The International Festival of Authors and the Toronto Arts Council have teamed up to present Toronto Lit Up, a series of events over the next few months that showcases some of Canada’s brightest poets, authors and novelists.

The initiative will provide Canadian artists with a platform to show off their work while giving fans and readers an opportunity to learn more about Toronto-based authors.

Beginning on March 16, the events will run weekly until June 22 and feature book launches from authors such as Trevor Cole, Claire Cameron and Kerry Clare.

On April 26, award-winning Toronto novelist Barbara Gowdy will be launching her hotly anticipated new book, Little Sister. 

The novel tells the story of a woman who can enter the mind and body of another woman during thunderstorms.

“As women, we all want to know how other people are feeling and what they’re thinking, so I thought that this would be like reading someone else’s diary, only way more intimate,” she says.

Gowdy, who has lived in Toronto’s Cabbagetown area for 19 years, says that she’s thrilled to be celebrating the launch of her latest novel with Toronto Lit Up. 

“It’s good to be able to celebrate the people who helped you, like your editors, your publishing house and your friends,” she says.

Gowdy says that she’s glad the International Festival of Authors and the Toronto Arts Council are presenting the event series because it will engage readers and revive the city’s literary community. 

“It will alert readers to the fact that writers are writing books and that the books are out there. I think it will recharge the literary community, which I’m afraid is slowly eroding to online reading,” she says.