Toronto's Literary Events: June 24-30, 2008

In this week's roundup of Toronto's literary events: The unseen side of Gandhi, falling in love with Lake Erie, celebrating Banff, and winning a lot of money in competitive spoken word.

Tuesday, June 24

You may not have thought that Gandhi was a character rife with controversy, but it turns out that not everyone thinks that the legendary Indian was all the movies make him out to be. Dr. Timothy Watson will be launching his new book, Gandhi: Under Cross-Examination at Conspiracy Culture tonight at 7pm, and will put the famous historical figure under a critical lens.

Also on Tuesday:

• Travel writer Robert Ward reads from his new book, All the Good Pilgrims: Tales of the Camino de Santiago at TPL's North York Central Branch at 7pm.
• Lauren Weisberger, bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada, will be at the Indigo Bay & Bloor to read from her new novel, Chasing Harry Winston at 7pm.
• Spoken word artists Sky Gilbert, Tara-Michelle Ziniuk, Kate Leadbeater and d'bi young anitafrika take the stage as part of Pride Voices at the Gladstone Hotel at 8pm.
• David Day, Lee Maracle, and Mel Sarnese feature at the Art Bar Poetry Series at Clinton's at 8pm.
   

Thursday, June 26

Being so close to a highly polluted Lake Ontario, we sometimes forget that it is quite possible to fall in love with a body of water. Chad Fraser will be reading from Lake Erie Stories, his book about his experiences exploring the many wonders of Lake Erie, at the Victory Cafe on Thursday at 7:30pm.

Also on Thursday:

• Emily Schultz reads from her Trillium Award-nominated collection, Songs for the Dancing Chicken, followed by a screening of Herzog's Stroszek at Innis Town Hall at 7:30pm.
   

Friday, June 27

The closing evening of International Readings at Harbourfront's 34th season will celebrate 75 years of The Banff Centre's literary legacy. The event will feature guests such as Barry Dempster, Charles Foran, Greg Hollingshead, Jay Ingram, Marni Jackson, Lisa Moore, Karen Solie and Tim Wynne-Jones, and kicks off at the Harbourfront Centre's Lakeside Terrace at 7pm.

Also on Friday:

• Discuss artist-run culture in Toronto at the launch of Decentre: Concerning Artist-Run Culture at YYZ Artists' Outlet at 8pm.
• The Riverboat Revival brings together some of Toronto's best poets and storytellers to kick off Toronto's City Roots Festival at Hugh's Room at 8:30pm.

Saturday, June 28

Proud Voices, in partnership with The Word on the Street, brings together emerging authors and distinguished veterans as part of the weekend's Pride festivities at James Canning Gardens Stage from 3-8pm on Saturday. Among the featured writers and performers include Shani Mootoo, R.M. Vaughan, and a personal favorite, Joey Comeau.

Also on Saturday, the Ontario Poetry Slamboree brings together some of the best slam poets from across Ontario to compete for a chance to compete at this year's Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Calgary this November. The event will feature Rob Gee, Spencer and Andrea Thompson, and will also showcase some of the best competitive poets from across the province, all going down at Cervejaria at 8pm.
 

Sunday, June 29

Slam just got lucrative with Sunday's $100 Slam at the Fox & the Fiddle at 8pm. The event will feature London Poetry Slam's Elyse Maltin, and the winner of the night (it could be you!) goes home with, of course, $100 of prize money.