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DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
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SUMMARY:Ira Wells at Vancouver Writers Fest: On Book Banning and Censorship
DESCRIPTION:Ira Wells\, author of On Book Banning\, will be speaking at the  Vancouver Writers Fest event “On Book Banning and ” Ira will be joined by politics and culture critic David Moscrop in a robust discussion of public and private book banning. Is it wrong to embrace the books of people who do things we abhor? What is ‘equity-based weeding’? How can we know the true scope of book banning when according to a study by the American Library Association 82 to 97 percent of all library challenges go unreported? Do we have a national\, communal history? If so\, how can we best protect it? \nThe event will take place at the Revue Stage on Friday\, October 24 at 10AM. \nTickets and more details here. \nGrab a copy of On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/ira-wells-vancouver-writers-fest/
LOCATION:Revue Stage\, 1601 Johnston St\, Vancouver\, BC\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251020T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251020T140000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250916T182711Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251015T195823Z
UID:36657-1760961600-1760968800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:"Lit Up Lunch" at Indigo with Alex Pugsley and Russell Smith
DESCRIPTION:Biblioasis authors Alex Pugsley (Aubrey McKee\, The Education of Aubrey McKee) and Russell Smith (Self Care) will be in conversation together at the Indigo on Bay and Bloor in Toronto! The conversation also features author Jean Marc Ah-Sen\, and will be hosted by Emily Weedon. \nThe event will take place on Monday\, October 20 at 11:30PM. \nTickets and more details here. \nGet Self Care here! \nGet Aubrey McKee and The Education of Aubrey McKee here! \nABOUT SELF CARE \nBetween writing a weekly column for The Hype Report and managing her mood stabilizers\, Gloria navigates a series of quasi-relationships while commiserating with her best friend about dating apps and dick pics\, married men and questionable boundaries. But when she makes a glib pass at Daryn\, a stranger on a subway platform crowded with young anti-immigration protesters\, and finds him waiting for her outside her health club a couple of days later\, a surprising curiosity leads her not to consider a restraining order\, but to talk to him. \nClaiming she wants to interview him for an article on the incel movement\, Gloria meets Daryn for coffee and soon invites him back to her apartment—where his earnestness and painfully restrained desire inspire her to dominate him sexually. As their physical relationship intensifies\, so does their emotional connection\, and Gloria can’t shake the sense that she’s headed in a dangerous direction. \nAn electric examination of sex and love\, self-loathing\, and twenty-first century loneliness\, Self Care is a devastating novel about women and men\, what they want and what they say they want\, and the violent tension between the two. \nABOUT RUSSELL SMITH \nRussell Smith is the author of twelve previous books of fiction\, nonfiction\, and translation. His fiction has been nominated for every major Canadian award\, including the Giller Prize\, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize\, and the Amazon First Novel Award. A  journalist and cultural commentator\, his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Review of Books\, the Globe and Mail\, The Walrus\, and elsewhere. An acquiring editor at Dundurn Press\, Smith lives in Toronto. \nABOUT AUBREY MCKEE  \nFrom basement rec rooms to midnight railway tracks\, Action Transfers to Smarties boxes crammed with joints\, from Paul McCartney on the kitchen radio to their furious teenaged cover of The Ramones\, Aubrey McKee and his familiars navigate late adolescence amidst the old-monied decadence of Halifax. An arcana of oddball angels\, Alex Pugsley’s long-awaited debut novel follows rich-kid drug dealers and junior tennis brats\, émigré heart surgeons and small-time thugs\, renegade private school girls and runaway children as they try to make sense of the city into which they’ve been born. Part coming-of-age-story\, part social chronicle\, and part study of the myths that define our growing up\, Aubrey McKee introduces a breathtakingly original new voice. \nABOUT THE EDUCATION OF AUBREY MCKEE \nLonglisted for the 2024 Toronto Book Awards • A Toronto Star Most Anticipated Spring Title • A 49th Shelf Can’t Miss Title for Spring \nThe scene is Toronto\, the early 1990s\, and at a house party Aubrey McKee falls in love with a bewitching stranger who talks him into stealing a piece of cake. This woman—a poet named Gudrun Peel—rapidly becomes the person for whom he would do anything at all. Together\, Aubrey and Gudrun make a life of delirious idiosyncrasy. Surrounded by friends\, frenemies\, lovers\, and rivals in the underground arts scene\, the possibilities of their destiny remain radically open. But as their relationship deepens\, and their creative and professional lives stumble\, stall\, and then suddenly blow up\, Aubrey and Gudrun struggle against their own inexperience . . . as well as each other. \nThe much-anticipated follow-up to Alex Pugsley’s Aubrey McKee\, The Education of Aubrey McKee is a campus novel in which the city of Toronto is the institute of higher education and the setting for a glittering story about the incandescence of first love. \nABOUT ALEX PUGSLEY \nAlex Pugsley is the author of the novels Aubrey McKee and The Education of Aubrey McKee\, as well as the short story collection Shimmer. Following the publication of Aubrey McKee\, he was named one of CBC’s Writers to Watch. He has been nominated for Canadian Comedy Awards\, Gemini Awards\, Hot Doc Awards\, National Magazine Awards\, and is a winner of the Writers’ Trust Journey Prize. His feature film Dirty Singles is available on Apple TV and Prime Video. His next novel\, Silver Lake\, the third book in a series about Aubrey McKee\, is forthcoming from Biblioasis.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/lit-up-lunch-at-indigo-with-alex-pugsley-and-russell-smith/
LOCATION:Indigo Bay & Bloor\, 55 Bloor St W\, Toronto\, ON\, M4W 1A5\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/event56334.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251012T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251012T133000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250801T181145Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250924T195344Z
UID:36443-1760275800-1760275800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Caroline Adderson at Greenwood Storyfest
DESCRIPTION:Caroline Adderson will be appearing at the Greenwood Storyfest to speak about her latest collection of short stories\, A Way to Be Happy! \nThe event will take place on Sunday\, October 12 at 1:30 PM. \nTickets and more details here. \nGrab a copy of A Way to Be Happy here! \nABOUT A WAY TO BE HAPPY  \nLonglisted for the 2024 Giller Prize • A Globe 100 Best Book of 2024 • A CBC Best Fiction Book of the Year \nShort stories about disparate characters consider what it means to find happiness. \nOn New Year’s Eve\, a pair of addicts robs a string of high-end parties in order to fund their own recovery. A recently separated woman relocates to a small northern town\, where she receives a life-changing visitation\, and a Russian hitman\, suffering from a mysterious lung ailment\, retrieves long-buried memories of his past. In the nineteenth century\, a disparate group of women coalesce in the attempt to aid a young girl in her escape from a hospital for the insane. These are but some of the remarkable characters who populate these stories\, all of them grappling with conflicts ranging from mundane to extraordinary. Caroline Adderson’s A Way to Be Happy considers what it means to find happiness—and how often it comes through the grace of others. \nABOUT CAROLINE ADDERSON \nCaroline Adderson is the author of five novels (A Russian Sister\, Ellen in Pieces\, The Sky Is Falling\, Sitting Practice\, and A History of Forgetting)\, two previous collections of short stories (Pleased to Meet You and Bad Imaginings)\, as well as many books for young readers. Her award nominations include the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award\, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award\, two Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes\, the Governor General’s Literary Award\, the Rogers’ Trust Fiction Prize\, and the Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. The recipient of three BC Book Prizes\, three CBC Literary Awards\, and the Marian Engel Award for mid-career achievement\, Caroline lives and writes in Vancouver.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/caroline-adderson-at-greenwood-storyfest/
LOCATION:Stephen F. Shaar Community Centre\, 394 rue Main\, Hudson\, QC\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Caroline-Adderson.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251008T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20251008T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250916T161843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T201618Z
UID:36640-1759946400-1759953600@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Precarious: Calgary Launch!
DESCRIPTION:Join us for an evening celebrating the launch of Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers by Calgary-based author Marcello Di Cintio. Hosted by Paul Haavardsrud\, this event is presented by Shelf Life Books in partnership with the Calgary Public Library. \nThe launch will take place on Wednesday\, October 8 at 6PM. The event is free\, but RSVP is required on Eventbrite. \nMore details here. \nGrab a copy of Precarious here! \nABOUT PRECARIOUS \nA series of profiles of foreign workers illuminates the precarity of global systems of migrant labor and the vulnerability of their most disenfranchised agents. \nIn 2023\, after weeks of investigation\, United Nations Special Rapporteur Tomoyo Obokata came to a scathing conclusion: Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program is “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Workers complained of excessive hours and unpaid overtime; of being forced to perform dangerous tasks or ones not specified in their contracts; of being physically abused\, intimidated\, and sexually harassed; and of overcrowded\, unsanitary living conditions that deprived them of their privacy and dignity. \nIn Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers\, Marcello Di Cintio ranges across the country speaking to those who have come from elsewhere to till our fields\, bathe our elderly\, and serve us our Double Doubles\, uncovering stories of tremendous perseverance\, resilience\, and humanity\, but also of precarity and vulnerability. He shows that vast swathes of our economy depend on the work of people we don’t see\, while expanding our awareness of what migrant work now entails\, and revealing that our mistreatment of the most vulnerable among us diminishes our own dignity. \nABOUT MARCELLO DI CINTIO \nMarcello Di Cintio is the author of six books\, including Walls: Travels Along the Barricades\, Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense\, and Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers. He has also written for the Globe and Mail\, The Walrus\, The International New York Times\, and Canadian Geographic\, among others. He lives in Calgary.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/precarious-calgary-launch-2/
LOCATION:Patricia A Whelan Performance Hall\, Central Library 800 3 St. SE\, Calgary\, AB\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Discussion
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Moncton:20250928T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Moncton:20250928T160000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250912T204149Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250912T204149Z
UID:36622-1759071600-1759075200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Richard Kelly Kemick at 'The Catch-Up' Reading Series
DESCRIPTION:Richard Kelly Kemick\, author of Hello\, Horse\, will be joining ‘The Catch-Up’ Reading Series hosted by Fawn Parker. Richard will be joined in conversation by Douglas Walbourne-Gough\, and will be reading from his collection of short stories. \nThe event will take place at Westminster Books on Sunday\, September 28 at 3PM. \nMore details here. \nGet Hello\, Horse here! \nABOUT HELLO\, HORSE \nTaut\, stylish stories take on big moral questions from surprising perspectives. \nA teenager’s job mucking stalls at a dog track takes a strange turn when his co-worker finds a new religion at odds with winning streaks. Two brothers set out in search of fame upon the frozen waters of a subarctic lake. After her mother’s death\, a high school student tries to make rent by winning the Unitarian Church’s Annual Young Writer’s Short Story Competition. An incarcerated man considers the nature of justice between shifts with his fellow inmates at Nations at War\, the ultimate live-action experience for tourists eager to learn about the Canadian Civil War. \nSpanning states and provinces\, and featuring an apocalypse\, a coterie of ghosts\, nuns on ice\, and an above-average number of dogs\, the stories in Hello\, Horse consider the mirage of authenticity and the impact of decisions we make—for better and for worse. \nABOUT RICHARD KELLY KEMICK \nRichard Kelly Kemick is an award-winning poet\, journalist\, and fiction writer. His limited series podcast\, Natural Life\, is an intimate and unexpectedly honest documentary on his cousin\, who is serving a life sentence without parole in Michigan. Richard is also the author of I Am Herod (also on audiobook)\, which takes readers undercover at one of the world’s largest religious events\, and Caribou Run\, a collection of poetry. He is the recipient of multiple awards including two National Magazine Awards and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s 2019 Award for Best Short Story. He lives in Vancouver\, British Columbia.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/richard-kelly-kemick-at-catch-up/
LOCATION:Westminster Books\, 88 York St\, Fredericton\, NB\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Reading,Reading Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/9781771966078_FC.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250919T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250919T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250813T153502Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T153502Z
UID:36491-1758308400-1758313800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Steven Heighton's Sacred Rage: Kingston Writers Fest
DESCRIPTION:Steven Heighton’s second posthumous story collection\, Sacred Rage\, will be included in the Kingston Writers Fest event\, “Bushwacked by Inspiration: Short Stories.” Excerpts from Sacred Rage will be read by Sarah Tsiang\, who will also be joined for the event by Catherine Bush\, Deepa Rajagopalan\, and Jamal Saeed in a discussion of writing short-form fiction\, and its challenges and particular satisfactions. \nThe event will take place in the Rideau Room (Kingston Marriott) on Friday\, September 19 at 7PM. \nTickets and more details here. \nGrab Sacred Rage here! \nABOUT SACRED RAGE \n“A writer only feels like a writer when in the act. And the will\, I said\, is never enough . . . Where does inspiration\, that sacred rage\, originate? Maybe it’s just a matter of stubbornly starting something new and writing your way into the slot.”—Steven Heighton \nIn the years before his unexpected death\, Steven Heighton wrote to his longtime editor John Metcalf to say that he understood that the short story marked his most important contribution to literature\, and that “after the novels\, rereading and writing short stories again felt like returning home.” In the fifteen stories taken from across his four collections\, Sacred Rage offers us Heighton as the moral explorer of the global suburbs\, as chronicler of our innermost stories of love and fear\, sleeping and waking\, of a rebel “unabashedly devoted to the old pursuit\,” as he once called it\, “of truth and beauty.” These are stories of grace and the lack of it; of elegy and requiem; of hope and care in a world where these seem increasingly alien\, stories by one of our most sharp-eyed and generous writers\, whether you’re discovering them for the first time\, or once again. \nABOUT STEVEN HEIGHTON \nSteven Heighton (1961–2022) was a writer and musician. His twenty previous books include the novels Afterlands\, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice\, and the bestselling The Shadow Boxer; the Writers’ Trust Hilary Weston Prize finalist memoir Reaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos; and The Waking Comes Late\, winner of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/steven-heightons-sacred-rage-kingston-writers-fest/
LOCATION:Kingston Marriott\, 285 King St E\, Kingston\, ON\, K7L 3B1\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/9781771966498_FC.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250919T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250919T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250813T151412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T151412Z
UID:36486-1758295800-1758301200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Ira Wells at Kingston Writers Fest: You Can't Read That!
DESCRIPTION:Ira Wells\, author of On Book Banning\, will be speaking at the Kingston Writers Fest event “You Can’t Read That!” Ira will be joined by politics and culture critic David Moscrop in a robust discussion of public and private book banning. Is it wrong to embrace the books of people who do things we abhor? What is ‘equity-based weeding’? How can we know the true scope of book banning when according to a study by the American Library Association 82 to 97 percent of all library challenges go unreported? Do we have a national\, communal history? If so\, how can we best protect it? \nThe event will take place in the Limestone City Ballroom (Kingston Marriott) on Friday\, September 19 at 3:30PM. \nTickets and more details here. \nGrab a copy of On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/ira-wells-kingston-writers-fest/
LOCATION:Kingston Marriott\, 285 King St E\, Kingston\, ON\, K7L 3B1\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/kwf-wells.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250907T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250907T133000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250801T175049Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250904T204839Z
UID:36437-1757251800-1757251800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Mark Bourrie at Eden Mills Festival
DESCRIPTION:Join Mark Bourrie (author of Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre) as he speaks at the Eden Mills Writers Festival on the panel “The Kim Lang Set: True North Unsettled: A Conversation on Democracy.” Mark will be in conversation alongside David A. Robertson\, Andrew Coyne\, Ariel Sim\, and Karin Wells\, as well as host Jessica Johnson. \nIn a nation long mythologized as orderly and fair\, what happens when our democratic assumptions and institutions begin to wobble? The cracks have always been there—widening now into fault lines that shape our politics\, our laws\, and our daily lives. In this conversation\, journalists\, a legal historian\, an Indigenous organizer\, and a civic thinker gather to ask how a democracy survives when its story no longer matches its reality. From federal failures to grassroots resistance\, from the rights of rivers to the rights of women\, they invite us to wrestle with the hardest questions: Whose democracy is it? And who gets to decide? \nThe conversation will take place at The Meadow on Sunday\, September 7 at 1:30PM. More details here. \nGrab Ripper here! \nABOUT RIPPER \nSix weeks into the Covid pandemic\, New York Times columnist David Brooks identified two types of Western politicians: rippers and weavers. Rippers\, whether on the right or the left\, see politics as war. They don’t care about the destruction that’s caused as they fight for power. Weavers are their opposite: people who try to fix things\, who want to bring people together and try to build consensus. At the beginning of the pandemic\, weavers seemed to be winning. Five years later\, as Canada heads towards a pivotal election\, that’s no longer the case. Across the border\, a ripper is remaking the American government. And for the first time in its history\, Canada has its own ripper poised to assume power. \nPierre Poilievre has enjoyed most of the advantages of the mainstream Canadian middle class. Yet he’s long been the angriest man on the political stage. In Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre\, bestselling author Mark Bourrie\, winner of the Charles Taylor Prize\, charts Poilievre’s rise through the political system\, from teenage volunteer to outspoken Opposition leader known for cutting soundbites and theatrics. Bourrie shows how we arrived at this divisive moment in our history\, one in which rippers are poised to capitalize on conflict. He shows how Poilievre and this new style of politics have gained so much ground—and warns of what it will cost us if they succeed. \nABOUT MARK BOURRIE \nMark Bourrie is an Ottawa-based author\, lawyer\, and journalist. He holds a master’s in journalism from Carleton University and a PhD in history from the University of Ottawa. In 2017\, he was awarded a Juris Doctor degree and was called to the bar in 2018. He has won numerous awards for his journalism\, including a National Magazine Award\, and received the RBC Charles Taylor Prize in 2020 for his book Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson. His most recent books include Big Men Fear Me: The Fast Life and Quick Death of Canada’s Most Powerful Media Mogul\, the national bestseller Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brébeuf and the Destruction of Huronia\, and Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/mark-bourrie-at-eden-mills/
LOCATION:Eden Mills Writers’ Festival\, 19 Cedar Street\, Eden Mills\, Ontario\, N0B 1P0\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Edmonton:20250826T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Edmonton:20250826T130000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250801T184948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250801T184948Z
UID:36454-1756209600-1756213200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Ira Wells: Controversy @ Noon 2025 - Banned Books: What's Next?
DESCRIPTION:Ira Wells\, author of On Book Banning\, will be joining this virtual event held by the Writers Guild of Alberta as a panelist\, to discuss book banning in the Canadian literary community\, particularly in Alberta where certain books are slated to be pulled from school shelves this Fall. What do these types of bans mean for writers and for readers\, now and in the coming months? Years? What calls to action might help prevent the banning of books in the future? \nIra will be joined by fellow panelists Gail de Vos and Malcolm Azania\, along with moderator Peter Midgley\, as they explore the ramifications of banned books and more this August. \nThe virtual event will take place on Tuesday\, August 26 at 12PM MT. The event is free to attend with registration here. \nMore details here. \nGrab a copy of On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/ira-wells-controversy-noon-2025-banned-books-whats-next/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Virtual Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/August-2025-CaN-Panel.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250815T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250815T153000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250801T174245Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250801T174550Z
UID:36433-1755268200-1755271800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Caroline Adderson at Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts
DESCRIPTION:Caroline Adderson will be appearing at the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts to speak about her latest collection of short stories\, A Way to Be Happy! \nThe event will take place on Friday\, August 15 at 2:30 PM PST. \nMore details and tickets here. \nGrab a copy of A Way to Be Happy here! \nABOUT A WAY TO BE HAPPY  \nLonglisted for the 2024 Giller Prize • A Globe 100 Best Book of 2024 • A CBC Best Fiction Book of the Year \nShort stories about disparate characters consider what it means to find happiness. \nOn New Year’s Eve\, a pair of addicts robs a string of high-end parties in order to fund their own recovery. A recently separated woman relocates to a small northern town\, where she receives a life-changing visitation\, and a Russian hitman\, suffering from a mysterious lung ailment\, retrieves long-buried memories of his past. In the nineteenth century\, a disparate group of women coalesce in the attempt to aid a young girl in her escape from a hospital for the insane. These are but some of the remarkable characters who populate these stories\, all of them grappling with conflicts ranging from mundane to extraordinary. Caroline Adderson’s A Way to Be Happy considers what it means to find happiness—and how often it comes through the grace of others. \nABOUT CAROLINE ADDERSON \nCaroline Adderson is the author of five novels (A Russian Sister\, Ellen in Pieces\, The Sky Is Falling\, Sitting Practice\, and A History of Forgetting)\, two previous collections of short stories (Pleased to Meet You and Bad Imaginings)\, as well as many books for young readers. Her award nominations include the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award\, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award\, two Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes\, the Governor General’s Literary Award\, the Rogers’ Trust Fiction Prize\, and the Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. The recipient of three BC Book Prizes\, three CBC Literary Awards\, and the Marian Engel Award for mid-career achievement\, Caroline lives and writes in Vancouver.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/caroline-adderson-at-sunshine-coast/
LOCATION:Rockwood Centre\, 5511 Shorncliffe Ave\, Sechelt\, BC\, V0N 3A7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/9781771966221_FC-1-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250806T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250806T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250801T185655Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250801T185655Z
UID:36459-1754506800-1754510400@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Ira Wells: Defending the Right to Read
DESCRIPTION:Ira Wells\, author of On Book Banning\, will be joining the virtual panel “Defending the Right to Read” alongside Authors Against Book Bans members Fin Leary\, Padma Venkatraman\, and Josh Cook. With Wells’ new book as a launching point\, the panelists will discuss the current rise of book bans in schools and libraries\, the history of previous cases of book censorship\, and recent efforts of resistance against the oppression of literature. \nThe virtual event\, organized by Porter Square Books in Cambridge\, MA\,  will take place on Wednesday\, August 6 at 7PM. The event is free to attend with registration here. \nMore details here. \nGrab a copy of On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/ira-wells-defending-the-right-to-read/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Virtual Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/9781771966634.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250719T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250719T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250623T164441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250623T164508Z
UID:36370-1752953400-1752958800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Caroline Adderson at Denman Island Festival: Main Stage Discussion
DESCRIPTION:Caroline Adderson (A Way to Be Happy) will be joining the discussion “Diving into Darkness to find our humanity/joy/compassion” on the Main Stage\, alongside fellow writers Sarah Leavitt and Fiona Tinwei Lam. \nThe discussion will take place on Saturday\, July 19 at 7:30PM. \nMore details here. \nGrab a copy of A Way to Be Happy here! \nABOUT A WAY TO BE HAPPY  \nLonglisted for the 2024 Giller Prize • A Globe 100 Best Book of 2024 • A CBC Best Fiction Book of the Year \nShort stories about disparate characters consider what it means to find happiness. \nOn New Year’s Eve\, a pair of addicts robs a string of high-end parties in order to fund their own recovery. A recently separated woman relocates to a small northern town\, where she receives a life-changing visitation\, and a Russian hitman\, suffering from a mysterious lung ailment\, retrieves long-buried memories of his past. In the nineteenth century\, a disparate group of women coalesce in the attempt to aid a young girl in her escape from a hospital for the insane. These are but some of the remarkable characters who populate these stories\, all of them grappling with conflicts ranging from mundane to extraordinary. Caroline Adderson’s A Way to Be Happy considers what it means to find happiness—and how often it comes through the grace of others. \nABOUT CAROLINE ADDERSON \nCaroline Adderson is the author of five novels (A Russian Sister\, Ellen in Pieces\, The Sky Is Falling\, Sitting Practice\, and A History of Forgetting)\, two previous collections of short stories (Pleased to Meet You and Bad Imaginings)\, as well as many books for young readers. Her award nominations include the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award\, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award\, two Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes\, the Governor General’s Literary Award\, the Rogers’ Trust Fiction Prize\, and the Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. The recipient of three BC Book Prizes\, three CBC Literary Awards\, and the Marian Engel Award for mid-career achievement\, Caroline lives and writes in Vancouver.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/caroline-adderson-at-denman-island-festival-workshop-2/
LOCATION:Denman Island\, BC\, V0R 1T0\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/9781771966221_FC-1-scaled.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Denman Island Festival":MAILTO:diwritersfest@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250628T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250628T160000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250623T163022Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250623T163022Z
UID:36362-1751119200-1751126400@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Graeme Macrae Burnet at MOTIVE Festival
DESCRIPTION:Come on out to MOTIVE Festival in Toronto\, where Graeme Macrae Burnet will be appearing for the “Small Towns\, Big Secrets” panel! Burnet will be discussing his recent book\, A Case of Matricide\, and will be joined by fellow writers Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti for a conversation moderated by Samantha Bailey. \nThe event will take place on Saturday\, June 28 at 2:15 PM. \nMore details here! \nGrab a copy of A Case of Matricide here. \nABOUT A CASE OF MATRICIDE \nFrom the Booker-nominated author of Case Study and His Bloody Project comes the next adventure of Inspector Gorski. \nIn the unremarkable French town of Saint-Louis\, a mysterious stranger stalks the streets; an elderly woman believes her son is planning to kill her; a prominent businessman drops dead. Between visits to the town’s drinking establishments\, Chief Inspector Georges Gorski ponders what connections\, if any\, exist between these events\, all while grappling with his own domestic and existential demons. \nWith his signature virtuosity\, in which literary sleight-of-hand meets piercing insight into human nature\, Graeme Macrae Burnet punctures the respectable bourgeois façade of small-town life and unspools a spellbinding riddle that blurs the boundaries between suspect\, investigator\, writer\, and reader. \nABOUT GRAEME MACRAE BURNET \nGraeme Macrae Burnet was born in Kilmarnock\, Scotland\, and now lives in Glasgow. His Bloody Project\, his second novel\, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016\, won the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award 2016\, and was shortlisted for the LA Times Book Awards 2017. His fourth novel\, Case Study\, was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 and was included in the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022. A Case of Matricide is his fifth novel\, the third featuring Chief Inspector Georges Gorski.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/graeme-macrae-burnet-at-motive-festival/
LOCATION:Emmanuel College\, 75 Queen's Park Crescent\, Rm 119\, Toronto\, ON\, M5S 1K7\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/9781771966474_FC-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250516T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250516T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250310T204042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250410T155845Z
UID:35729-1747425600-1747429200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me: Ottawa Launch
DESCRIPTION:Join author Mélikah Abdelmoumen and translator Catherine Khordoc for the Ottawa launch of Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me\, in partnership with the Ottawa Writers Fest. Host Peter Schneider will sit down with Mélikah and Catherine for a discussion on their acclaimed book. Copies will be available for sale and signing from Perfect Books. \nThe launch will take place at Library and Archives Canada on Friday\, May 16 at 8PM. \nFree tickets are required to attend in person. The event will live-stream from this page. No ticket required to watch online. \nGrab Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me here! \nABOUT BALDWIN\, STYRON\, AND ME \nAn unlikely literary friendship from the past sheds light on the radicalization of public debate around identity\, race\, and censorship. \nIn 1961\, James Baldwin spent several months in William Styron’s guest house. The two wrote during the day\, then spent evenings confiding in each other and talking about race in America. During one of those conversations\, Baldwin is said to have convinced his friend to write\, in first person\, the story of the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. The Confessions of Nat Turner was published to critical acclaim\, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1968\, and also creating outrage in part of the African American community. \nDecades later\, the controversy around cultural appropriation\, identity\, and the rights and responsibilities of the writer still resonates. In Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me\, Mélikah Abdelmoumen considers the writers’ surprising yet vital friendship from her standpoint as a racialized woman torn by the often unidimensional versions of her identity put forth by today’s politics and media. Considering questions of identity\, race\, equity\, and the often contentious public debates about these topics\, Abdelmoumen works to create a space where the answers are found by first learning how to listen—even in disagreement. \nABOUT MÉLIKAH ABDELMOUMEN \nMélikah Abdelmoumen was born in Chicoutimi in 1972. She lived in Lyon\, France\, from 2005 to 2017. She holds a PhD in literary studies from the Université de Montréal and has published many articles\, short stories\, novels\, and essays\, including Les désastrées (2013)\, Douze ans en France (2018)\, and Petite-Ville (2024). She worked as an editor with the Groupe Ville-Marie Littérature in Montreal until 2021. She was the editor-in-chief of Lettres québécoises\, a Québec literary magazine\, from 2021 to 2024. Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me is her tenth book (and the first to be translated).
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/baldwin-styron-and-me-ottawa-launch/
LOCATION:Library and Archives Canada\, 395 Wellington Street\, Ottawa\, ON\, K1A 0N4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Discussion,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/9781771966269_FC-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250504T023000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250504T033000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250319T171748Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250410T155623Z
UID:35747-1746325800-1746329400@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Book Banning: Ira Wells at Ottawa Writers Festival
DESCRIPTION:Join Ira Wells as he speaks about his new book On Book Banning\, a lively\, accessible survey of the pressing question of literary censorship in our times of crisis and change\, with host Adrian Harewood at the Ottawa Writers Festival. Book will be available for purchase from Perfect Books. \nThis event will take place on Sunday\, May 4 at 2:30PM. \nTickets and more details here. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-book-banning-ira-wells-at-ottawa-writers-fest/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/9781771966634.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250503T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250503T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250319T171546Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250410T155753Z
UID:35800-1746288000-1746291600@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Oil: Don Gillmor at Ottawa Writers Festival
DESCRIPTION:Join Don Gillmor as he speaks at the Ottawa Writers Festival about his new book On Oil\, in which the journalist and former roughneck considers our long\, complex\, tortured relationship with oil. \nThis event\, hosted by Jennifer Baker\, will take place on Saturday\, May 3 at 4PM. \nTickets and more details here. \nGrab On Oil here! \nABOUT ON OIL \nA journalist\, and former roughneck\, considers our long\, complex\, tortured relationship with oil. \nOil has dominated our lives for the last century. It has given us warmth\, progress\, and life-threatening pollution. It has been a gift and is now a threat. It has started wars\, ended wars\, and infiltrated governments—in some cases\, effectively become the government. And now oil’s enduring mythology is facing a messy\, complicated twilight. \nIn On Oil\, Don Gillmor\, who worked as a roughneck on oil rigs during the seventies oil boom in Alberta\, looks at how the industry has changed over the decades and illustrates the ways our dependence on oil has led to regulatory capture\, in Canada and elsewhere\, and contributed to armed conflict and war across the world. Gillmor documents the myriad ways that oil companies have misdirected environmental action and misinformed the public about climate concerns and illuminates where we went wrong—and how we might yet change course. \nABOUT DON GILLMOR \nDon Gillmor is the author of To the River\, which won the Governor General’s Award for nonfiction. He is the author of four novels\, Breaking and Entering\, Long Change\, Mount Pleasant\, and Kanata\, a two-volume history of Canada\, Canada: A People’s History\, and nine books for children\, two of which were nominated for the Governor General’s Award. He was a senior editor at The Walrus\, and his journalism has appeared in Rolling Stone\, GQ\, The Walrus\, Saturday Night\, Toronto Life\, the Globe and Mail\, and the Toronto Star. He has won twelve National Magazine Awards and numerous other honours. He lives in Toronto.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-oil-don-gillmor-at-ottawa-writers-fest/
LOCATION:Library and Archives Canada\, 395 Wellington Street\, Ottawa\, ON\, K1A 0N4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/9781771966672_FC.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250429T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250429T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250304T173646Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250304T180649Z
UID:35677-1745953200-1745958600@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Oil: Don Gillmor at Words Festival
DESCRIPTION:Join Don Gillmor as he speaks about his new book On Oil\, a searching reconsideration of our long\, complex\, tortured relationship with oil\, in this virtual event with the Words Festival. Don will be in conversation with host and Words Director Josh Lambier. \nThis free virtual event will take place on Tuesday\, April 29 at 7pm EST over Zoom. \nMore details and event link here. \nGrab On Oil here! \nABOUT ON OIL \nA journalist\, and former roughneck\, considers our long\, complex\, tortured relationship with oil. \nOil has dominated our lives for the last century. It has given us warmth\, progress\, and life-threatening pollution. It has been a gift and is now a threat. It has started wars\, ended wars\, and infiltrated governments—in some cases\, effectively become the government. And now oil’s enduring mythology is facing a messy\, complicated twilight. \nIn On Oil\, Don Gillmor\, who worked as a roughneck on oil rigs during the seventies oil boom in Alberta\, looks at how the industry has changed over the decades and illustrates the ways our dependence on oil has led to regulatory capture\, in Canada and elsewhere\, and contributed to armed conflict and war across the world. Gillmor documents the myriad ways that oil companies have misdirected environmental action and misinformed the public about climate concerns and illuminates where we went wrong—and how we might yet change course. \nABOUT DON GILLMOR \nDon Gillmor is the author of To the River\, which won the Governor General’s Award for nonfiction. He is the author of three novels\, Long Change\, Mount Pleasant\, and Kanata\, a two-volume history of Canada\, Canada: A People’s History\, and nine books for children\, two of which were nominated for the Governor General’s Award. He was a senior editor at The Walrus\, and his journalism has appeared in Rolling Stone\, GQ\, The Walrus\, Saturday Night\, Toronto Life\, the Globe and Mail\, and the Toronto Star. He has won twelve National Magazine Awards and numerous other honours. He lives in Toronto.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-oil-don-gillmor-wordsfest/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Reading,Virtual Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/gillmor-wordfest.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20250426T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20250426T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250310T203056Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250414T195328Z
UID:35722-1745690400-1745694000@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me: AfterWords Spring Foreword
DESCRIPTION:Mélikah Abdelmoumen\, author of Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me (trans. Catherine Khordoc)\, will be a part of the AfterWords Spring Foreword event! Mélikah will be in conversation with Vinh Nguyen and host Fazeela Jiwa. Books will be available courtesy of King’s Co-op Books. \nThe event will take place at Park Place Theatre on Saturday\, April 26 at 6PM. \nMore details here. \nGrab Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me here! \nABOUT BALDWIN\, STYRON\, AND ME \nAn unlikely literary friendship from the past sheds light on the radicalization of public debate around identity\, race\, and censorship. \nIn 1961\, James Baldwin spent several months in William Styron’s guest house. The two wrote during the day\, then spent evenings confiding in each other and talking about race in America. During one of those conversations\, Baldwin is said to have convinced his friend to write\, in first person\, the story of the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. The Confessions of Nat Turner was published to critical acclaim\, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1968\, and also creating outrage in part of the African American community. \nDecades later\, the controversy around cultural appropriation\, identity\, and the rights and responsibilities of the writer still resonates. In Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me\, Mélikah Abdelmoumen considers the writers’ surprising yet vital friendship from her standpoint as a racialized woman torn by the often unidimensional versions of her identity put forth by today’s politics and media. Considering questions of identity\, race\, equity\, and the often contentious public debates about these topics\, Abdelmoumen works to create a space where the answers are found by first learning how to listen—even in disagreement. \nABOUT MÉLIKAH ABDELMOUMEN \nMélikah Abdelmoumen was born in Chicoutimi in 1972. She lived in Lyon\, France\, from 2005 to 2017. She holds a PhD in literary studies from the Université de Montréal and has published many articles\, short stories\, novels\, and essays\, including Les désastrées (2013)\, Douze ans en France (2018)\, and Petite-Ville (2024). She worked as an editor with the Groupe Ville-Marie Littérature in Montreal until 2021. She was the editor-in-chief of Lettres québécoises\, a Québec literary magazine\, from 2021 to 2024. Baldwin\, Styron\, and Me is her tenth book (and the first to be translated).
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/baldwin-styron-and-me-afterwords-spring-foreword/
LOCATION:Park Place Theatre\, 5480 Point Pleasant Drive\, Halifax\, NS\, B3H 0B4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250426T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250426T130000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250319T170158Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250319T170158Z
UID:35744-1745667000-1745672400@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Kev Lambert and Donald Winkler at Blue Metropolis Festival: Translation Bliss
DESCRIPTION:Author Kev Lambert and translator Donald Winkler (May Our Joy Endure\, Querelle of Roberval\, You Will Love What You Have Killed) will be attending the Blue Metropolis Festival! They will be joining a discussion on the art of translation with author Anne Michaels and translator Dominique Fortier\, moderated by Katia Grubisic. How to read a novel? How to make a voice heard in another language? What subtle dialogue does translation create? \nThe event will take place on Saturday\, April 26th at 11:30 AM. \nMore details here. \nGet May Our Joy Endure here! \nABOUT KEV LAMBERT \nBorn in 1992\, Kev Lambert grew up in Chicoutimi\, Quebec. May Our Joy Endure won the Prix Médicis\, Prix Décembre\, and Prix Ringuet\, and was a finalist for the Prix Goncourt. Their second novel\, Querelle de Roberval\, was acclaimed in Quebec\, where it was nominated for four literary prizes; in France\, where it was a finalist for the Prix Médicis and Prix Le Monde and won the Prix Sade; and Canada\, where it was shortlisted for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Their first novel\, You Will Love What You Have Killed\, also widely acclaimed\, won a prize for the best novel from the Saguenay region and was a finalist for Quebec’s Booksellers’ Prize. Lambert lives in Montreal. \nABOUT DONALD WINKLER \nDonald Winkler is a translator of fiction\, non-fiction\, and poetry. He is a three-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for French-to-English translation. He lives in Montreal.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/kev-lambert-and-donald-winkler-at-blue-metropolis-festival-translation-bliss/
LOCATION:Hôtel 10 – Salle Jardin\, 10 rue Sherbrooke Ouest\, Montreal\, QC\, H2X 4C9\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/32_BonheurTraduction_1152x648.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250417T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250417T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250207T201825Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250414T195157Z
UID:35582-1744918200-1744923600@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:UNMET: stephanie roberts at the Third Thursday Reading Series
DESCRIPTION:stephanie roberts\, author of the poetry collection UNMET\, will be a reader for Cobourg’s Third Thursday Reading Series! stephanie will be joined by Nathanael Jones and Laila Malik for this reading series hosted by James Pickersgill. \nThe event will take place in the Northumberland Room at the Best Western Cobourg Inn on Thursday\, April 17 at 7:30PM. Admission is PWYC (Pay What You Can). \nMore details here. \nOrder UNMET here! \nABOUT UNMET \nThis is what comes of taking dreams / off the horizon. It is the sun / or nothing else\, you would scream / if you weren’t caught up in the chorus. \nLeaning deliberately on the imagined while scrutinizing reality and hoping for the as-yet-unseen\, UNMET explores frustration\, justice\, and thwarted rescue from a perspective that is Black-Latinx\, Canadian\, immigrant\, and female. Drawing on a wide range of poetics\, from Wallace Stevens to Diane Seuss\, roberts’s musically-driven narrative surrealism confronts such timely issues as police brutality\, respectability politics\, intimate partner violence\, and ecological crisis\, and considers the might-have-been alongside the what-could-be\, negotiating with the past without losing hope for the future. \nABOUT STEPHANIE ROBERTS \nstephanie roberts is the author of rushes from the river disappointment\, a Quebec Writers’ Federation finalist for the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry\, the winner of The Sixty-Four: Best Poets of 2018\, a recipient of the Sage Hill Writing award for Black Excellence\, and a Canada Council of the Arts grantee. Her work has been critically praised and featured in well over one hundred periodicals and anthologies\, in print and online\, throughout Canada\, the US\, and Europe. She is a citizen of Canada\, Panama\, and the US\, and has lived most of her life in Quebec.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/unmet-stephanie-roberts-at-the-third-thursday-reading-series/
LOCATION:Best Western Cobourg Inn\, 930 Burnham St\, Cobourg\, ON\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Author Series,Discussion,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/9781771966573_FC-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250414T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250414T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250319T170844Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T191604Z
UID:35796-1744659000-1744664400@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Book Banning: Flying Books Author Social
DESCRIPTION:Join us in Toronto for an author social at Flying Books\, featuring On Book Banning by Ira Wells! Ira will be in conversation with fellow author Russell Smith. Books will be available for sale and signing. \nThis event will take place on Monday\, April 14 at 7:30 PM. \nMore details here. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-book-banning-flying-books/
LOCATION:Flying Books\, 371 Queen St W\, Toronto\, ON\, M5V 2A4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ira-Wells-Author-Social.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250410T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250410T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250310T201018Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250310T201018Z
UID:35717-1744309800-1744315200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Ripper: Virtual Talk with Mark Bourrie & The Tyee
DESCRIPTION:Mark Bourrie\, author of Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre\, will be interviewed by David Beers\, founding editor of The Tyee\, for this special online author talk hosted by Upstart & Crow. \nThe launch will take place on Zoom on Thursday\, April 10 at 6:30PM PST / 9:30PM EST. \nTicket options and more details here. \nOrder a copy of Ripper here! \nABOUT RIPPER \nAs Canada heads towards a pivotal election\, bestselling author Mark Bourrie charts the rise of Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre and considers the history and potential cost of the politics of division. \nSix weeks into the Covid pandemic\, New York Times columnist David Brooks identified two types of Western politicians: rippers and weavers. Rippers\, whether on the right or the left\, see politics as war. They don’t care about the destruction that’s caused as they fight for power. Weavers are their opposite: people who try to fix things\, who want to bring people together and try to build consensus. At the beginning of the pandemic\, weavers seemed to be winning. Five years later\, as Canada heads towards a pivotal election\, that’s no longer the case. Across the border\, a ripper is remaking the American government. And for the first time in its history\, Canada has its own ripper poised to assume power. \nPierre Poilievre has enjoyed most of the advantages of the mainstream Canadian middle class. Yet he’s long been the angriest man on the political stage. In Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre\, bestselling author Mark Bourrie\, winner of the Charles Taylor Prize\, charts Poilievre’s rise through the political system\, from teenage volunteer to outspoken Opposition leader known for cutting soundbites and theatrics. Bourrie shows how we arrived at this divisive moment in our history\, one in which rippers are poised to capitalize on conflict. He shows how Poilievre and this new style of politics have gained so much ground—and warns of what it will cost us if they succeed. \nABOUT MARK BOURRIE \nMark Bourrie is an Ottawa-based author\, lawyer\, and journalist. He holds a master’s in journalism from Carleton University and a PhD in history from the University of Ottawa. In 2017\, he was awarded a Juris Doctor degree and was called to the bar in 2018. He has won numerous awards for his journalism\, including a National Magazine Award\, and received the RBC Charles Taylor Prize in 2020 for his book Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson. His most recent books include Big Men Fear Me: The Fast Life and Quick Death of Canada’s Most Powerful Media Mogul\, and the national bestseller Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brébeuf and the Destruction of Huronia.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/ripper-virtual-launch/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Discussion,Virtual Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/9781771967006_FC.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250403T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250403T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250310T194419Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250310T194419Z
UID:35545-1743701400-1743706800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Book Banning & Barfly: Ira Wells & Michael Lista at Biblio Bash
DESCRIPTION:Join Ira Wells\, author of On Book Banning\, and Michael Lista\, author of Barfly\, for this Biblio Bash at the Toronto Reference Library! \nThis event will take place on Thursday April 3 at 5:30PM EST. \nMore details to come. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nGet Barfly here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children. \nABOUT BARFLY \nWe’re in love\, but we’re still Millennials. / What’s wrong with our hearts is congenital.  \nIn Barfly\, the poet comes back to haunt himself\, and us. In this incomparable third collection\, his first in a decade\, Michael Lista returns to reinvent poetry with humour\, pugnacity\, and a deeply singular voice. Splicing Byronic rhymes and Auden’s meters with the twenty-first century irreverence of a late-stage Twitter feed\, the poems in Barfly are alternatingly aggressive\, sweet\, deadly\, and raw with a break-your-heart vulnerability. \nABOUT MICHAEL LISTA \nMichael Lista is an investigative journalist\, essayist and poet. He has worked as a book columnist for the National Post and as the poetry editor of The Walrus. He is the author of four books: the poetry volumes Bloom and The Scarborough; Strike Anywhere\, a collection of his writing about literature\, television and culture; and The Human Scale: Murder\, Mischief and Other Selected Mayhems\, a book of longform journalism. His essays and investigative stories have appeared in the New Yorker\, The Atlantic\, Slate\, The Walrus\, Canadaland\, and Toronto Life. He is a contributing editor at Toronto Life and Maclean’s. He was the 2017 Margaret Laurence Fellow at Trent University and the winner of the 2020 National Magazine Awards for both Investigative Reporting and Long Form Feature Writing. His story “The Sting” is being adapted by Adam Perlman\, Robert Downey Jr.\, and Team Downey into a television series for Apple TV+.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-book-banning-ira-wells-at-biblio-bash/
LOCATION:Toronto Reference Library\, 789 Yonge St\, Toronto\, ON\, M4W 2G8\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Reading
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250329T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250329T180000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250310T193423Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250310T193423Z
UID:35707-1743267600-1743271200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:UNMET: stephanie roberts at Ottawa VerseFest
DESCRIPTION:stephanie roberts\, author of the forthcoming poetry collection UNMET\, will be at the Ottawa VerseFest! stephanie will be part of the Plan 99 Reading Series\, and will be joined by fellow poets Bridget Huh and Sara Berkeley. \nThe event will take place at the Manx Pub on Saturday\, March 29 at 5PM. \nMore details here. \nPreorder UNMET here! \nABOUT UNMET \nThis is what comes of taking dreams / off the horizon. It is the sun / or nothing else\, you would scream / if you weren’t caught up in the chorus. \nLeaning deliberately on the imagined while scrutinizing reality and hoping for the as-yet-unseen\, UNMET explores frustration\, justice\, and thwarted rescue from a perspective that is Black-Latinx\, Canadian\, immigrant\, and female. Drawing on a wide range of poetics\, from Wallace Stevens to Diane Seuss\, roberts’s musically-driven narrative surrealism confronts such timely issues as police brutality\, respectability politics\, intimate partner violence\, and ecological crisis\, and considers the might-have-been alongside the what-could-be\, negotiating with the past without losing hope for the future. \nABOUT STEPHANIE ROBERTS \nstephanie roberts is the author of rushes from the river disappointment\, a Quebec Writers’ Federation finalist for the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry\, the winner of The Sixty-Four: Best Poets of 2018\, a recipient of the Sage Hill Writing award for Black Excellence\, and a Canada Council of the Arts grantee. Her work has been critically praised and featured in well over one hundred periodicals and anthologies\, in print and online\, throughout Canada\, the US\, and Europe. She is a citizen of Canada\, Panama\, and the US\, and has lived most of her life in Quebec.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/unmet-stephanie-roberts-at-ottawa-versefest/
LOCATION:The Manx\, 370 Elgin St\, Ottawa\, ON\, K2P 1N1\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Author Series,Discussion,Festival,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/9781771966573_FC-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250306T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250306T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250226T185257Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250226T185257Z
UID:35651-1741287600-1741294800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Book Banning: Windsor Launch!
DESCRIPTION:Join us in celebrating the Windsor launch of On Book Banning by Ira Wells! Ira will be interviewed about his new book\, followed by an audience Q&A. Books will be available for sale and signing\, and snacks and drinks will be provided for this evening of lively discussion. \nThis event will take place at Biblioasis Bookshop on Thursday\, March 6 at 7PM EST. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-book-banning-windsor-launch/
LOCATION:Biblioasis Bookshop\, 1520 Wyandotte St E\, Windsor\, ON\, N9A 3L2\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Discussion,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/On-Book-Banning-Windsor-event-poster_edited.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250304T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250304T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250127T205817Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250127T205958Z
UID:35513-1741114800-1741120200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Book Banning: Ira Wells at Words Festival
DESCRIPTION:Join Ira Wells as he speaks about his new book On Book Banning\, a lively\, accessible survey of the pressing question of literary censorship in our times of crisis and change\, in this virtual event with the Words Festival. Ira will be speaking in conversation with host Josh Lambier. \nThis free virtual event will take place on Tuesday\, March 4 at 7pm EST over Zoom. \nMore details and event link here. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-book-banning-ira-wells-at-the-centre-for-free-expression-2/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Reading,Virtual Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ira-wells-wordfest.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20250227T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20250227T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250207T195556Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250207T195616Z
UID:35578-1740682800-1740688200@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Freedom to Read Week with Ira Wells (On Book Banning)
DESCRIPTION:In celebration of Freedom to Read Week in Canada\, join Ira Wells\, author of On Book Banning: Or\, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy\, for thought-provoking online conversation Dr. Shannon Murray\, held by Bookmark Bookstores. \nThis virtual event will take place on Thursday\, February 27 at 7PM ADT. Reserve your free ticket today here\, and you will be emailed a Zoom link on the morning of the event to the email you include with your registration. \nMore details here. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-book-banning-ira-wells-freedom-to-read/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Virtual Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/https___cdn.evbuc_.com_images_947594473_166189304462_1_original.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250227T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250227T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250113T172238Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250113T172238Z
UID:35412-1740682800-1740686400@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Mark Kingwell at the Toronto Public Library
DESCRIPTION:Mark Kingwell will be discussing his new book Question Authority at the Toronto Public Library\, in conversation with host Randy Boyagoda. \nThe event is free\, and will take place on Thursday\, February 27 at 7PM in the Jack Rabinovitch Reading Room at the Toronto Reference Library. \nMore details here. \nGrab Question Authority here! \nABOUT QUESTION AUTHORITY \nPhilosopher Mark Kingwell thinks about thinking for yourself in an era of radical know-it-all-ism. \n“Question authority\,” the popular 1960s slogan commanded. “Think for yourself.” But what started as a counter-cultural catchphrase\, playful in logic but serious in intent\, has become a practical paradox. Yesterday’s social critics are the tone-policing tyrants of today\, while those who claim “colourblindness” see no need to engage with critical theory at all. The resulting crisis of authority\, made worse by rival political factions and chaotic public discourse\, has exposed cracks in every facet of shared social life. Politics\, academia\, journalism\, medicine\, religion\, science—every kind of institutional claim is now routinely subject to objection\, investigation\, and outright disbelief. A recurring feature of this comprehensive distrust of authority is the firm\, often unshakeable\, belief in personal righteousness and superiority: what Mark Kingwell calls our “addiction to conviction.” \nIn this critical survey of the predicament of contemporary authority\, Kingwell draws on philosophical argument\, personal reflection\, and details from the headlines in an attempt to reclaim the democratic spirit of questioning authority and thinking for oneself. Defending a program of compassionate skepticism\, Question Authority is a fascinating survey of the role of individual humility in public life and illuminates how we might each do our part in the infinite project of justice. \nABOUT MARK KINGWELL \nMark Kingwell is a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto\, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada\, and a contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/mark-kingwell-at-the-toronto-public-library/
LOCATION:Toronto Reference Library\, 789 Yonge St\, Toronto\, ON\, M4W 2G8\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cdn.evbuc_.com_images_929890963_80638293243_1_original.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250226T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250226T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250127T204604Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250127T204604Z
UID:35506-1740596400-1740601800@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:On Book Banning: Ira Wells at the Centre for Free Expression
DESCRIPTION:Join Ira Wells\, author of On Book Banning\, in a Freedom to Read Week conversation with Centre for Free Expression Director James L. Turk\, at this time when censorship is becoming popular and pervasive. The event is co-sponsored by Canadian School Libraries\, Edmonton Public Library\, PEN Canada\, Toronto Public Library\, Vancouver Public Library. \nThis free virtual event will take place on Wednesday\, February 26 at 7pm EST. Zoom link to event: torontomu.zoom.us/j/91941276567 \nMore details here. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/on-book-banning-ira-wells-at-the-centre-for-free-expression/
LOCATION:CT
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Virtual Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.biblioasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ira-wells-cfe.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Centre for Free Expression":MAILTO:cfe@torontomu.ca
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250225T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250225T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T151754
CREATED:20250113T172830Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250113T172847Z
UID:35453-1740510000-1740513600@www.biblioasis.com
SUMMARY:Ira Wells at the Toronto Public Library
DESCRIPTION:As part of Freedom to Read Week\, Toronto Public Library presents critic\, essayist\, and associate professor at the University of Toronto\, Ira Wells to celebrate the publication of his new title On Book Banning: Or\, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy\, in conversation with host Charles Foran. \nThe culture wars have found fertile ground within public schools and libraries. We’re witnessing a notable increase in book challenges and attempts to remove titles from bookshelves across North America and\, as we know\, this is nothing new. In On Book Banning\, Ira Wells argues that conservatives and progressives alike are teaching our children that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright censorship. How might we collectively push back and help reinforce our personal freedom to read? And how do we ensure that our democratic spaces continue to be welcoming spaces for all viewpoints? \nThe event is free\, and will take place on Thursday\, February 27 at 7PM in the Jack Rabinovitch Reading Room at the Toronto Reference Library. \nMore details here. \nGrab On Book Banning here! \nABOUT ON BOOK BANNING \nThe freedom to read is under attack. \nFrom the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ+ literature\, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. In a survey of legal cases\, literary controversies\, and philosophical arguments\, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read and argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping our children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which our democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization\, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves. \nABOUT IRA WELLS \nIra Wells is a critic\, essayist\, and an associate professor at Victoria College in the University of Toronto\, where he teaches in the Northrop Frye stream in literature and the humanities in the Vic One program. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic\, Globe and Mail\, Guardian\, The New Republic\, and many other venues. His most recent book is Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.
URL:https://www.biblioasis.com/event/ira-wells-at-the-toronto-public-library/
LOCATION:Toronto Reference Library\, 789 Yonge St\, Toronto\, ON\, M4W 2G8\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Reading
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