Diaspora Dialogues

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Lexicon

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Are you ready for a full night of contemporary art from sunset to sunrise? DD’s pleased to announce that we will be participating in this year’s Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. Our installation Lexicon invites audiences to create a special vocabulary that evokes the city that we live in through poetry using a specially selected list of words taken from our anthology series TOK.

Participants will get a chance to contribute their work, read others’ works, as well as see it all come to life throughout the night as artists perform original pieces that include improv, spoken word and music.

When: October 5-6; 7 pm–7 am
Where: Metropolitan United Church, 56 Queen Street East
Cost: Free!

The Poet’s Dinner Party

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Have you ever wanted to attend a dinner party with some of Toronto’s most innovative poets? Share a glass of prosecco and debate the merits of lyric poetry or the perfect line break? DD would like to invite you to be a guest at the Poet’s Dinner Party, a special intimate dinner series featuring readings, performances and moderated conversations with some of the city’s most creative people. Each night guests will also be entertained by a live acoustic performance by Jarek Dabrowski.

When: Thursday, September 26; doors open at 6:30 pm
Who: Sara Peters and Hoa Nguyen, moderated by Meaghan Strimas.
Where: Grano restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street
Cost: $50; includes dinner, a book and glass of prosecco

When: Thursday, October 10; doors open at 6:30 pm
Who: Ann Shin and Linda Besner, moderated by Dani Couture.
Where: Grano restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street
Cost: $50; includes dinner, a book and glass of prosecco

When: Thursday, November 7; doors open at 6:30 pm
Who: Ian Williams and Michael Lista, moderated by Damian Rogers.
Where: Grano restaurant, 2035 Yonge Street
Cost: $50; includes dinner, a book and glass of prosecco

Why not attend all three dinners for $120? (That’s a 20% savings and priceless conversations and merriment!)

To purchase tickets online for September 26, click here or October 10, click here or November 7, click here, or even better yet, for all three evenings click here.

Hope to see you there!

Media partner

DD at Word on the Street

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This September, we will be returning to the Word on the Street festival in Queen’s Park. Join us under the City of Toronto tent as up-and-coming writers share their work, as well as performances by renowned spoken word artists.

Hosted by Dalton Higgins, swing by to hear readings from Becky Blake and Sanjay Talreja and enjoy performances by a couple of Toronto’s finest: Sheri-D Wilson and Greg Frankson a.k.a. Ritallin.

When: Sunday, September 22
Time: 2-3:30 pm
Where: Queen’s Park; City of Toronto tent

Check out the shortlisted authors of the Toronto Book Awards, who will also be sharing the tent with us, here.

Young Writers from the Edge Showcase

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Move over, Shakespeare. Toronto’s next generation of writers has arrived—and you’re invited! After weeks of intensive writing workshops, these best and brightest will be coming together to present their stories, poetry, and drama, alongside the amazing mentors they’ve been working with. Join us on Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27 to hear their work and help them celebrate!

When: Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Who: Young Writers From The Malvern Edge
Featuring students from Blessed Mother Teresa CSS, plus mentor Marcia Johnson.
Time: 6 p.m.
Where: Blessed Mother Teresa CSS cafeteria, 40 Sewells Road
Cost: Free!

When: Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Who: Young Writers From The Edge West
Featuring students from Father John Redmond CSS and Monsignor Percy Johnson CSS. Plus mentors Catherine Graham, Moez Surani, Anne-Marie Woods, and Andrea Thompson.
Time: 6 p.m.
Where: Father John Redmond CSS—Ken Cox Cafeteria, 28 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive
Cost: Free!

Markham Tales

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Come take a walk with us down memory lane on Main Street, Unionville, as tales from the past come to life right before your eyes. Performed by professional actors and musicians in collaboration with the community, this site-specific spectacle will travel through time and lead us into the future of this storied street.

Meet us at the Unionville Millenium Bandstand to take the tour, and then join us for a FREE panel discussion and reception at the Varley Art Gallery! The panel discussion will feature visual artist Xiaojing Yan, poet Sheniz Janmohamed, and other cultural community leaders.

When: Sunday, February 24
Time: Theatrical promenade performance begins at 2 pm; Panel discussion & reception begins a 3:15 pm
Where: Main Street, Unionville
Cost: Tour: $15 general admission, $10 students & seniors. Panel discussion: FREE

Tickets are limited, reserve your spot here.

Download and listen to an audio clip for a sneak peek here.

Markham Tales originally created by FIXT POINT for Diaspora Dialogues, written by Lisa Marie DiLiberto.

Urban Underground

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DD is once again excited to be a part of this year’s Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. The uniquely themed art exhibit entitled Urban Underground, will turn the walls of a portion of Toronto’s popular PATH into the canvas for a series of curated, photo-journalistic images that embody the literal layers of Toronto and what lies underneath the surface of the city. An audio installation will accompany the images presenting a collection of stories and poetry for the audience to imagine the past and present day inner workings of the urban underground world.

Join us, as we pose questions asking: what does one generation layer on top of another, and what is in the soot that remains when the demography shifts? How do city dwellings change with the expansion of underground spaces?

When: Saturday, September 29
Time: 7 pm—7 am
Where: PATH, Simcoe Place, 200 Front Street West

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is a signature event produced by the City of Toronto.

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