Join us in remembering the late Steven Heighton. The memorial event will take place at Queen Books in Toronto on Thursday, May 18 at 7PM ET.
More details TBA.
Order your copy of Steven’s posthumous collection, Instructions for the Drowning, here.
Check out Steven’s previous work, Reaching Mithymna, here.
Steven Heighton (1961–2022) was a writer and musician. His nineteen 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.
ABOUT INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DROWNING
“To say Heighton is an immensely talented writer is true enough but insufficient … As good a writer as Canada has ever produced.”—National Post
A man recalls his father’s advice on how to save a drowning person, but struggles when the time comes to use it. A wife’s good deed leaves a couple vulnerable at the moment when they’re most in need of security—the birth of their first child. Newly in love, a man preoccupied by accounts of freak accidents is befallen by one himself. In stories about love and fear, idealisms and illusions, failures of muscle and mind and all the ways we try to care for one another, Steven Heighton’s Instructions for the Drowning is an indelible last collection by a writer working at the height of his powers.
Join us for a memorial to Richard Sanger and a launch for his forthcoming collection Way to Go (April 4 2023). The event will take place at the Cecil Community Centre in Toronto on Saturday, May 27.
Time and details TBA.
Order your copy of Way to Go here!
A jubilant, irreverent, generous collection by a poet facing terminal illness.
Following his New York Times Best of the Year Dark Woods, Richard Sanger’s fourth and final book is a clear-eyed and big-hearted inventory of the passions of a life well lived. Understated, tender, archly funny and achingly generous, Way to Go is a joyful catalog of Sanger’s loves and a last gift from an irrepressibly jubilant poet.
So many springs and falls and pounces,
So many vintages crushed
And dripping through our fingers,
So many nights and letters ending love,
You’d think we’d long since drained the cup.
Richard Sanger (1960–2022) grew up in Ottawa and lived in Toronto. He published three poetry collections and a chapbook, Fathers at Hockey (2020); Dark Woods, was named one of the top ten poetry books of 2018 by the New York Times. His plays included Not Spain, Two Words for Snow, Hannah’s Turn, and Dive as well as translations of Calderon, Lorca, and Lope de Vega. He also published essays, reviews, and poetry translations.
On this Sunday afternoon you will get to know Steven Heighton: the thoughtful writer, poet, musician and spontaneous giver who passed away in April 2022. Rhonda Douglas, along with Steven’s friends and fellow authors Angie Abdou, Wayne Grady and Dave O’Meara, will steer a conversation about this gifted creative architect of language and story.
Steven’s legacy endures through his poems, novels, short stories, memoir and songs, and in the hearts and memories of those he touched through his capacity to love, listen and empathize. Personal tributes will be given by Ginger Pharand, Steven’s editor and life partner, and Hugh Christopher Brown, his friend and music producer. Also a musical retrospective, Chris and Ginger will perform some of Steve’s songs from his 2021 album The Devil’s Share, along with newer works soon to be produced.
The memorial will take place at the Motel Chelsea on Sunday, May 28 at 4PM, with tickets available beginning April 4.
More details here.
Order your copy of Steven’s posthumous collection, Instructions for the Drowning, here.
Check out Steven’s previous work, Reaching Mithymna, here.
Steven Heighton (1961–2022) was a writer and musician. His nineteen 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.
ABOUT INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DROWNING
“To say Heighton is an immensely talented writer is true enough but insufficient … As good a writer as Canada has ever produced.”—National Post
A man recalls his father’s advice on how to save a drowning person, but struggles when the time comes to use it. A wife’s good deed leaves a couple vulnerable at the moment when they’re most in need of security—the birth of their first child. Newly in love, a man preoccupied by accounts of freak accidents is befallen by one himself. In stories about love and fear, idealisms and illusions, failures of muscle and mind and all the ways we try to care for one another, Steven Heighton’s Instructions for the Drowning is an indelible last collection by a writer working at the height of his powers.
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