BOOKS & LIT | Irving Layton Centenary Celebration
Tonight, as part of the ongoing Authors at Harbourfront series, a tribute to Irving Layton happens on the week of what would have been his 100th birthday. Layton was a Montreal poet who rose to international recognition with his raw, flamboyant, and honest approach to poetry, which stood in stark contrast to the work of many of his contemporaries. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981, won the Governor-General's Award in 1959, and received the Order of Canada in 1976. At this evening's tribute celebration, notables such as Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen (via video feed), Moses Znaimer, Rosemary Sullivan, Robert Priest, and many others will honour the late poet in conjunction with the Irving Layton Centenary Celebration.
Lakeside Terrace, Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West) 7:30PM $15 / $5 members, students, under 25

MUSIC | The Black Keys + Arctic Monkeys
Akron Ohio's larger-than-life duo, The Black Keys hit town tonight for what is a much-anticipated show at the ACC! Formed in 2001, this well honed 'power duo' has sold millions of albums in the states, which isn't bad for a band emerging from an 'underground' alt-garage camp in the age of downloading! These guys are known for their raw energy that recalls an earlier age of rock, and have also had success as a result of collaborations with producer Dangermouse. Their latest release, "El Camino" came out a the end of last year, and is likely to be the focus of their performance tonight. Arctic Monkeys will open the show.
Air Canada Centre (40 Bay Street) 6:30PM $39.50 - $59.50

CULTURE | Raconteurs & The COC presents "Love Lost""
Ranconteurs is an event that used to be known as "MothUP", and features a special evening of storytelling by attendees who sign up in advance. Tonight is the first of two events that are being put together and 'curated' in partnership with the Canadian Opera Company, and will feature mainly invited speakers, but there will still be a few spots open to the TO community. This evening's theme is "Love Lost", and there will be will be sad tales, and a few laughs, too. A custom 'opera cocktail' will be created just for this event, and there will be ticket giveaways for the COC's production of "The Tales of Hoffmann."
No One Writes To The Colonel (460 College Street) 6PM $12

BOOKS & LIT | STATIC ZINE #3 LAUNCH: The Ruby Spirit, WAZU, Carnival Moon + Trivia!
The launch party for Static Zine's third issue goes down tonight at The Rivoli! Static Zine is a hand-crafted work that brings together many collaborators who like to work analog cut and paste techniques - you know, the kind where you use scissors and paste - with a unifying theme to each issue. Issue Number Three has "The Story of Our Lives" as it's tagline. Tonight's bash will feature some music trivia, with some great prizes, including theatre tickets, and gift cards to dome great TO shops, plus musical performances from The Ruby Spirit, Wazu, and Carnival Moon. As you might imagine, there will definitely be issues of Static Zine available at this great shindig!
The Rivoli (334 Queen Street West) 7PM $5

OTHER EVENTS ON OUR RADAR

• SAMANTHA MARTIN and The Haggard CD Release
• Ride For a Dream Fundraising Event
• Extraordinary Artists:Exceptional Minds

Have an event you'd like to plug? Submit your own listing to the blogTO Toronto events calendar or contact us directly.

For Toronto movie showtimes, view our Movie Listings section.

Photo by GDQuerubin in the blogTO Flickr pool