Congratulations

... to Darcy Tamayose, author of Odori and newest recipient of the Canada Council of the Arts' 2008 Canada-Japan Literary Award ...

... and to Neil Bissoondath, whose novel The Soul of All Great Designs was named to The Globe and Mail's Top 100 of 2008!

Good week.

The Soul of All Great Designs reviewed in The Globe and Mail

The Saturday, October 11th edition of The Globe and Mail featured a fantastic review of Neil Bissoondath's provocative new novel The Soul of All Great Designs:

"In its reckoning of the costs of throwaway identity, The Soul of All Great Designs belongs in bookstores and on award lists around the world. Even more, it belongs on the bedside tables of fiction-lovers everywhere, particularly those who've wondered if the contemporary novel hasn't finally run out of steam."

Well, fiction lovers ... what are you waiting for?

Photos from Mabel's Fables and The Word On The Street '08

Mabel's Fables

On Friday September 26, Charles Pachter (author of the hit Canadian alphabet book M Is For Moose) did a reading and signing at Mabel's Fables in Toronto. The event came on the heels of Charles's fantastic interview on 96.3 Classical FM on Thursday morning, and drew a great audience of the young, the old, and the undecided. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us!

F is for flag.

Left to right: Eleanor LeFave (owner of Mabel's Fables), Charles Pachter, moose

Even Mabel the cat loves our book.

The Word On The Street

The 2008 edition of The Word On The Street Book & Magazine Festival (Toronto) took place on a sunny Sunday afternoon. As I stated many times to the people visiting our booth, it was "perfect weather to not be standing under a tent in".

A great day was had by all. We managed to give away every single one of our catalogues, and - best of fall - of all the boxes of books we brought to sell, we returned to the office with only one and a half left unsold.

In my opinion, however, the most important thing about WOTS was that it gave us as publishers a chance to just sit down (or stand up) and talk about books with our readers. Numbers are plenty useful but it's only through this face-to-face communication that we can get a sense of what people love about books and reading - information that's vital in helping us maintain perspective.

A big thank you to the organizers of WOTS, the many helpful volunteers, and most of all to you folks out there who bought our books or even just stayed and chatted for a while.

Many thanks also to the Cormorant authors who took part in the festivities and dropped by our booth to say hello (including but not limited to): Sally Gibson, Charles Pachter, Hélène Dorion, Neil Bissoondath, Elspeth Cameron, Michael Rowe, Joseph Boyden, Zoe Whittall, Darren Greer

And now photos!

I attribute our success to the scrumtrelescence of this sign.

Sally Gibson, author of Inside Toronto, in discussion with Toronto mayor David Miller.

The intrepid Charles Pachter signing copies of M is for Moose at our booth.

Elspeth Cameron, author of And Beauty Answers.

Neil Bissoondath, author of The Soul of All Great Designs, speaking truth to power.

Hélène Dorion, author of Days of Sand.

Coming soon: A Q&A with Kathlyn Bradshaw, author of The Frankenstein Murders (one of the hits of the festival!)

Previews: The Frankenstein Murders, Distantly Related To Freud, The Soul of All Great Designs, Operation Rimbaud

And a good day to you all.

Today we've got a tetralogy of terrific tasters to tantalize you with. That's right - we're talking about PDF previews of four of our fantastic Fall titles, for your reading pleasure:

The Frankenstein Murders
by Kathlyn Bradshaw

Three years after the events recounted in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the father of one of the victims of 'the Monster' comissions an English investigator named Edward Freame to discover the true story behind his son's death.
Read the preview



Distantly Related to Freud
by Ann Charney

The coming-of-age story of Ellen - a girl who, as an infant, escaped with her mother from the horrors of the Holocaust to settle in Montreal. Follow her search for herself as she navigates from beneath a history she barely knows - as well as more everyday problems, like school and boys.
Read the preview


The Soul of All Great Designs
by Neil Bissoondath

It starts as a love story between the daughter of immigrant parents and a man whose life is built on secrets and lies. It ends as one of the most indicting criticisms of "Canadian identity" put to print in recent memory.
Read the preview



Operation Rimbaud
by Jacques Godbout

What do you get when you mix a Jesuit special agent, Haile Selassie, a pair of sacred Judaeo-Christian artifacts, and the cultural turmoil of the 1960s? Operation Rimbaud, that's what.
Read the preview


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Check out the Cormorant website for more previews of our books.

The Word On The Street (Pre-Game Show!)

The wheels are in motion. Our phones are ringing off their hooks. Our email inboxes are full to bursting. Our awesome button-maker is on the verge of falling apart.

It's that time of the year again.

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On Sunday September 24th, Cormorant Books will be participating in WOTS in Halifax and Toronto. It'll be a packed day at both events, so if you're in either city on Sunday, stop by.

Here's our schedule:

Toronto

Elspeth Cameron, author of And Beauty Answers: The Life Of Frances Loring and Florence Wyle
2008 City of Toronto Book Award shortlist readings
City of Toronto Tent 11:15-11:45

Sally Gibson, author of Inside Toronto: Urban Interiors, 1880s-1920s
City of Toronto Tent 11:15-11:45

Charles Pachter, author of M is for Moose: A Charles Patcher Alphabet
Children's Activity Tent 12:15-12:45

Neil Bissoondath, author of The Soul of All Great Designs
Bestsellers Stage 1:15-2:00

Hélène Dorion, author of Days of Sand
Proud Voices Tent 2:30-3:00

Zoe Whittall, author of Bottle Rocket Hearts
2008 Dayne Ogilvie Award shortlist readings
Proud Voices Tent 3:30-4:00


Halifax

Mark Blagrave, author of Silver Salts
BPIDP Atlantic Authors Stage 12:30-1:00

Carol Bruneau, author of Glass Voices
CBC Festival Mainstage 1:00-1:30

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Cormorant will once again have a booth (130) at The Word On The Street Toronto. Come pay us a visit. We'd love to talk about books, politics, the local sports team of your choice, or anything else you'd like. And if you decide you want to buy a good book, hey, we've got plenty of those.

Make plans!

One of the intrepid volunteers from WOTS 2007 Toronto

The Soul of All Great Designs, Words Alive Literary Festival

Neil Bissoondath at La Maison Anglaise

For those of you in Quebec City, Neil Bissoondath will be appearing in support his fantastic new novel The Soul of All Great Designs at La Maison Anglaise. Go and see him - he's an outstanding, extremely intelligent speaker who never fails to be interesting.

For more info on the event, visit the website of La Maison Anglaise.




Words Alive Literary Festival

September 21st is the second annual Words Alive Literary Festival in Sharon, Ontario.

Cormorant authors Beverly Stone (No Beautiful Shore) and Peter Unwin (The Wolf's Head) are guests at the festival.

If you can make it out, do so - it promises to be a very literary day, and all at the cost of $4.