Imagining Toronto | Intersections of Literature and Place in the Toronto Region

IMAGINING TORONTO
Intersections of Literature and Place in the Toronto Region

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Imagining Toronto (book)
Mansfield Press will publish Imagining Toronto, a book exploring how culture and space are negotiated through literature, in the fall of 2008. The following chapter outline is subject to change.

Chapter 1	Introduction
Chapter 2	The City as Text
Chapter 3	Toronto's Literary Cartographies
Chapter 4	Music From Elsewhere: Writing the Immigrant City
Chapter 5	The Labouring City
Chapter 6	Possibilities of Dwelling
Chapter 7	The Sexual City
Chapter 8	Urbia and Suburbia
Chapter 9	Toronto the Wild
Chapter 10	Conclusion


Grateful acknowledgement is made to the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council for its support of the Imagining Toronto project.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Ontario Arts Council for its support of the Imagining Toronto project.

Articles, Talks, Commentaries, and the Imagining Toronto Book
(works published, forthcoming, and in progress)

Updated 1 February 2008

Date

Description

Forthcoming 2008

Imagining Toronto, a book exploring Toronto literature and the imaginative qualities of cities, will be published by Mansfield Press in the fall of 2008.

Forthcoming 2008

Amy Lavender Harris will contribute an essay on Toronto literature to Canada: A Literary Tour (LAC, online exhibition, forthcoming 2008)

12 December 2007

"The New Torontonians" published in Eye Weekly.

November 2007

With Peter Fruchter, "Acts of Salvage" published in GreenTOpia, an anthology of environmental writing published by Coach House Books. An excerpt of this essay appeared in Eye Weekly.

November 2007

"The Ecological City" published in Spacing Magazine, Fall 2007.

15-16 November 2007

Amy spoke about public policy metaphors as part of a panel discussing Creativity and Public Space at the Beyond Bureaucracy (IPAC) conference (Toronto, 15-16 November 2007)

1-4 Oct 2007

Amy Lavender Harris spoke at the Walk21 conference in Toronto. Her presentation, "Walking the Imagined City", was accompanied by a guided 'walkshop' and literary walking tour of Kensington Market. Conference information here and here.

Fall 2007

Imagining Toronto (GEOG 4280 3.0) offered as a senior undergraduate course in the Department of Geography at York University.

Summer 2007

"Literary Watersheds" essay published in Spacing magazine (Summer 2007 issue).

2 June 2007

"The Book on Toronto" feature article published in the Toronto Star's "Ideas" section.

31 May 2007

As part of the 2007 Toronto Festival of Architecture & Design, Amy Lavender Harris and Gary Michael Dault (Cells of Ourselves, The Milk of Birds) explored Toronto's place in the literary imagination and discussed how Toronto writers capture the city's diversity and growth, as well as its nightmares, desires, and secrets. Date - May 31. Time - 7 pm. Lillian Smith Library, 239 College Street. Further details forthcoming.

30 May 2007

CBC Radio One's Matt Galloway interviewed Amy Lavender Harris about Toronto literature on "Here and Now". A recording of the segment is available upon request.

21 February 2007

"Literary Intersections" essay published in Spacing magazine (Winter/Spring 2007 issue). Details available here and here.

26 November 2006

Launch of The State of the Arts: Living With Culture in Toronto (Coach House Books) at the Gladstone Hotel. This anthology includes my essay, "Toronto's Tower of Babel". Publishing details here.

14-15 October 2006

I was a keynote speaker at the JUICE Dialogues / Think Tank symposium at OCAD. Program details here; slides and commentary available here.

20 September 2006

I joined philosopher Mark Kingwell, photographer Markus Schubert, artist Iris Haussler, and curator Rhonda Corvese at the Goethe-Institut Toronto to discuss The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach, a conceptual art project. My talk was titled "The City's Vanishing Narratives." Details here and here. The text of my talk is available here.

September 2006

"Imagining Toronto: Essential Toronto Reads" article published in Spacing Magazine.

8 September 2006

I spoke on opening night at Salon Voltaire's fall lecture series. Title: "Imagining Toronto: Facts, Figments, and the Fictional City". Venue: Jamie Kennedy's restaurant at the Gardiner Museum. For further details, click here. Advance media coverage here.

Fall 2006

I taught Imagining Toronto as a fourth year undergraduate course in the Department of Geography at York University. Details here and here.

8 July 2006

I joined Maggie Helwig, Mark Truscott, Barry Callaghan, Susan Helwig, Nadia Helim, Emily Pohl-Weary, and organizer Gregory Betts reading original and borrowed poetry and prose for a literary walking tour of Kensington Market, an event of the Scream literary festival. Coverage and photos here.

Ongoing

I joined Reading Toronto (published and edited by Robert Ouellette) as a contributing writer and book reviewer in May 2006, and write regularly about Toronto literature and the imaginative qualities of cities.


29 Jan 2008	How Torontonians Read
20 Jan 2008	Literature or Litigation?: A Threatened Lawsuit Rattles Toronto's Small Press Community
1 Jan 2008	A Red Bird in Winter
4 Dec 2007	A Bridge to Elsewhere: Negotiating Culture and Difference in Toronto Literature
6 Nov 2007	Reading GreenTOpia: Towards a Sustainable Toronto
30 Oct 2007	Geographical Perspectives on Kensington Market
16 Oct 2007	Hibernation: Variations
2 Oct 2007	Wonderful Things about Word on the Street
25 Sept 2007	Walk21 Toronto 2007 Conference Brings Planners and Pedestrians Together
11 Sept 2007	September 11, the Tower
6 Sept 2007	Redhill's Consolation wins City Book Award
31 Aug 2007	Update: Now City Goes After Backyard Woodland Garden
28 Aug 2007	Outlawned: City Destroys Wild Garden
21 Aug 2007	Toronto After Dark: Tanya Huff’s ‘Blood Ties’ Series Slashes at the Small Screen
14 Aug 2007	Michael Redhill's Novel, Consolation, on Shortlist for Man Booker Prize
31 July 2007	Rare Reads: Tracing Toronto's Literary Genealogy
26 July 2007	Bye Bye Books
24 July 2007	Bookstore Reviews: Steven Temple Books
17 July 2007	Acts of Salvage: Fragments of a Work in Progress
10 July 2007	Review of Gary Michael Dault's Southwester: 35 Poems
3 July 2007	Review of Pier Giorgio di Cicco's Municipal Mind: Manifestos for the Creative City
12 June 2007	The Perfect Garage Sale
6 June 2007	Meet Karen Bennett, Toronto's Mistress of the Fantastic
22 May 2007	Reading Toronto Talks about Toronto's Stories at the 2007 Festival of Architecture & Design
15 May 2007	Rare Reads: Hugh Garner's Forgotten Toronto Novel, Waste No Tears (1950)
1 May 2007	After the Exhibit: The Unexpected Afterlife of Public Sculpture
21 April 2007	Strut: Spring in High Park
17 April 2007	A Tree Falls in the Junction
13 April 2007	Open Cities Toronto 2007
10 April 2007	The Toronto Section
3 April 2007	Toronto: The Novel
31 Mar 2007	Reviving Pedophelia: Reading Barbara Gowdy's Novel Helpless
27 Mar 2007	The Truest Measure
20 Mar 2007	Rare Reads: Phyllis Brett Young's The Torontonians (1960)
13 Mar 2007	Millrace: A Suburban Lament
10 Mar 2007	The Junction: Hip Arts Hangout
6 Mar 2007	Toronto 2.0
3 Mar 2007	Wintermission
26 Feb 2007	Hunting and Gathering
25 Feb 2007	Fire at Dawn
13 Feb 2007	Imagining Toronto the Damned (reprinted in the National Post)
6 Feb 2007	A Shadow Against the Snow
30 Jan 2007	Scam City
23 Jan 2007	BMV Books: Toronto's Latest Literary Anti-Christ?
16 Jan 2007	Review of Sally Gilbson's Inside Toronto: Urban Interiors 1880-1929 (Cormorant, 2006)
9 Jan 2007	Reading The Underside of Toronto
2 Jan 2007	A Bridge Made for Wishing
22 Dec 2006	Outing Bad Drivers?
19 Dec 2006	Review of Gary Michael Dault's The Milk of Birds
12 Dec 2006	Christmas in Toronto, 1973
5 Dec 2006	The Urban Poetics of Reading Toronto
28 Nov 2006	Urban Textures: Imaginative Renderings of Toronto
21 Nov 2006	City Birds in Winter
14 Nov 2006	Watching the Neighbours at Night
7 Nov 2006	How to Reading and Write Great Toronto Literature
31 Oct 2006	All Hallow's Eve in Hogtown
18 Oct 2006	Poesis: Contemplating the Brave Brown Bag
17 Oct 2006	Imagining Toronto \| A Review of Vivian Meyer's Bottom Bracket
10 Oct 2006	Luminous
3 Oct 2006	Imagining Toronto: Reading Daniel Jones' Toronto Punk Novel, 1978
26 Sept 2006	Missing: My Bike!
19 Sept 2006	Invisible Sculptor: The legacy of Joseph Wagenbach
12 Sept 2006	September 12 in Toronto
29 Aug 2006	Imagining Toronto: The City of Salvage
22 Aug 2006	Imagining Toronto: Images of Suburbia
15 Aug 2006	Night of the Living Air Conditioners
8 Aug 2006	Review of Faces on Places: A Grotesque Tour of Toronto
1 Aug 2006	Brave New Toronto? The (Il)Luminat(i) are Coming!
21-28 Jul 2006	Week long "Philosopher's Walk" essay series Philosopher's Walk I: Toward an Interpretive Psychogeography of Toronto Philosopher's Walk II: A Natural History of the Alley Philosopher's Walk III: Night Philosopher's Walk IV: City of Fear (written by Peter Fruchter) Interlude: A Day in the Life of a Cultural Entrepreneur Philosopher's Walk V: Toronto the Wild and Weedy Philosopher's Walk VI: The Cat who Walks by Himself Imagining Toronto: The City's Most Perplexing Literary Myth
18 Jul 2006	Review of T-Dot Griots: An Anthology of Toronto's Black Storytellers
4 Jul 2006	Retrospective commentary on Gwendolyn MacEwen's Noman (1972) and Noman's Land (1985)
27 Jun 2006	The Scream Literary Festival (program summary)
20 Jun 2006	Lament for the Urban Planner
11 Jun 2006	Steal This Bike (Lane)
6 Jun 2006	Review of the Toronto Book Awards shortlist
6 Jun 2006	Review of Timothy FIndley's Headhunter (1993)
30 May 2006	Escape Velocity
23 May 2006	Review of Pat Capponi's Last Stop Sunnyside

11 - 17 Mar 2006

Imagining Toronto at Reading Toronto

During the week of 11-17 March 2006 I was the invited guest editor at Reading Toronto, and published the following pieces.

The Imagining Toronto Project (11 March 2006)

Imagining Toronto: Toronto's Tower of Babel (11 March 2006)

Imagining Toronto: Acts of Salvage (12 March 2006)

Imagining Toronto: Essential Toronto Reads (13 March 2006)

Uncivil Elegies: The Mystery of Civic Square (14 March 2006)

Imagining Toronto: Textures of Kensington Market (15 March 2006)

Imagining Toronto: The City's Literary Cartographies (16 March 2006)

Imagining Toronto: The Liminal City (17 March 2006)