Write in the Neighbourhood: Recent Episodes
Toronto International Festival of Authors
The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) presents Write in the Neighbourhood, a podcast series in which authors from across the Greater Toronto Area guide us through the sights, sounds and soul of the neighbourhoods they call home. Hosted by TIFA Director Roland Gulliver, Season 2 of this beloved series drops between October 21st and 31st of 2021 in celebration of the Festival's 42nd Edition.
We’re meeting downtown today with one of the co-editors of the Indigenous Toronto collection, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, and contributors Elaine Bomberry, Erica Commanda and Andre Morriseau to unearth twelve-thousand-years' worth of Indigenous history in the city. With each sharing a vibrant waypoint of Indigenous revitalization, we connect with the stories that have carried the urban landscape of Toronto and the art and activism that’s shaping the future.
We’re meeting Uzma Jalaluddin today in the thriving cultural mosaic of Middlefield, Markham. Uzma’s charming tale of star-crossed love in Hana Khan Carries On follows an aspiring storyteller as she sets out to develop her voice for radio alongside the struggling family business. Through five waypoints, we spoke to Uzma about the symbiotic co-existence of new immigrant communities in Middlefield that sets the tone for her novel.
We’re meeting Perry King today in South Parkdale at the crossway of King, Queen, The Queensway, and Roncesvalles. Fresh off the press, Perry’s debut book Rebound plots the history of grassroots sports as a vector of community courtship and belonging against the commotion of sprawling urban centres. In the midst of great neighbourhood change, Perry shares five waypoints and recounts the resilience of the players that have persisted– no matter the quarter, period, or inning they find themselves in.
We're meeting Silmy Abdullah today at Victoria Park and Danforth, where Crescent Town, East York crosses over into Oakridge, Scarborough. Silmy is the author of Home of the Floating Lily, an eight-story anthology that follows immigrant families entangled in the heartaches and serendipity of being caught between cultures, countries and loved ones. We spoke to Silmy about five waypoints that connect newcomers in their search for home in the city and beyond.
Travel to Scarborough for a special tour that’s been collaboratively mapped by several guests representing the upcoming Feel Ways: A Scarborough Anthology. The anthology brings together emerging and established writers to shed light on a borough often mischaracterized and misunderstood.
Travel to Downtown Yonge with Brian Bradley—but not as it exists today. In his debut book, Outrageous Misfits, Brian traces the lives and careers of female impersonator Craig Russell and his wife Lorie Eadie, largely tied to the neighbourhood’s history of queer spaces and establishments. We spoke to Brian about five waypoints from that era and the enormous transformation that’s taken place since.
Travel to Thornhill with Sidura Ludwig, author of You Are Not What We Expected. The book, a collection of short stories all set in the same Thornhill community, explores the capacity for great change and great heartache behind the veneer of suburban homogeneity. Similarly, we spoke to Sidura about five waypoints that suggest Thornhill is not at all what we expected.
Travel to Parkdale with Jillian Tamaki, author and illustrator of Our Little Kitchen. Though the picture book was originally inspired by Jillian’s time volunteering at a soup kitchen in Brooklyn, New York City, we spoke to Jillian about how her current relationship to Parkdale both mirrors and stands in opposition to her former home, including five local waypoints that she draws inspiration from today.