It's all about books this weekend!

Toronto is a city of books. We have many world-class authors living here, and book lovers who hang on to their every word. This weekend, check out some of the many story-telling events: International Festival of Authors Oct 20 to Oct 30 Harbourfront Centre Now in its 31st year, the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) brings together the best writers of contemporary world literature for 11 days of readings, interviews, lectures, round table discussions, and public book signings each October. For a complete line-up of authors and events, check out the IFOA website. Festival of Oral Literatures Oct 21 to Oct 24 Various Locations A celebation of storm fools, yarnspinners, griots, dub poets, spoken word performers, racounteurs, word-dancers, puppeteers, monologuists, mythtellers, tradition-keepers, elders, wondersmiths, skalds, bards, troubadours, bullshitters, singers of tales, storytellers. For a schedule of events, check out the Festival of Oral Literature website. Reading: Love Marriage/Vasugi Ganeshananthan Oct 22 Oakham Lounge, Ryerson University As part of a spotlight on emerging Sri Lankan Diasporic Writers and Artists, V. V. Ganeshananthan will read from her Orange Prize-nominated novel, Love Marriage. The book's American narrator, Yalini, finds herself navigating the pasts and families of her Sri Lankan immigrant parents--and the personal, communal and cultural politics of Toronto's Tamil diaspora--as she searches out her own future. For more information, check out the event's Facebook page. In Stores: Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self When Danielle Evans's short story "Virgins" was published in The Paris Review in late 2007, it announced the arrival of a bold new voice. Written when she was only twenty-three, Evans's story of two black, blue-collar fifteen-year-old girls' flirtation with adulthood for one night was startling in its pitch-perfect examination of race, class, and the shifting terrain of adolescence. To read an excerpt, check out publisher Penguin Canada's website. In Concert: Amelie Lefebvre Oct 23 Distillery District For more information on the concert, check out the Francophonie En Fete website.