This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of Toronto’s book and magazine festival “The Word on the Street,” an annual event celebrating Canadian writing and publishing. The programme is chock full of talks, readings, workshops, and other book-themed activities, all hosted at the Harbourfront Centre. “This fall, we invite booklovers of all ages to explore Canada’s largest communal bookshelf and discover your new favourite author,” said Festival Director David Alexander.
To get you ready for the festival (for those of you attending) and to give you the low-down (for those who aren’t) here are five feminist authors with new releases to add to your fall reading list that are participating in The Word on the Street.
Catherine Hernandez
Catherine Hernandez, a queer Filipina femme, is the author of a new children’s book, I Promise. Illustrated by Syrus Marcus Ware, it explores queer parenting, capturing adorable everyday moment between parents and their little ones to show that family came come in all shapes and sizes. Hernandez is also the artistic director of b current performing arts and is an award-winning author of various other books and plays.
Buy I Promise on Amazon here and catch her at the Great Books Marquee from 11:15am-11:45am and TD Children’s Literature from 2:40pm-3:00pm.
Amy Jones
Amy Jones, the Halifax-born, Toronto-based author that made her debut with We’re All in This Together, is back with a new novel. Every Little Piece is a satire of celebrity culture and explores the cost of fame by telling the stories of two complex female protagonists trying to find their own way and the relationship between the two of them.
Buy Every Little Piece on Amazon here and catch her at the Great Books Marquee from 2:45pm-3:15pm.
Amanda Parris
Amanda Paris is a radio and television host, playwright, and screenwriter. In 2018, she was named one of Toronto’s Most Inspiring Women by Post-City. In her new release, The Other Side of the Game, she celebrates Black women activists, spanning the 1970s into the 21st century.
Buy The Other Side of the Game on Amazon here and catch her at Vibrant Voices of Ontario from 2:30pm-3:00pm.
Téa Mutonji
Téa Mutonji is a Congo-Kinshasa-born and Scarborough-based author that was named 2017’s emerging writer of the year by the Ontario Book Publishers Organization. Her new collection of short stories, Shut Up You’re Pretty, explores the various ways that femininity and identity are questioned and imposed.
Buy Shut Up You’re Pretty on Amazon here and catch her at the Great Books Marquee from 11:15am-11:45am.
Melanie Florence
Melanie Florence is an award-winning YA author of Cree and Scottish descent. In her new book Just Lucky, she tells the story of a young girl taken from her family and put into foster care, charting her journey through families that are kind to her—and some that are not so kind.
Buy Just Lucky on Amazon here and catch her at Indigenous Voices from 11:00am-11:30am.
