Diaspora Dialogues: Launch of TOK Book 3

Toronto leads the world as one of its most ethnically varied cities. That reality is reflected in the new fiction, poetry and drama commissioned and presented by Diaspora Dialogues, an organization dedicated to building artistic and literary bridges between the city's many cultures.

Luminato is proud to partner with Diaspora Dialogues in launching TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 3, the third installment of an anthology celebrating the diverse voices of the city in short stories, plays and spoken-word poetry. The launch event is a star-studded literary cabaret, showcasing new work from Giller nominee Alissa York (Effigy); American Library Association Alex Award winner Judy Fong Bates (Midnight at the Dragon Café); award-winning playwright and poet Daniel David Moses (Almighty Voice and His Wife); spoken-word performer and musician Shauntay Grant; and playwright Yvette Nolan, Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. The evening will also showcase debut work from two emerging Toronto writers and a performance featuring the salsa rhythms of vocalist Lady Son (a.k.a. Yeti Ajasin) and her Latin fusion band Articulo Veinte.

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Judy Fong Bates came to Canada from China as a young girl and grew up in several small Ontario towns. Her first book, China Dog and other Stories, was a Barnes and Nobles Discover Great New Authors selection. Judy's first novel, Midnight at the Dragon Café, was published to great acclaim in Canada and the United States. Midnight at the Dragon Café won an Alex Award from the American Library Association, was named an ALA Notable Book for 2005, and was short listed by the Ontario Library Association for its inaugural Evergreen award in 2005, and was the featured book for the February 2007 Everybody Reads Project in Portland, Oregon.

Alissa York has lived all over Canada and now makes her home in Toronto with her husband, writer/filmmaker Clive Holden. York's award-winning short fiction has appeared in various literary journals and anthologies, and in the collection, Any Given Power, published by Arbeiter Ring Publishing in 1999. Her first novel, Mercy, published by Random House Canada in 2003, was a Canadian bestseller. York's new novel, Effigy, was published by Random House Canada in April,
2007. Giunti has purchased Italian translation rights for publication in 2008.

Playwright, poet, essayist, and teacher, Daniel David Moses is a Delaware from the Six Nations lands in southern Ontario, Canada. His plays include his first, Coyote City, a nominee for the 1991 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama, The Indian Medicine Shows and Brebeuf's Ghost. He is the author of Delicate Bodies and Sixteen Jesuses, poems, and co-editor of Oxford University Press' An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English, 3rd Edition, 2005.

Yvette Nolan is a playwright, dramaturge, and director. Her plays include Annie Mae's Movement, BLADE, Job's Wife, Video, the libretto Hilda Blake and the radio play Owen. Directing credits include The Triple Truth (Turtle Gals), Tales of an Urban Indian, The Unnatural and Accidental Women, Annie Mae's Movement (Native Earth). As a dramaturge, she works across Canada, most recently as the Festival Dramaturge or Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre Spring Festival. She was the president of the Playwrights Union of Canada 1998- 2001, and of Playwrights Canada Press 2003-2005.

Shauntay Grant is a Nova Scotia-born spoken word performer, journalist, and musician. She is a founding member of Word Iz Bond Spoken Word Artists' Collective, an organization committed to the promotion of spoken word poetry. The collective stages a monthly performance series in Halifax dubbed "SPEAK!". "Let The Youth SPEAK!" - an extension of the SPEAK! series - promotes literacy and encourages creativity among school aged learners.

Featuring Musical Performers: Lady Son and Articulo Viente