This Saturday, June 9th, at the spiegeltent'ntavern at Harbourfront Centre, a new book filled with writing set in and about Toronto is being released as part of the LuminaTO festival. TOK 2, published by Diaspora Dialogues, contains writing by both established and emerging writers, and will contain "new fiction, poetry and drama that reflects the complexity of the city back to Torontonians through the eyes of its richly diverse communities." But you don't have to go just for the literature - there's a whole lot more going on, too.

In addition book launch, there will also be a musical performance by autorickshaw. Prior to the launch, there will be an event called ARTofLUSH, which will feature, among other things, "artists of all kinds walking among you and giving everyone in the tent an unexpected, tantalizing taste of art!"

The ARTofLUSH runs from 12 - 3, and the book launch kicks off at 3:30. I have three poems in the book, (one of which is up on the Spacing Wire), but I'm even more excited to read the work and perspectives of the other writers in the group. It should be a fun event, and if you haven't had a chance to check out the spiegeltent'ntavern, this is a good time to do it!

Saturday, June 9, 2007:
12-3pm: ARTofLUSH
3:30-6:00pm: TOK 2 launch and party
Harbourfront Centre, Queen's Quay West

Image from the Diaspora Dialogues website.

Remember waaaaaaaaay back in March and April when there was all that hype about the pseudo-documentary Let's All Hate Toronto? Although it had its flaws, I enjoyed the film, but since its premiere it hasn't been generating much in the way of news . . . until now.

There's a funny thing that many people from Toronto share: the idea that nothing important or significant ever happens here. Through that terrible Torontonian trait of never-ending comparison and self-reflection, we often look to other cities and the degree to which they've been mythologized in literature, film, song, and television, and find ourselves lacking. In the first uTOpia book, Bert Archer called Toronto a "place people live, not a place where things happen, or, at least, not where the sorts of things happen that forge a place for the city in the imagination."

A while ago I stumbled upon frequent blogTO commenter Alden's attempt to create a virtual Toronto in the city-building video game SimCity 4. In the month since I originally highlighted his work, the virtual city has been growing steadily, having now reached a population of 28 000.

When we last checked in the young Toronto was suffering from unemployment. The good news is it seems to have recovered, and has begun even more to look like the city we live in today.

The CBC is currently in the middle of another attempt to unite this geographically sprawling, culturally diverse nation with a common thread, this time through a search for the Seven Wonders of Canada. Although these attempts sometimes come across as forced and a bit hokey, this seems like a pretty decent effort, with 52 nominees from coast to coast competing for the honour.

Never content to go too long between events, the good people at Spacing (along with ERA Architects, [murmur], and the Toronto Society of Architects) are throwing a party tonight in the fermenting cellar of the Distillery District called Toronto the Good.