Toronto Branch Meeting Schedule
Where We Meet
Our monthly meetings are held at the Deer Park Library (just steps away from the St. Clair Subway Station) at 40 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto, ON M4T 1M9 (416-393-7657). The closest major intersection is Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue East.
Parking is available on Alvin Street, 1 block east of Yonge Street and 1 block north of St. Clair Ave.
Meeting Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Cost: CAA Members free; Non-members $10; Students (with student ID) $5.
If you have any questions about our meetings, please email .
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Member's Poetry
February has become Poetry Month at the Toronto Branch. The connection between Valentine's Day and the love poem goes back hundreds of years; we enjoy hearing all types of poems during this 2nd annual poetry month. Members will receive an email with all of the instructions to have their ten minutes to read their poetry. The $10 visitor's fee for the month of February is waived.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Alexandra Leggat
Ms. Leggat is the author of the short story collection, Animal (Anvil Press, 2009), Meet Me in the Parking Lot (Insomniac Press, 2004), Pull Gently, Tear Here (Insomniac Press, 2001) which was nominated for the Danuta Gleed First Fiction Award and a collection of poetry entitled, This is Me Since Yesterday (Coach House Books, 2000). Ms. Leggat's articles and reviews have appeared in Toro, The Globe and Mail and Niagara Life magazine. Ms. Leggat teaches creative writing classes at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Topic to be Announced
We are still finalizing the details for April's meeting.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Topic to be Announced
We are still finalizing the details for April's meeting.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Annual General Meeting
& Members' Readings
We will end the season, as we always do, with our Annual General Meeting (AGM). It is during this time were we review the business of the season just finished and prepare for the coming season. After the AGM, if there is time remaining we open the floor to members' readings. Members are to watch their email in June for a request for readers.
Past Meetings
Earlier events are listed here.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
An Evening with the National President
Our guest speaker for the evening will be Matt Bin, National President of the Canadian Authors Association. Matt will update us on the many new initiatives the CAA is undertaking, as well as answer questions about the many benefits of CAA membership. Please join us for an evening of information, fellowship and networking.
Bio
Matthew Bin is a novelist, non-fiction writer and consultant. He is the CAA National President as well as acting Treasurer.
He is a founder and moderator of the Wordcount group on Reddit, an open forum where working writers can post their wordcounts and keep their forward momentum going, and a contributor to Authors at Work, a website set up by the Canadian Authors Association to help Canadian authors find places to write outside the home.
Matt's books include On Guard For Thee: Canadian Peacekeeping Missions (2007) and L.M.F.: A Novel (2006).
- Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m.
- Place: Deer Park Library, 40 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto. (how to get there.)
- Cost: CAA Members free; Non-members $10; Students (with student ID) $5.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
1. Introducing Blue Denim Press — a new publisher of long and short fiction
2. Shane Joseph: Using Social Media to Promote your Work
Shane Joseph Bio
Shane Joseph began writing as a teenager living in Sri Lanka and has never stopped. From an early surge of short stories and radio play scripts, to humorous corporate skits, travelogues, case studies and technical papers, then novels, more short stories and essays, he continues to pursue the three pages-a-day maxim and keeps writer's block at bay.
His career stints include: stage and radio actor, pop musician, encyclopaedia salesman, lathe machine operator, airline executive, travel agency manager, vice president of a global financial services company, software services salesperson, project manager, and management consultant.
Self-taught, with four degrees under his belt obtained through distance education, Shane is an avid traveller and has visited one country for every year of his life. He fondly recalls incidents during his travels as real lessons he could never have learned in school: husky driving in Finland with no training, trekking the Inca Trail in Peru through an unending rainstorm, hitch-hiking in Australia without a map, escaping a wild elephant in Zambia, and being stranded without money in Denmark, are some of his memories.
Shane is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers in Toronto and studied under the mentorship of Giller Prize and Canadian Governor General's Award winning author David Adams Richards. Redemption in Paradise, his first novel, was published in 2004. Fringe Dwellers, his first collection of short stories, was released in 2008, and is now in its second edition. Shane's third work of fiction, After the Flood, a dystopian novel of hope, was released in 2009 and won the Canadian Christian Writing Awards best novel in the futuristic/fantasy category in 2010. His short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies in Canada, the USA, UK, India and Sri Lanka. His blog is widely syndicated. Shane's fourth work of fiction The Ulysses Man, a novel, will be released in the fall of 2011.
After immigrating (twice), raising a family, building a career, and experiencing life's many highs and lows, Shane has carved out a niche in Cobourg, Ontario with his wife, Sarah, where he continues to write stories, sing in a dance band and play his guitar.
More details on Shane's work, blog and public interviews can be found on his website.
- Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m.
- Place: Deer Park Library, 40 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto. (how to get there.)
- Cost: CAA Members free; Non-members $10; Students (with student ID) $5.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Ibi Kaslik: Writing the Novel
Ibi Kaslik Bio
Ibi Kaslik's short stories and articles have appeared in literary magazines such as Matrix and Geist. Her debut novel, Skinny, was published by Harper Collins in May 2004. It was shortlisted for the Books of Canada First Novel Award in 2004, the CLA Best Young Adult Book in 2005 and the Borders Original Voice Award in 2006. Skinny also appeared on the New York Times best sellers list for two consecutive weeks in 2008.
In 2007–8, Ibi served as 22nd writer-in-residence at the Regina Public Library in Regina, Saskatchewan. Her second novel, The Angel Riots, was published by Penguin Canada in 2008 and has been named as one of the finalists for the Trillium Book Award for excellence in literature.
More details on Ibi's website.
- Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m.
- Place: Deer Park Library, 40 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto. (how to get there.)
- Cost: CAA Members free; Non-members $10; Students (with student ID) $5.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Members' Readings
As part of our annual holiday tradition our December meeting is dedicated to Members' Readings. There will be poetry, short fiction and novel excerpts read by a number of our Toronto Branch Members. As always the visitor's fee of $10 is waived for the month of December, so please feel free to drop by and enjoy what the membership has been working on.
Prior Years' Meetings Archived
Meetings held before the archived events above have been moved to the Past Events and Workshops page.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Critiquing Workshop
We begin the new year with a critiquing workshop. Everyone attending the meeting is invited to bring a piece of writing (along with 20 copies that will be collected afterwards) that will be read aloud to the group and then each of the other attendees will have time to offer constructive criticism or ask questions about the piece. This evening will be moderated by our Writer in Residence, Sharon Crawford.
www.canauthorstoronto.org/events.html
Updated: January 19, 2012