Toronto | The Word On The Street

Welcome to The Word On The Street

Families will find fun on KidStreet, food lovers will discover great eats at our Cooks 'n' Books Stage and World Food Market, book lovers can meet authors and buy the latest fall books while magazine junkies can get lost in Magazine Mews.

We are currently updating our website with all the happenings at this year's 21st festival! Have a browse through our What's On section to see programming line-ups, read up on all your favourite authors attending this year in the Authors section, and make sure to check out all of our amazing exhibitors in the Marketplace. It's going to be a busy and fun festival day!

What's On The Street?

The 21st festival is shaping up to be a great one!

Our headlining author this year, Man Booker Prize award-winning author Yann Martel, is flying in from Saskatoon especially for the festival to read from his new book Beatrice and Virgil. We are so excited to have him at our festival this year! He'll be gracing our Scotiabank Giller Prize Bestsellers Stage at 4:00pm, make sure to pencil him in.

We are also lucky to have three, I repeat, THREE new stages this year. Random House Canada Ltd. and McClelland & Stewart have their own programming venue this year, The Remarkable Reads Tent, where they will showcase some of your favourite, and soon-to-be favourite, authors. Penguin Group (Canada) is also joining us in the park to celebrate their 75th birthday this year. Make sure to check out their tent Penguin: Celebrating 75 Years to wish them a happy 75th, and see some of their great authors! Lastly, we are also introducing the Digital Drive stage this year, where some of Canada's most tech-savvy individuals will discuss how Canada's publishing industry is transitioning into the digital age.

Some of your favourite tents are also coming back this year! The Great Books Marquee, the Wordshop Marquee, the Toronto Star Tent, Canadian Magazines tent and more. Make sure to check out their star-studded line-ups in our What's On section.

Marketplace

Books
Magazines
Small Presses
Independent Authors
Kids Books
Literacy

The Word On The Street's Exhibitor Marketplace offers festival-goers a window into the Canadian lit scene, presenting everything from the largest publishing house to the smallest niche magazine and everything in between. We also feature a World Food Market at various locations throughout the festival. Return to this site often for updated exhibitor lists and find out the special offers they have just for you.

Family Fun

We aim to offer tons of events for families to do at The Word On The Street! KidStreet is a special area of the park anchored by the exciting programming at the TVO Kids Stage. Grab a bite to eat, sit down at a picnic table and enjoy the show. Or attend an interactive reading at one of our children's reading and activity tents. One quarter of the attendees at the festival come as part of a family unit, and we make the event as family-friendly as possible with lots of washrooms, a Tiny Tot Change Tent, lots of food choices and exhibitors specializing in books that will engage readers of all ages.

Celebrate Literacy

We are happy to welcome S.T.E.L.L.A.A. to Literacy Lane this year! Make room on your bookshelves for this year's new releases by helping S.T.E.L.L.A.A. fill a 28-ft truck with books! Since 2007, S.T.E.L.L.A.A. has collected over 100,000 books and educational resources and shipped two 40-foot containers of books to Africa to promote literacy to the children and adults of Africa. They hope to one day collect enough books to open up their very own S.T.E.L.L.A.A. library and Education Centre! Help S.T.E.L.L.A.A. acheive these goals by donating used books at The Word On The Street! They are interested in hardcover textbooks primary to post-secondary level, fiction and non-fiction children and adult books, reference books, National Geographics and academic journals, and school supplies! Donation bins will be placed at each of our Information Booths. Click here for more information about S.T.E.L.L.A.A.

New to the festival this year is the Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy (MTML) Story Path! MTML is Toronto and York's regional network of people and organizations concerned about adult literacy. Their many services include the Literacy Access Network hotline, literacy tutor training, and a unique annual Learners' Conference where adult literacy learners can gather and learn together. Walk through their Story Path and rediscover the gift of literacy. Find the secret clue hidden in the words, and you are one step closer to winning the Literary Scavenger Hunt.

We are happy to see the launch of ABC Life Literacy's literacy initiative, Good Reads at the festival! It's an exciting new book series created especially for adult literacy learners, with books by well-known Canadian authors such as Joseph Boyden, Marina Endicott and Gail Vaz-Oxlade. The series premieres with six books being released in September, including Shipwreck by Maureen Jennings who is appearing on our Great Books Marquee Stage at 2:15 to discuss the series and read from her new book. ABC Life Literacy is a non-profit organization that inspires Canadians to increase their literacy skills. They created this series to ensure adult literacy learners have fun, engaging and original Canadian books available at a reading level accessible to them in order to truly cultivate a love of reading. Join us at the festival to celebrate such a worthy cause!