyone who made it out!

In Nova Scotia, in 1946, an usher in a movie theatre told Viola Desmond to move from her main floor seat up to the balcony. She refused to budge. Viola knew she was being asked to move because she was black. After all, she was the only black person downstairs. All the other black people were up in the balcony. In no time at all, the police arrived and took Viola to jail. The next day she was charged and fined, but she vowed to continue her struggle against such unfair rules. She refused to accept that being black meant she couldn’t sit where she wanted.

Viola’s determination gave strength and inspiration to her community at the time. She is an unsung hero of the North American struggle against injustice and racial discrimination whose story deserves to be widely known.

The African Canadian community in Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s oldest and most established black communities. Despite their history and contributions to the province the people in this community have a long experience of racially based injustice.

Like Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, who many years later, in 1955, refused to give up their bus seats in Alabama, Desmond’s act of refusal awakened people to the unacceptable nature of racism and began and process of bringing an end to racial segregation in Canada.

An afterword provides a glimpse of African Canadian history.

Visit the Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged Facebook page!