You write a few books, you get to know some people, and October and November can turn into a swirl of book launch and book prize events in Toronto.
So my social calendar for next week is an opportunity to note and promote some worthwhile books and launches (by friends of mine, mostly):
Monday, November 6: At Ben McNally Books, the book launch bookstore for Torontonians, Beth Kaplan launches Mid Life Solo, the most recent in her memoire-fleuve series, a companion/sequel to her All My Loving and Loose Woman. There's a blurb from me on the back cover of this one, because Beth is a terrific writer. Book details here.
Tuesday, November 7, 5:00 to 7:00 pm, downtown,The Osgoode Society for Canadian History, publisher of more than a hundred works of scholarly legal history that have transformed the landscape for legal and constitutional history in Canada, and its members will launch this year's titles. This years books include the lead volume, Essays in the History of Canadian Law Volume 12: New Perspectives on Gender and the Law, edited by Lori Chambers and Joan Sangster; and two others, The Notorious Georges: Crime and Community in British Columbia's Northern Interior, 1909-1925 by Jon Swainger, and The Ontario Bond Scandal of 1924 Re-examined by Ian Kyer. Details here.
And same night at 7 to 9 pm, Ken McGoogan launches his new book, Searching for Franklin, at the funky Transac Club. I'm going to be interviewing Ken as part of that event, which is supported by Adventure Canada, for whom Ken has been an onboard speaker on many Arctic sailings. Details here.
Thursday, November 9, 4 pm- 6pm at the Blackhurst Cultural Centre, Heather Menzies comes to town with a focussed memoir, Meeting My Treaty Kin: A Journey to Reconciliation, an account of what she learned "learning to listen and relate while working with the Nishnaabeg of Stoney Point." Details here.
Tuesday, November 21, at Glenn Gould Theatre, The Writers' Trust hosts us invited literati at its annual Prize Giving: a ton of money for deserving authors in many categories. I do love this event -- and The Trust, even though I've never won a penny of its largesse. Details here.
