DD Partners with Word on the Street to Produce Literary Scavenger Hunt

Join us on Sunday September 29, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM for an exciting literary scavenger hunt that will lead Torontonians on a journey filled with poetic clues, hidden books, personalized readings, and literary surprises!

With a focus on urban ecology and sustainable neighborhoods, artists and writers will provide the clues for participants to collect on their hunt. Individuals or small groups who complete the challenge can win a book of their choosing from our prize table. Family-friendly, this event promises fun for all ages.

About the Artists:

Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, Ignyte, Bram Stoker, and Nebula Award winner, and Hugo, Astounding, Locus, Aurora, and BFSA Award finalist from Changle, Fujian currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. Her work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, The Masters Review, among others. She is the recipient of Odyssey Workshop’s 2022 Fresh Voices Scholarship and the author of Linghun and I AM AI. The first book of her novella duology, A Palace Near the Wind, is forthcoming 2025 with Titan Books. Find her on X (@AiJiang_), Instagram (@ai.jian.g), and online (http://aijiang.ca). 

Ashley Hasfal is a professional 2D Designer and Comic Artist from Toronto, ON. As a graduate of the Sheridan College Bachelor of Applied Arts Animation program, she trained to hone her craft in 2D TV animation, design and Illustration. Pages of her comic INITIUM were displayed in the Geppi Entertainment Museum as part of the Milestones: African Americans in Comics, Pop Culture and Beyond exhibit in Baltimore, Maryland in 2013. She held a graphic novel masterclass for artists with the Brampton Arts Organization in 2023. In 2021, she ran a graphic novel masterclass with Diaspora Dialogues and was a mentor with Project 10’s Line Up! Youth Comics Arts Mentorship Programme in 2020. Ashley’s current focus in comics is rooted in the supernatural, highlighting Caribbean mythology.

Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named “Best of 2021” by The Walrus. Their film with Opera QTO, Medusa’s Children, premièred 2022.  They have been featured on the CBC’s Q, were the Writer In Residence for Berton House (2023), were long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. Their solo show “No one’s special at the hot dog cart” debuted at Theatre Passe Muraille and is traveling to Peterborough’s Market Hall with Theatre Passe Muraille.

Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio is a Filipina-Canadian community worker, speaker, and founder of Filipino Talks– a program that builds bridges between educators and Filipino families. Her work with newcomers in Toronto’s schools and libraries and as a tour guide in Toronto’s Little Manila inspired her debut novel, Reuniting with Strangers. It was longlisted for Canada Reads, a finalist for the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award, and won the silver medal for multicultural fiction at the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Jennilee is a founding member of Salaysay, a collective of Filipino writers based in Toronto. Reuniting with Strangers is a finalist for the 2024 Toronto Book Awards.

Martin Gomes (he/they) is an Afro/Latino, queer writer & composer born & based in downtown Toronto. Their poetry has allowed them to work with organizations such as CBC, Sony, TOLive, DesignTO, The Meridian Arts Centre, Withrow Common Art Gallery, The Harbourfront Centre, and the TTC in partnership with Poems in Passage. As an artist facilitator, poetry has taken Martin all over the GTA as an Artist Facilitator with organizations like Thrive Youth, Unity Charity, VIBEArts, and JAYU. As a performer, he’s graced stages in Toronto like Bluma Appel Theatre, Soho House, and Nuit Blanche, as well as stages in Ottawa and Lisbon. With their art, he hopes to set an example of authenticity and empathy wherever possible in an attempt to spread messages of loving each other even through all the noise.

Rasiqra Revulva is a disabled queer femme writer, multi-media artist, editor, musician, and performer; developer and co-editor of the Hybrid/Experimental Section at The Ex-Puritan Literary Magazine; and half of the experimental electronic duo The Databats (Slice Records). She has published three sold-out chapbooks of glitch-illustrated and/or augmented poetry: Cephalopography (words(on)pages, 2016), If You Forget the Whipped Cream, You’re No Good As A Woman (Gap Riot Press, 2018), and Sailor, C’est l’heure (The Blasted Tree, 2021). Cephalopography 2.0 (Wolsak & Wynn, 2020), is her award-nominated debut collection.