End of the Tour

I'm back on my favourite red soil once more after two weeks in Toronto and Hamilton.  It was a tough haul shlepping all those books around, but it has also been a lot of fun.

My first day in the Big Smoke I had two readings: the Unionville Library in the afternoon and the Press Club that evening.  Getting to Unionville proved quite easy and fast on the GO bus, a mode of transportation I'd never used in all the 17 years I lived in Toronto.  Finding the library was a bit more problematic. I had been given walking directions, but the lack of visible street signs ensured that I made a wrong turn somewhere. I ended up walking the length of the town's picturesque Main Street.

In a place as small as Unionville one would think a library would be centrally located. Unfortunately, it is well-hidden, but after about 30 minutes and many requests for directions from the local townspeople I finally found it. An audience of seven were in attendance (more than I expected) and a fully engaged group they were.  For almost a full hour I read them stories and talked about the creative process.  They asked intelligent questions and some even bought copies of the book.  Well worth the walk.

That evening I was one of three writers on the bill for the Pivot Reading series, which is held every two weeks at the Press Club on 850 Dundas Street West in Toronto.  One of the other readers was rob mclellan, an Ottawa poet who has one of the most amazing blogs that features interviews, book reviews and general literary news.  He has sent me one of his on-line interviews, which I filled out.  I gave him a copy of Fatted Calf Blues to review.  I expect both review and interview to appear soon.

The reading itself went well.  I opened with Home, James, which I felt didn't go over so well, but my second offering, Phone Booth, a story I had never read in public before, really hit the mark.  It is a first person narrative of a stalker waiting in a phone booth across the street from the girl of his dreams and I felt almost like I was improvising the text as I slowly found his voice: erratic and obsessed by the object of his desire.

That weekend I was in Hamilton for the Jewish Literary Festival.  All the festivities took place at the Temple Anshe Shalom, starting with a Shabbos service on Friday night where, in between the prayers, poets read their work. I had not been to a synagogue service for many years, but found myself following along in the siddur  and happily trying to sing along.  Later, Steven Stern, a writer from the southern US, gave a talk and some of the others read from their works.

The two festival organisers, Lil Blume and Ellen S. Jaffe, put together an anthology called From Sinai To The Shtetl And Beyond: Where Is Home For The Jewish Writer?, which was also the theme of a panel discussion on Saturday afternoon as well as the running theme of the whole festival. Some writers had workshops or readings. I went to hear Charlottetown writer, J. J. Steinfeld read from his new book, Word Burials.

On Saturday evening there was the launch of the anthology. Klezmer singer Allan Merovitz sang and taught everyone some Jewish dances.  I read the poem I submitted to the anthology, Half A Poem, and received many wonderful compliments.

On Sunday I gave a talk called Turning Family History Into Art, during which I read my story The Two Annes, an excerpt from my novel-in-progress and two poems.  The talk was attended by an audience of 5 (again, more than I expected) and a lively discussion ensued.  My Hamilton visit concluded with a reading at the Lit Live series at the Sky Dragon Centre.

Back in Toronto, the last reading on my itinerary was the Toronto Fatted Calf Blues launch at Scratch Espresso Bar, which is owned by two good friends, Hans Wontorra and Eden Bender.  It was a terrific launch where many friends from various times in my life -- from high school to the present -- were in attendance to help me celebrate my first book.  It was a very special evening and having all these friends from the past and present bear witness made me feel like I had truly arrived.