Chiaroscuro Event: Cory Doctorow Comes To Town

The Chiaroscuro Reading Series' event consisted of authors David Nickle and Cory Doctorow.  Ken Schroeder was supposed to read as well, but was ill and couldn't make it.  The readings were great, followed by short Q&A sessions.  I particularly liked Cory Doctorow's response to a question about why so much science fiction written nowadays is focused on near future rather than far future.  He said something along the lines of science fiction being less about predicting the future and more about explaining the fears of the people of the period the books were written.  And we're certainly afraid of technological abuses on one hand and curtailed freedoms on the other (dystopian fiction anyone?).

All in all, it was a fun evening.

Their next event, The Robs Take Toronto, is Tuesday April 12th.

Chiaroscuro Reading Series: Bakka To the Future

I wasn't supposed to make this event, but a co-worker asked for my shift, so...

The reading took place at Augusta House, which you'd be excused for missing when walking down the street.  It's a small door with a red sign over it near Dundas St.  The door leads to a stairwell, and a dark but pleasantly atmospheric bar.

The price for pop was a prohibitive $2.50, but their appetizers (priced at $5 and $6) were tasty and came in relatively large servings (I had the spring rolls, which were meat filled and came with a delightfully spicy dipping sauce).  Beer, for the drinkers out there, was $4.

The event planners hosted several draws, for Bakka-Phoenix gift certificates, book bags and one Ad-Astra pass.  In order to help cover costs for the readings, they also passed around a donation box.

The readings themselves were excellent.  Forgive the graininess of the photos.  The room was very dark and I didn't want to disturb people by using a flash.  I took a few video clips, but they're dark and jiggly, so I'm not posting any.  The people running the event had a video camera well placed to record the readings (without people walking in front, etc.).  Click on the author's name to see the video of their reading on the Chiaroscuro site.

The photos show: Leah Bobet, Michelle Sagara, Robert J. Sawyer and Ed Greenwood.

 

Ultimately it was a great event.  If you're in Toronto, check out their next event, Sunday March 6th, 8-11 (and the readings go all the way to 11, so don't expect to see everything if you need to leave early) when Cory Doctorow Comes to Town and reads with David Nickle and Karl Schroeder.

ChiZine Publications Starts Monthly Reading Series in Toronto

The Chiaroscuro reading series, sponsored by CZP, runs the second Tuesday of the month, normally at the Augusta House (125 Augusta Ave.) in Toronto.

Their mandate:

at the Augusta House

152 Augusta Avenue, 2nd Floor

(link to google map? or jpeg of google map?)

Toronto, ONery available between 21-24 of this month

 Emerging from early magic realism, mythology and fable, from the work of science fiction authors who cut their teeth during the 1950’s golden age of pulp science fiction, and from the disturbing literary forays of horror writers inspired by Shelley, Poe, and Stoker, Canadian speculative fiction has begun to move in strange and provocative new directions, becoming something altogether different from its American counterpart and wholly itself. 

 We believe that Canadian authors may well prove to be the kind of rejuvenating force necessary to revitalize the “pulp” genres of fantasy, science fiction and horror writing.  As Canadian publications including Neo-Opsis, OnSpec, Ideomancer, Challenging Destiny, the long-running Tesseracts collections, and our own ChiZine Publications become increasingly prominent markets for speculative fiction, we want to establish a dialogue between senior and junior authors, between authors and editors, and between authors and readers in order to encourage the growth of this important literary domain. 

If you're in town, their next event * takes place at Bakka Phoenix Books will be honouring Bakka Phoenix Books (84 Harbord St.) as it features several of their alumni, on Tuesday, February 8th, 8-11pm.  It will still take place at Augusta House.  Here are the authors participating, from the event page on facebook:

ROBERT J SAWYER is one of only seven writers in history (and the only Canadian) to win all three of the science-fiction field's top honors for best novel of the year: the Hugo Award; the Nebula Award; and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

ED GREENWOOD is an award-winning Canadian writer, editor, game designer, columnist, and librarian best known as the creator of The Forgotten Realms® fantasy world. 

LEAH BOBET has a degree in linguistics from the University of Toronto, edits at Ideomancer Speculative Fiction, and moonlights at Bakka-Phoenix Books, Canada's oldest science fiction bookstore.

MICHELLE SAGARA WEST, a 1992 Campbell Award nominee, started her first novel, Into the Dark Lands, in 1986, which was eventually published by Del Rey books at the tail end of 1991. She has also published the House War with DAW and the Chronicles of Elantra.

If you want more information about the reading series or the workships they offer, head on over to their website.

* Thanks to The Quiet One who corrected me on the venue in the comments.