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BURST:
New Voices in Canadian Literature


Mona Awad, Rebecca Rosenblum & Andrew F. Sullivan


Presented by Emily M. Keeler, Suzanne Alyssa Andrew & Alison Lang


Friday, May 6, 2016
7:00 PM

Hosted by Susan G. Cole


AGO's Jackman Hall
317 Dundas St W, Toronto

Tickets $10 at the door and online here:

Festival Weekend Pass $43 available online:

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UPDATE: Enjoy these video highlights.
Video production by Aaron Mirkin.


Sara Peters



Andrew F. Sullivan


Want to know who's up and coming in Canadian literature? On May 6th, join Pages UnBound at the AGO's Jackman Hall as three of the most trusted literary editors in Toronto present their favourites, reflecting the incredible range of the contemporary Canadian literary landscape.

Emily M. Keeler (Little Brother) presents Mona Awad. Mona's first book, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl (Penguin Canada), grapples with body image, sex, female friendships and more, and has been making waves and garnering praise since its release in February 2016.

Read Emma Komlos-Hrobsky's Tin House interview with Mona Awad here.

Suzanne Alyssa Andrew (Taddle Creek) presents Rebecca Rosenblum. Rebecca's first two books, Once and The Big Dream (both Biblioasis), were innovative and insightful short story collections exploring the lives of young people struggling to make their way into adulthood; her first novel is slated for release in January 2017. Once was launched at This is Not a Reading Series in 2008 when it won Biblioasis' Metcalf-Rooke Award.

Alison Lang (Broken Pencil) presents Andrew F. Sullivan. Andrew's debut short story collection, All We Want Is Everything (Arbeiter Ring), was described as "unnerving, discomfiting and totally original" by Miriam Toews and was a Globe & Mail Best Book in 2013. His first novel, WASTE (Dzanc), released in March 2016, treads similarly bleak territory in the same brilliant voice.

Read David Hobbs' Globe & Mail review of WASTE here.

*Just added!* Sara Peters was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. She completed an MFA at Boston University, and was a 2010-12 Stegner fellow at Stanford. Her work has appeared in Slate, The Threepenny Review, The Poetry Review, The Walrus, and Poetry magazine. Her first book, 1996, was published in 2013 by Anansi. She has lived in Toronto since 2012, and is currently in training to become a psychotherapist.

Emily M. Keeler, portrait.

Emily M. Keeler.

Mona Awad, portrait.

Mona Awad

Emily M. Keeler is a senior editor at The Walrus. She is formerly the Books Editor of the National Post, and her writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Los Angeles Times, Maisonneuve, and Hazlitt. In 2012, Emily founded the award-winning literary magazine Little Brother.

Mona Awad's writing has appeared in McSweeney's, The Walrus, Time Magazine, VICE, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Brown University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing and English Literature from the University of Denver. Her debut novel, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, was released by Penguin Books in February 2016.

Suzanne Alyssa Andrew, portrait.

Suzanne Alyssa Andrew.

Rebecca Rosenblum, portrait.

Rebecca Rosenblum

Suzanne Alyssa Andrew is the author of the novel Circle of Stones, which was published in Spring, 2015 and praised in the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Quill and Quire, The Georgia Straight and the 49th Shelf. She's also the associate editor of the beloved literary journal Taddle Creek, and works as a story director and narrative designer for digital media. She plays bass in an indie rock band for fun.

Rebecca Rosenblum is the author of two collections of short fiction, Once and The Big Dream, the chapbook Road Trips, and the novel So Much Love, which is forthcoming in 2017. Her work has been nominated for the Journey Prize, the National Magazine Award, the Danuta Gleed Award, and the Frank O'Connor Short Story Prize. Rebecca lives, works, and writes in Toronto.

Alison Lang, portrait.

Alison Lang

Andrew F. Sullivan, portrait.

Andrew F. Sullivan

Alison Lang is the editor of Broken Pencil Magazine. She has also written about film, music and books for the Toronto Star, Quill & Quire, THIS Magazine, Rue Morgue, and many others.

Andrew F. Sullivan is from Oshawa, Ontario. He is the author of the novel WASTE, described as a "brutal, mesmeric debut novel" by the Globe and Mail, and the short story collection, All We Want is Everything. Sullivan now makes his home in Toronto. He no longer spends his days handling raw meat, boxed liquor or used video games.

 
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DETAILS & TICKETS

FRI. MAY 6, 2016

Event begins 7:00 PM
Doors open at 6:45 PM

AGO's Jackman Hall
317 Dundas St W, Toronto

Festival Weekend Pass $43 available online: