Programs

International Booker Prize–shortlisted author Mariana Enríquez speaks about her acclaimed novel in which a woman’s mysterious death puts her husband and son on a collision course with her demonic family.

Our Share of Night introduces us to a young father and son who set out on a road trip, devastated by the death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travel to her ancestral home, where they must confront the terrifying legacy she has bequeathed: a family called the Order that commits unspeakable acts in search of immortality.

For Gaspar, the son, this maniacal cult is his destiny. As the Order tries to pull him into their evil, he and his father take flight, attempting to outrun a powerful clan that will do anything to ensure its own survival. But how far will Gaspar’s father go to protect his child? And can anyone escape their fate?

Moving back and forth in time, from London in the swinging 1960s to the brutal years of Argentina’s military dictatorship and its turbulent aftermath, this is a novel like no other: a family story, a ghost story, a story of the occult and the supernatural, a book about the complexities of love and longing with queer subplots and themes

Mariana Enríquez speaks about Our Share of Night, “an enchanting, shattering, once-in-a-lifetime reading experience” (The New York Times) with host Ingrid Bejerman.

Q&A and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase.

Ticket registration for this event is required.

About this event’s guests:

Mariana Enríquez

Ingrid Bejerman

Read more:

Our Share of Night

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

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Note: This is an in-person event at The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, the premiere event space for Toronto Public Library's cultural and heritage programming located on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Arrive early, meet people. The talk starts at 7pm, but doors open at 6pm. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. As with all Appel Salon events, we'll have a bar with a selection of beer and wine, as well as snacks, available to purchase (only debit and credit cards accepted).

R eminder! We oversell these events to make sure that the most people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are only guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show starts, at which point we will start opening up available spots to the rush line.

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Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry joins us virtually to discuss her highly anticipated and shimmering new novel.

In Funny Story, we meet newly single Daphne, whose fiancé, Peter, just realized he is actually in love with his childhood best friend, Petra. Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian, Daphne proposes to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

Emily Henry speaks with Jessica Allen, correspondent for CTV's The Social, about Funny Story, a joyful novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.

Important information for accessing this live virtual event:

• You must register for a free ticket via Eventbrite to gain access to this event. Space is limited.
• This event will be presented in a Zoom Webinar. Once registered, you will receive reminder emails from both Zoom and Eventbrite with links and instructions to access your unique Zoom Webinar link to watch this event.
• At the time of the event, you must be signed in to Zoom or Eventbrite with the same email address that you used to book your ticket in order to access your unique event link. Unique event links can only be open on one device at a time.

About this event’s guests:

Emily Henry

Jessica Allen

Read more:

Funny Story

Happy Place

Book Lovers

People We Meet on Vacation

Beach Read

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

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Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Presented in partnership with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, acclaimed artist and illustrator Maurice Vellekoop visits the Toronto Reference Library to discuss his new book, I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together. This graphic memoir tells the epic story of an aspiring queer illustrator surviving an intensely Christian family, coming of age and coming out in 1980s Toronto, becoming a successful artist and the long process of coming to terms with the traumas of childhood.

Meet little Maurice Vellekoop, the youngest of four children raised by Dutch immigrants in 1970s Etobicoke. The Vellekoops are devoted to art, music, and film, and they instill a deep reverence for the arts in young Maurice—except for literature. He’d rather watch Cher and Carol Burnett on TV than read a book. He also loves playing with his girlfriends’ Barbies and helping his Mum in her basement hair salon. In short, he is really, really gay.

Vellekoop struggles with intolerance at home and at school until he finds a welcoming community of bohemians at the Ontario College of Art, including a brilliant, flamboyantly gay professor who encourages him to come out. But just as he’s dipping his toes into the waters of gay sex and love, a series of disasters set him back. Maurice retreats to the safety of childhood obsessions, seeking to meet his emotional needs through film- and theatre-going, music, boozy self-medication, and prolific art-making. When these tactics inevitably fail, Vellekoop at last embarks on a journey of self-discovery. In therapy, a spiderweb of family, faith, guilt, and sexuality at last begins to untangle.

Author Maurice Vellekeep is joined by journalist Rachel Giese to discuss this enthralling portrait of what it means to be true to yourself, to learn to forgive, and to be an artist.

Q&A and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on April 18 at 9:00am ET.

About this event’s guests:

Maurice Vellekoop

Rachel Giese

Read more:

I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together

Boys: What It Means to Become a Man

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

In partnership with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Note: This is an in-person event located in the Jack Rabinovitch Reading Room on the fourth floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Arrive early, meet people. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends.

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Bestselling author Claire Messud visits the Toronto Reference Library Atrium to discuss her new novel, This Strange Eventful History, an immersive story of a family born on the wrong side of history.

Over seven decades, from 1940 to 2010, the pieds-noirs Cassars live in an itinerant state—separated in the chaos of World War II, running from a complicated colonial homeland, and, after Algerian independence, without a homeland at all. This Strange Eventful History, told with historical sweep, is above all a family story: of patriarch Gaston and his wife Lucienne, whose myth of perfect love sustains them and stifles their children; of François and Denise, devoted siblings connected by their family’s strangeness; of François’s union with Barbara, a woman so culturally different they can barely comprehend one another; of Chloe, the result of that union, who believes that telling these buried stories will bring them all peace.

Author Claire Messud will be interviewed by award-winning writer Souvankham Thammavongsa about This Strange Eventful History, an intimate look at the human toll of the social and political upheaval of the recent past.

Q&A and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase. 

Registration for this event is not required. 

About this event’s guests: 

Claire Messud

Souvankham Thammavongsa

Read more:

This Strange Eventful History

The Emperor’s Children

How to Pronounce Knife

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

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Note: This is an in-person event located on the first floor Atrium of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street). Registration is encouraged, but not required.

Arrive early, meet people. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. 

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca. 

The Toronto Chinese Orchestra (TCO) Ensemble performs an exquisite mix of traditional and contemporary works at the North York Central Library Concourse, TPL's new premiere event space for cultural and heritage programming.

Highlighting the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Chinese music, this programme features a range of songs as well as introduction to the instruments and stories behind the music.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on April 24 at 9:00am ET.

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

It is also part of our Asian Heritage series, generously supported by TD Bank Group, through the TD Ready Commitment.

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Note: This is an in-person event at the North York Central Library Concourse, Toronto Public Library’s new premiere event space for cultural and heritage programming located at 5120 Yonge Street (west side of Yonge St, one block north of Sheppard Ave).

Arrive early, meet people. The event starts at 7pm, but doors open at 6pm. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. As with all North York Central Library Concourse events, we'll have a bar with a selection of beer and wine, as well as snacks, available to purchase (only debit and credit cards accepted).

Reminder! We oversell these events to make sure that the greatest number of people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are only guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show starts, at which point we will start opening up available spots to the rush line.

***

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Bestselling author Billy-Ray Belcourt discusses his new collection of intersecting stories about Indigenous love and loneliness.

Across the prairies and Canada’s west coast, on reserves and university campuses, at literary festivals and existential crossroads, the characters in Coexistence are searching for connection. They’re learning to live with and understand one another, to see beauty and terror side by side, and to accept that the past, present, and future can inhabit a single moment.

An aging mother confides in her son about an intimate friendship from her distant girlhood. A middling poet is haunted by the cliché his life has become. A chorus of anonymous gay men dispense unvarnished truths about their sex lives. A man freshly released from prison finds that life on the outside has sinister strictures of its own. A PhD student dog-sits for his parents at what was once a lodging for nuns operating a residential school—a house where the spectre of Catholicism comes to feel eerily literal.

Billy-Ray Belcourt speaks with author and educator Jeffrey Ansloos about Coexistence, a crystalline, emotionally potent collection of stories.

Q&A and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on April 30 at 9:00am ET.

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

It is also part of our Indigenous Celebrations series, generously supported by TD Bank Group, through the TD Ready Commitment.

***

Note: This is an in-person event at The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, the premiere event space for Toronto Public Library's cultural and heritage programming located on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Arrive early, meet people. The talk starts at 7pm, but doors open at 6pm. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. As with all Appel Salon events, we'll have a bar with a selection of beer and wine, as well as snacks, available to purchase (only debit and credit cards accepted).

Reminder! We oversell these events to make sure that the greatest number of people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are only guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show starts, at which point we will start opening up available spots to the rush line.

***

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, leader of the Liberal Jewish Movement of France, shares stories from her new book, an exploration of loss, mourning, and consolation informed by her work caring for the dying and their loved ones. Hosted by Toronto Public Library in Zoom Webinar.

From Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to Elsa Cayat, the psychologist and Charlie Hebdo columnist killed in the 2015 terrorist attack. From Myriam, a New Yorker obsessed with planning her own funeral, to the author’s friend Ariane and her struggle with terminal illness. Horvilleur writes about public figures and ordinary people alike, describing their encounters with death and dying with intelligence, humor, and compassion.

Rabbi Horvilleur speaks with Rabbi Lisa Grushcow (Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Montreal) about Living with Our Dead, a timely, powerful reflection on our relationship to death and an invitation to accept loss and vulnerability as essential and enriching parts of life.

Q&A to follow.

Important information for accessing this live virtual event:

• You must register for a free ticket via Eventbrite to gain access to this event. Tickets available May 2, 2024 at 9:00 AM
• This event will be presented in a Zoom Webinar. Once registered, you will receive reminder emails from both Zoom and Eventbrite with links and instructions to access your unique Zoom Webinar link to watch this event.
• At the time of the event, you must be signed in to Zoom or Eventbrite with the same email address that you used to book your ticket in order to access your unique event link.

About this event’s guests:

Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur

Rabbi Lisa Grushcow

Read more:

Living with Our Dead: On Loss and Consolation

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This event is part of our new Jewish Heritage programming series, presented in partnership with the Miles Nadal JCC.

This series represents the first of two new heritage series, along with Islamic Heritage (coming this fall). These series, alongside our established Black History, Asian Heritage, and Indigenous Celebrations series, aim to showcase the rich tapestry of cultures that make up our city.

By providing a platform for learning, discussion, and celebration, we hope to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the Jewish and Islamic communities' invaluable contributions to our shared history and identity.

Join us in celebrating the diversity that strengthens our community and makes our city a more vibrant and inclusive place for all.

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This event is also part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

This event is possible with the support of the French consulate in Toronto.

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Writer and podcaster Rob Harvilla visits the Appel Salon to regale music lovers with tales from his new book 60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s, a companion to the #1 music podcast on Spotify.

The 1990s were a chaotic and gritty and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 Songs that Explain the ‘90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations.

Rob Harvilla will be interviewed by CBC Radio's Elamin Abdelmahmoud about the bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.

Q&A and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on May 8 at 9:00am ET.

About this event’s guests:

Rob Harvilla

Elamin Abdelmahmoud

Read more:

60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s

Son of Elsewhere

The Podcast:

60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

**

Note: This is an in-person event at The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, the premiere event space for Toronto Public Library's cultural and heritage programming located on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Arrive early, meet people. The talk starts at 7 pm, but doors open at 6 pm. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. As with all Appel Salon events, we'll have a bar with a selection of beer and wine, as well as snacks, available to purchase (only debit and credit cards accepted).

Reminder! We oversell these events to make sure that the most people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are only guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show starts, at which point we will start opening up available spots to the rush line.

**

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Tommy Orange, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist and American Book Award-winning novel There There, discusses Wandering Stars, his follow-up novel tracing the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Redfeather’s shooting in There There.

Colorado, 1864. Star, a young survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre, is brought to the Fort Marion Prison Castle, where he is forced to learn English and practice Christianity by Richard Henry Pratt, an evangelical prison guard who will go on to found the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians, an institution dedicated to the eradication of Native history, culture, and identity. A generation later, Star’s son, Charles, is sent to the school, where he is brutalized by the man who was once his father’s jailer. Under Pratt’s harsh treatment, Charles clings to moments he shares with a young fellow student, Opal Viola, as the two envision a future away from the institutional violence that follows their bloodline.

Oakland, 2018. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield is barely holding her family together after the shooting that nearly took the life of her nephew Orvil. From the moment he awakens in his hospital bed, Orvil begins compulsively googling school shootings on YouTube. He also becomes emotionally reliant on the prescription medications meant to ease his physical trauma. His younger brother Lony, suffering from PTSD, is struggling to make sense of the carnage he witnessed at the shooting by secretly cutting himself and enacting blood rituals which he hopes will connect him to his Cheyenne heritage. Opal is equally adrift, experimenting with Ceremony and peyote, searching for a way to heal her wounded family.

Tommy Orange speaks with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, host of CBC Radio's Commotion, about Wandering Stars, a story that is by turns shattering and wondrous.

Q&A and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on May 14 at 9:00am ET.

***

This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

It is also part of our Indigenous Celebrations series, generously supported by TD Bank Group, through the TD Ready Commitment.

***

Note: This is an in-person event at The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, the premiere event space for Toronto Public Library's cultural and heritage programming located on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Arrive early, meet people. The talk starts at 7pm, but doors open at 6pm. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. As with all Appel Salon events, we'll have a bar with a selection of beer and wine, as well as snacks, available to purchase (only debit and credit cards accepted).

Reminder! We oversell these events to make sure that the most people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are only guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show starts, at which point we will start opening up available spots to the rush line.

***

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Journalist and podcast host June Thomas discusses her new book, A Place of Our Own, a deeply researched and highly readable cultural history of queer women’s lives in the second half of the twentieth century, told through six iconic spaces. 

For as long as queer women have existed, they’ve created gathering grounds where they can be themselves. From the intimate darkness of the lesbian bar to the sweaty camaraderie of the softball field, these spaces aren’t a luxury—they’re a necessity for queer women defining their identities. A Place of Our Own invites readers into six iconic lesbian spaces over the course of the last sixty years, including the rural commune, the sex toy boutique, the vacation spot, and the feminist bookstore.

Author June Thomas speaks with writer, broadcaster, and community animator Jane Farrow about about the business owners, entrepreneurs, activists, and dreamers who shaped the long struggle for queer liberation, and what is gained and lost in the shift from the exclusive, tight-knit women’s spaces of the ’70s toward today’s more inclusive yet more diffuse LGBTQ+ communities.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on May 15 at 9:00am ET.

Important information for accessing this live virtual event:

• You must register for a free ticket via Eventbrite to gain access to this event.
• This event will be presented in a Zoom Webinar. Once registered, you will receive reminder emails from both Zoom and Eventbrite with links and instructions to access your unique Zoom Webinar link to watch this event.
• At the time of the event, you must be signed in to Zoom or Eventbrite with the same email address that you used to book your ticket in order to access your unique event link.

About this event’s guests:

June Thomas

Jane Farrow

Read more:

A Place of Our Own

***

This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

***

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.