Writers from around the world have swung into town for the return of The International Festival of Authors, which once again brings an impressive array of all things literary to Toronto. This year's festival -- which started yesterday and runs until November 3rd -- jumps on the rebrand-wagon with a new sobriquet in celebration of its 30th anniversary: "IFOA XXX."

...Um, I'd be careful when you google that. Pretty sure it's NSFW.

Word on the Sreet 2009 offered the perfect opportunity to prove my literacy to my library "in crowd" friends. The annual celebration of all things literary took place on Sunday at Queen's Park and featured live music, great food and, of course, book readings.

Sadly, yes -- Pages Books on Queen Street West, a Toronto institution since 1979, has closed its doors forever.

But, of course, when one door closes another opens. Rachael Glassman, the owner's daughter (and former Pages employee) is currently producing a documentary about the venerable independent bookstore.

With all of our focus on how it closed, the story of how it opened in 1979 is just as interesting.

With six hours to go before they close their doors forever, the shelves at Pages are nearly empty, a testament to the quality of owner Marc Glassman's buying, and the devotion of his customers, who will have to find somewhere else to go for their cultural theory, outsider fiction and glossy design tomes when the lights go off after exactly thirty years to the day.

When I was a kid there was Chickadee magazine and then Owl, and then the thinking girl was unceremoniously dumped off the science train of the Mighty Mites, and into the world of Tiger Beat.

"Maybe you can think big thoughts again when you're older," the magazine rack seemed to say. "But the teen and pre-teen magazines that tide you over until then will be wholly populated by doe-eyed boys, glossy ads for lip gloss, and vanilla-flavoured sex tips. Be prepared for a solid decade where your interests are presumed limited to bangles and boyfriends."

Then 2004 rolled around, and a Canadian upstart broke through these piles and piles of flippant frou frou and frizz -- Shameless, a magazine "for girls who get it."

Shameless is also written particularly for teen and pre-teen girls. But with politics in place of pop idols, queer positive instead of quizzes that only care if "he" likes you, and sexuality that's invited along for the whole messy and complicated ride that is growing up.

Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline among many other critically acclaimed work (the Sandman graphic novels among them), gave an enchanting talk at the St. Lawrence Centre's Jane Mallett Theatre on Monday night.

The Luminato event sold out in three minutes, proving that hearing an author of his caliber read from his own work, and sign autographs afterward, still has the power to draw crowds of fans.

Prior to the talk, it could be said that I wasn't a die-hard fan of his work, but hearing him read from his new novel The Graveyard Book has converted me. Gaiman and his writing are both witty and irreverent.

"People look at my career as an author with puzzlement," said Gaiman, "because I broke all the rules. It's likely because I came out of the comic world, where anything goes."