In Conversation with Margaret Atwood at the International Festival of Authors

Tonight was an hour long reading and interview with Margaret Atwood whom I consider to be one of Canada's great all-time authors.

Actor and writer Susan Coyne sits down with literary powerhouse Margaret Atwood to discuss her newest novel Hag-Seed, a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest for the Hogarth Shakespeare Project. This event is hosted by Linda Barnard.

Ticket price includes one signed copy of the book.

Did you read the last part of that? Everybody received an autographed copy of Hag-Seed! It was $30 for the ticket so basically I paid regular price for an autographed copy of the book and attended the reading and interview for free!

Linda Barnard was the host.

I have read many of Atwoods works and The Handmaids Tale is my favorite so far.

Atwood started with an introduction of Hag-Seed to familiarize the audience with the story.

William Shakespeare's The Tempest retold as Hag-Seed.

Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he's staging a Tempest like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, it will heal emotional wounds. Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And also brewing revenge. 

After twelve years, revenge finally arrives in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison. Here, Felix and his inmate actors will put on his Tempest and snare the traitors who destroyed him. It's magic! But will it remake Felix as his enemies fall? Margaret Atwood’s novel take on Shakespeare’s play of enchantment, retribution, and second chances leads us on an interactive, illusion-ridden journey filled with new surprises and wonders of its own.

She then did a reading from parts of the book. The last three or four minutes featured a long rap performance by one of the prisoners. Atwood was hilarious reading it and received a few ovations during it. That itself was worth the price of admission.

Afterwards Atwood sat down for a discussion with Susan Coyne. It looked like they went out before hand and bought a single pair of skeleton gloves as Atwood wore one on her left hand and Coyne had one on her right.

It was a fun, interesting fast paced hour. I was sorry to see it end. I am looking very forward to reading Hag-Seed. Looks to be another great Atwood book.

"Stories of Redemption" at the International Festival of Authors

I have been to author sessions all week long at Toronto's International Festival of Authors but Teena has been unable to attend as she has been out of town on business. She is back and this afternoon we attended the Stories of Redemption reading and round table.

Darren Greer, Anosh Irani, and Cordelia Strube present multifaceted and diverse stories about redemption and returning to face the past and/or the truth. Sheniz Janmohamed hosts and Bert Archer moderates.

Sheniz Jammohamed introduced each author and reading.

Darren Greer, from Nova Scotia, was the first author up and read from his new book, Advocate.

Next up was Anosh Irani who read from The Parcel.

The final author of the evening was Cordelia Strube. She from from her latest work On The Shores of Darkness, There Is Light.

Afterwards there was a round table discussion moderated by Bert Archer. It was quite interesting, especially when each author were talking about how they write. Cordelia stressed that she never plots out a book in advance. Darrin said he starts and lets the story tell itself.

Anosh answered a little different. He says he knows how the book will finish and writes towards that. He indicated this by holding a hand out directly in front of him. Then he added that as the story unfolds, he never ends up at that ending but another, and held out his other hand far away from the first, indicating the final end is nowhere near where he had planned to end. He also said at times the story might actually take you past that ending.

This was my last reading and round table of the festival and I'm glad that I got to enjoy it with Teena. As with the others, it was entertaining and interesting.

I'm already looking forward to next years festival.

East Coast Comedy Night #3

Last year Teena and I went to the second annual East Coast Comedy night. It was so good we had to attend the third one this year.

Marcel St. Pierre (above) was not only the host but the one who puts these shows together.

It was a great night and I came away with many great lines running through my head.

Meg Mackay was the first comic and started off the night on a great note.

Here is Dave Healey. Not only comedy but song!

Darryl Purvis was up next. He is from Antigonish where Teena lived for many years and was quite funny.

The Greyhound Riders were the musical break. A guitar, a fiddle and an east coast sound. I really enjoyed them.

Colin Hollett from Burin, Newfoundland, opened the second half of the show.

The door prize ... a bag of chips from New Brunswick. Hope they were better than last year.  Last year's were  lobster chips which were awful.

Ashley Seaman was up next.

The closer was Peter Anthony. He was hilarious last year and again this year.

It was another great night and we'll be back again fro number 4!

Beer of the Week - Postmark Brewing Raspberry Fruit Beer

I received a bottle of Postmark Brewing Raspberry Fruit Beer with my Canada Craft Club July 2016 package. For some reason I took the picture, made all of my tasting notes but finish the write-up ... that is 'til now.

Postmark Brewing opened its doors in June 2014. The company's website shows its sponsorship of film festivals and music and there is a reason for that. The brewmaster, Craig Noble, has always loved craft beer but his main profession before opening the brewery was as a documentary film maker.

At Postmark Brewing we are inspired by more than just great tasting sessionable craft beers, we enjoy taking a collaborative approach towards our other passions in life including music, photography, travel, sport, design, events and especially those who are taking risks and making great things happen.

So, how is the beer?

This Raspberry Fruit Beer pours a light amber colour with a slight reddish tinge. I really noticed the raspberries which dominates the aroma.

I was wondering if this would be overly sweet but need not have been concerned. My first sip starts off a little tart and then the enjoyable raspberries come flooding through. The raspberries taste then falls off in the finish which is again tart.

One surprising thing is that as I was typing that last paragraph, I had the sensation of fresh raspberry, like I had a piece of one in my teeth. There are no pieces of raspberries anywhere in this but that taste was the same as when I'm at work and have just finished one of Teena's delicious freshly made fruit salads.

I didn't expect complexity in a fruit beer but found one here. Delicious and refreshing, especially on a hot afternoon when I had it (tasting notes written on July 23, 2016). I had ordered some more of these from Canada Craft Club (they all were delicious!).

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 335 
Breweries 306 
Countries 49

"Little Sister" Book Launch

Tonight I attended a book launch by Vince Fernandez of his new book, Little Sister, which took place at the Pilot in Yorkville.

I met Vince through fencing and consider him a friend. We both fence sabre and have had many lively bouts. He is an excellent fencer and I think that maybe I have beaten him only twice in tournaments.

Not only is he a really good fencer (Vince, when I come back to the fencing strip, I will be taking you down) but he is a great writer.

Tonight he read from the first chapter of his book and I was hooked. 

Mila Mirkin and John Lister want success any way they can get it. For Mila, that means working as an escort to finance grad school. For John, it means getting his hedge fund on track even if he breaks a basic moral tenant: thou shalt not kill. Following the mysterious death of Toronto's top financial prosecutor, Vitaly Mirkin is transferred to the role. His first case is against John Lister. Mila's brother is prosecuting her primary client. As John's ruthless plan unfolds, he pulls Mila ever closer, leaving her in a terrible quandary: tell her brother what she knows and expose her secret life, or pretend innocence and put the lives of others in mortal danger...

The room was full as Vince has a very wide circle of friends. I'm looking forward to reading his book.

Vince ... writing is hard work and I wish you all the best with it and your success.

"The Past You Make" Reading and Round Table at the International Festival of Authors

This is the third night in a row that I have been at a session at the Toronto International Festival of Authors.  I don't know why I never did it before. It has been great. This evening it was The Past You Make.

C.C. Humphreys, Steven Price, and Alissa York’s works transport us to a different place and time. Learn how these authors re-imagine the past. Hosted by Steven W. Beattie and moderated by Hugh Brewster.

The room was nicely set up.

Steven Beattie was the host.

The first author to do a reading was Steven Price who read from his book, By Gaslight, which takes place in 1885.

Next up was Alissa York who read from her newest book, The Naturalist, set in 1867.

The last author is one that I am a big fan of, C.C. Humphreys.  I have read all his Jack Absolute novels and am currently reading Fire, which he read from tonight. The book takes place in 1666.

After the readings was a twenty-five minute round table Q&A led by historian Hugh Brewster. Much of it was how each came up with the idea of their novel, why did they select that particular time period and the challenges of writing for 21st century readers, without going overboard on using the language of the times. As Humphreys pointed out, his book takes place in 1666, and if he had used the true speech and dialect of the era, it would have been unreadable. It all was very interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed tonight and had a brief moment to speak with Chris Humphreys before he went to sign books. Nice guy! I wanted to buy the prequel to Fire, Plague, but it was sold out. Too bad.

Sunday are my next sessions and I am attending two ... Stories of Redemption and In Conversation with Margaret Atwood. I am looking forward to both.

"Weaving Canada’s Story: Ideas, People and Objects" at the International Festival of Authors

Tonight I attended a reading and author interview session at Toronto's International Festival of Authors titled Weaving Canada’s Story.

Award-winning biographer and historian Charlotte Gray and internationally acclaimed author Jane Urquhart discuss Canada’s identity and weave its history through its people, ideas and objects.

Claire Cameron was the host for tonight. She opened by acknowledging the indigenous people of the GTA, then paid tribute to jailed writer Azimjon Askarov, honoured by an empty chair, whom I wrote about last night.

Charlotte Gray, who in 2007 became a Member of the Order of Canada according to the program, was to read from her just published book, The Promise of Canada.

What does it mean to be a Canadian? What great ideas have changed our country? An award-winning writer casts her eye over 150 years of Canadian history. 

“Our country owes its success not to some imagined tribal singularity but to the fact that, although its thirty-five million citizens do not look, speak or pray alike, we have learned to share this land and for the most part live in neighbourly sympathy.” —Charlotte Gray, from the Preface of The Promise of Canada.

Instead she said she was instead, going to talk about what keeps Canada together and do we have an identity. She joked that she wanted to do this instead of reading from her book so when we buy it, every word will be fresh and new to us.

Reading from A Number of Things: Stories About Canada Told Through 50 Objects which was published this month, was Jane Urquhart, who in 2005 was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Jane Urquhart chooses 50 Canadian objects and weaves a rich and surprising narrative that speaks to our collective experience as a nation.

Instead of an interview afterwards, Charlotte and Jane had a discussion about what Canada is and the different approaches of writing about it from a non-fiction view to a fictional one. A Number of Things was Jane's first non-fiction book.

The two of them are good friends and we were told when they first sat down that we were not hearing a new discussion but instead coming into the middle of one which has been going on for months.

At one point tonight, when I first arrived home from work, I debated about going, even though I had a ticket. I've been hit with a cold and it would not have taken much for me to curl up on the couch and fall asleep watching the ball game.

I'm glad I decided to suck it up and go. Both ladies had a great sense of humour and are quite passionate on the subject of Canada and how we view its history. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

"Interpreting the Past" Reading & Round Table at the International Festival of Authors

It's a busy week for me this week. I have tickets for three events at Toronto's International Festival of Authors (IFOA) and a friend's book launch to attend. Tonight I attended a reading and round table on Interpreting the Past.

Catherine Graham, the author of Her Red Hair Rises with the Wings of Insects, Winterkill, The Red Element, Pupa and The Watch,  hosted the event.

Adam Hochschild read from his newest work, Spain in our Hearts,  a sweeping history of the Spanish Civil War, told through a dozen characters, including Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell: a tale of idealism, heartbreaking suffering, and a noble cause that failed.

Guy Gavriel Kay read from his book, Children of Earth and Sky, which evokes a world inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. Against this tumultuous backdrop the lives of men and women unfold on the borderlands--where empires and faiths collide.

Lola Lafon read from The Little Communist Who Never Smiled, this fictionalized account of the life of Nadia Comaneci, a child of communist Romania and an Olympic gymnast who inspired young girls around the globe, shows how a single athletic event mesmerizes the world and reverberates across nations.

The final author was a poet, Daniel Scott Tysdal, who read two poems from his work Fauxccasional Poems, who imagines himself into poetic voices not his own, writing to commemorate events that never occurred, for the posterity of alternative universes.

Afterwards was a round table discussion of writing about history from each perspective which was moderated by Hugh Brewster.

Oh, that empty chair to the left with the photo? Pen Canada keeps an empty chair to each event representing a writer imprisoned for their views. This is Azimjon Askarov of Kyrgyzstani, a writer and political activist who has been in jail since 2010 for his writings on human rights issues within his country.

It was a very interesting night. I'm looking forward to tomorrows night;s readings and round table.

Beer of the Week - Laurelwood Public House Workhorse IPA

In this months Canada Craft Club delivery was a 650ml bottle of Workhorse IPA from Laurelwood Public House and Brewery. The brewery is located in a city that I have wanted to visit for years, Portland, Oregon.

The opened their doors in March 2001 in a very small location of once was, what else, a brewpub. Since then they have grown to many locations in Portland, including the airport and the Moda Cnetre, home of the city's NBA franchise Portland Trailblazers. They also opened another location in Battle Ground Village, Washington, which is the home of one of the owners Mike De Kalb. The other co-owner is his wife, Cathy Woo-De Kalb.

Laurelwood recently became the first brewery in Oregon to be certified as an organic beer producer.

And the taste?

Workhorse pours amber in colour with off-white head. There is lot's of citrus in the aroma due to two dry hopping additions to the brew. This is where hops are added at the end specifically to add bite to the aroma.

This is a very well balanced ale. It starts with a little bitterness, just slightly citrusy, which increase in intensity to the end. I thought the finish would be much more bitter, but most of the bitterness seems to be in the middle.

My hop is to one day, enjoy this on tap, on location, in Portland, Oregon.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 334 
Breweries        305
Countries          49

KC's Tree, Fall 2016

This afternoon Teena and I went for a long walk which took us by KC's tree in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Teena was there two weeks ago on October 8 and the tree had not even started to turn. Today it was in all its fall splendor.

When we first arrived at the park, there was a group of people gathered taking pictures. Wondering what was going on, we went over to find a rare white squirrel of the park bounding about looking for food to store for the winter.

The park is quite beautiful this time of year.

Of course, the star of the show for us is KC's tree.

Our dog, KC, passed away in 2011 and that same year Teena had a tree planted in her memory.

Today the tree was all crimson. Here are Teena and I with the tree.

Very colourful.

I'm glad we made it to the park today. It was bright and sunny and I think KC's tree had reached its peak of colour.