Photo by room929 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. In a literary twist on the current Sex and the City craze, this week the Victory Cafe plays host to Text and the City, a spotlight on four female writers as part of the Fictionista Reading Series. Shari Lapeña, Dede Crane, Linda Leith, and Laura Lush will each grace the upstairs stage this Thursday starting at 7:00 p.m., and we're told that unlike their Sex and......

Photo by king_frankenstein. Graphic novel and comic book geeks rejoice—this is your week! Tonight acclaimed Norwegian cartoonist Jason comes to Toronto to launch his new work Pocket Full of Rain. Popular Annex comic shop The Beguiling will be hosting this free event at its neighbour, The Central (603 Markham Street), tonight at 8:00 p.m. Not only that, but next Wednesday The Beguiling will also partner with The Toronto Public Library and The Merril Collection......

Photo by kygp. Tonight the seven finalists for the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize will be reading at the MacMillan Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the reading are completely sold out, so instead you'll have to settle for a copy of the anthology to get close to the nominees. The Canadian shortlist includes David McFadden and Nicole Brossard, and can be found here. The winners, who each receive $50,000, will be announced on Wednesday......

Photo of Emily Schultz from her website. The 21st annual Trillium Book Award shortlist was announced last Friday morning. The six English-language finalists include Barbara Gowdy's Helpless, Gil Adamson’s The Outlander, Robert Hough’s The Culprits, and Dennis Lee’s Yesno. Local indie poet (and Torontoist fave) Emily Schultz is up for the $10,000 English language poetry prize for her collection Songs for the Dancing Chicken. All the nominees will come together for a free public......

Photo detail of Shary Boyle's Ouroboros, courtesy of Conundrum Press. This week artist Shary Boyle will be making an appearance at David Mirvish Books to promote her recent Conundrum Press release, Otherworld Uprising. The book, which features full-colour reproductions of Boyle’s recent series of porcelain figurines, also includes a fiction contribution from Toronto's Sheila Heti (who has been getting some stateside press recently for collecting the presidential dreams of Americans). Boyle will be signing......

Photo of Tony Dekker by Trinh Nguyen This week the Music Gallery, Carl Wilson, and a handful of musicians/composers want you to celebrate concrete. Paying homage to the iconic concrete architecture that sprout in Toronto between 1950 and 1970 (and to Michael McClelland and Graeme Stewart's book Concrete Toronto), such musicians as Tony Dekker (Great Lake Swimmers), Sandro Perri (Polmo Polpo, Glissandro 70, ex-Great Lake Swimmer), and Knurl (noise artist Alan Bloor) will perform......

Photo by raveneye | José. This week Toronto's favourite literary voyeur, Julie Wilson, relaunches her Seen Reading site, giving her very entertaining habit of spying on readers a whole new look. The biggest new feature is a podcast for every entry—lit geeks can listen to Julie while on transit, sitting beside someone who’s reading on transit, while listening to Julie talk about someone who’s reading on transit. As Julie herself said to Torontoist, "Very......

Photo of Tyr Jami and Todd MacDonald of The Winks by Jasa Baka Vancouver-born, Montreal-settled The Winks will be passing through Toronto this Sunday, May 18 (with Vancouver's Secret Mommy Quintet) at Sneaky Dee's. The cello- and mandolin-fused band welcomed 2008 with the end of a "63 shows in 71 days" tour of North America to promote the release of their EP Chours Girls, and this coming Toronto stop is one of many on......

Photo by petite corneille. Torontoist's lit pick this week? On Thursday award-winning Winnipeg author Chandra Mayor is in town to launch her short story collection, All The Pretty Girls, at Toronto Women's Bookstore. The evening is a bonus triple bill, as Mayor will be joined by two local femme favourites—Debra Anderson (Code White), and Zoe Whittall (Bottle Rocket Hearts). Rumour has it Whittall will be reading from a draft of her latest, currently untitled......

It’s been a while since the Okay Player collective have celebrated a release for anyone other than The Roots (yes, they just released their 10th full-length Rising Down last week, yes that is worthy of celebration). But this year, the collective is also celebrating Erykah Badu. After a 5 year hiatus following the release of a very underwhelming Worldwide Undergroud, the release of New Amerykah (part one of two EPs—the other scheduled to be released......

Photo by micgormit from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. This week internationally acclaimed author Maggie Helwig launches her new novel Girls Fall Down (Coach House Books) at the Toronto Women's Bookstore (73 Harbord Street). Torontoist is always happy to see local writers using Toronto as a setting for novels, and Helwig doesn't disappoint. In her rendering, a biological outbreak on the TTC sends the city into a panic, as stricken citizens are collapsing in subways......

On a dim fall evening last September, Neil Haverty (guitarist/vocalist of local alt-gospel collective Bruce Peninsula) peered thankfully ahead at the Tranzac’s seated crowd. With utter honesty he acknowledged how honoured he felt to be opening that evening for headliner Mike Feuerstack of Snailhouse, as he recalled an important time in his life when he incessantly listened to the Wooden Stars. This sort of admirable sentiment is often associated with Mike Feuerstack, for whom Sappy......

Photo by gp0256 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. If great female writers is what you're after this week, you're in luck. Tonight you can catch the always entertaining and edgy poetry of Tara-Michelle Ziniuk (Emergency Contact) at The Art Bar Poetry Series. Rumour has it that she'll be publishing her next collection, tentatively titled Somewhere To Run From, with Tightrope Books in spring 2009. The writer, performer, and activist will be joined by Sharon......

Summer's concert season is well on its way, folks! This week a handful of exciting dates were announced, including Montreal's orchestral pop collective Islands, who play on May 29 at the Phoenix, Retribution Gospel Choir (side project for Alan Sparhawk of Low), who will be at the Rivoli on June 21, and West Coast experimental veterans Frog Eyes, who play at the Horseshoe on June 23—get your tickets early! As for this week, young folk......

Truckloads of hype have preceded the arrival of Philadelphia’s Man Man at Lee’s Palace this evening. With heavy comparisons to the spirit of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa, and a show repertoire that includes opening for Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, the six-man (man) band have inevitably entered the zone of high expectation. The Toronto stop is included in their thorough North American tour (most recently selling out New York, Philadelphia and Boston dates), and......

Since its opening last October, Wrongbar has been a blessing to the Parkdale area. This Friday, it'll be hosting the second edition of the Stone's Throw Move Toronto party. The respected California indie hip hop and funk label will be sending off one of its biggest stars as Madlib spins a set. One half of Madvillian and Jaylib, Madlib also releases records under his Quasimoto guise. He will be joined by label mates Egon and......

Photo by Tom (hmm a rosa tint). Get ready for an overload of launches—spring has finally sprung in the book world. Things certainly start off right as tomorrow Coach House Books hosts their spring launch at Stones Place. As far as book parties go, Coach House has a real knack for showing revelers a real good time. The evening will feature performances by writers from their current catalogue, including Maggie Helwig, Claudia Dey, Jordan......

This week's listings offer quite the myriad of options for all you concert-goers, from Nada Surf at the Opera House this evening to the Music Gallery's fundraiser with Swedish sweetheart Jens Lekman, Final Fantasy, and Katie Stelmanis tomorrow at the Great Hall. Wednesday, April 9 offers both The Dodos at El Mocambo and a sold-out New Pornographers/Okkervil River show at the Phoenix. Pas Chic Chic (a French side project from members of Godspeed! You Black......

Photo from The Chameleon Project. Local livetronica trio Chameleon Project celebrate their sophomore album ...if it takes all night with a two set-show at Revival on Friday. The instrumental group has undergone a number of changes since releasing their debut Stereoscopic five years ago. The new record features a stripped down sound and smooth guitar tones, which isn't surprising since their guitarist threw a Yacht Rock–themed party last year. Joining the group will be......

Photo by blimpa. A welcome literary sign of spring is National Poetry Month, a country-wide event that kicked off locally this morning with a shindig at Ben McNally Books featuring Poet Laureate for Canada, John Steffler. Until the end of April Toronto will see a wide variety of events and readings, each devoted to celebrating the cultural value of poetry. The first poetry event of note is this Wednesday's NicholBack, an ingeniously titled tribute......

Photo of David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors by David Topping. Perhaps it’s old news that Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors are playing Toronto again. The band was attached to Grizzly Bear's leg like a dryer sheet for a few years, opening most of their Toronto gigs, and they recently played Sneaky Dee’s last August to precede the release of their third full-length, Rise Above (an ode to Black Flag’s Damaged). But with said album bolted to......

A historic tour rolls into town this Wednesday, as Jay-Z and Mary J Blige bring their Heart of the City co-venture to the ACC. Since 1996, Jigga has released ten studio albums, two collaborations with R. Kelly, a mash-up album with Linkin Park, and an MTV Unplugged with The Roots. He also managed to squeeze in a three-year retirement, during which he served as Def Jam president. When no major labels would sign him, he......

The fantastic Ibi Kaslik is back with a follow-up to her stunning debut novel, Skinny (a book that cracked the New York Times best sellers list for two consecutive weeks earlier this year—no small feat for a young Canadian writer). Kaslik's latest offering, The Angel Riots (Penguin Books), is the fictional chronicle of two up-and-coming Montreal bands, and speculation has already surfaced that the author (who, while in high school, was in a band with......

This week's listings are definitely some of the most exciting in months! Obvious recommendations include Why? who play at the Silver Dollar on March 27; Basia Bulat, who plays Lee’s Palace on March 29; Owen, who plays El Mocambo on March 27; and The Roots, who play the Kool Haus on March 30. But those are shows that you probably already have tickets for. What you may not be so prepared for this week is......

Eric Warner has done it again! The man behind such endearing stories of booking concerts while still under-age, running an incredible independent label that just won’t stop, and being a soldier through those good ol’ days of Viking Club and Dollarama has just announced an ambitious lineup for this year’s Over The Top Festival. Equal parts film and music (with a hint of theatre), the festival spans five days from April 30 to May......

Photo by Jonathan Ponce from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's a bit of a slow week on Toronto's literary event calendar, as most publishers are in the final, frantic phases of producing their new spring catalogues. Enjoy your rest now, because things are going to get real busy come April. Having said that, there are a few gems for book lovers to attend before the snow finally melts and a packed schedule of spring......

This week Musicologist wants you to meet Sing Leaf. This orchestral/experimental-folk sextet combines intricate pieces of woven sounds ranging from airy flute to a reversed loop of acoustic guitar to sparse banjo overtop of minimalist electronic bases. Their sound is warm and sincere, and offers promising comparisons to many of the ripened initiatives in similar genres (Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, for example). Sing Leaf play at a much-anticipated......

Panel from Emily Pohl-Weary and Willow Dawson's Violet Miranda: Girl Pirate #4, courtesy of Willow Dawson. Ten weeks of fantastic, free writing workshops have just been announced as part of the Parkdale Street Writers program. Coordinated by the multi-talented poet, YA author, and Kiss Machine founder Emily Pohl-Weary, the workshops start April 1 and are led by some kick-ass local writers and artists, including Mariko Tamaki, Willow Dawson, and Kristyn Dunnion. You don’t have......

Torontoist is ahead of the game for previewing some of the best music choices this week (Queen West fire benefit, Forest City Lovers' CD release) but Musicologist will give you one more recommendation—just for kicks. When UK’s Field Music announced a (begrudged) break last year, who knew David Brewis would be in Toronto playing a show under a different name and clean ethos so quickly? School of Language and their debut LP Sea From Shore......

Photo of Julie Wilson, courtesy of Julie Wilson. Julie Wilson has become a favourite in literary entertainment over the past few years. Since 2006, her popular blog Seen Reading has been keeping Toronto book geeks amused by tracking the city's public reading habits. The concept is both simple and ingenious—Wilson spots a stranger reading, guesses where they are in the book, transcribes the passage onto her blog, and then lets her imagination run wild.......