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 Fictionistas: The Ladies Literary Event Genre: Event Reviewed By: Deepi Harish Earlier this week I made my way to the Fictionistas literary event, held at Victory Café downtown Toronto. The glorious weather brought a flock of people to this one coffeehouse. The patio itself was overflowing with a variety of cliques. I have this inborn habit of analyzing large crowds, what I had witnessed here was a bunch of caffeine junkies, winos, awkward mini dinner parties, work colleagues trying uncomfortably to relieve the day’s stress and the unmistakable circle of woman strictly there for public reading of Bernice Friesen, Theanna Bischoff, Angie Abdou and Lolette Kuby. I filed myself into the vertical line waiting to be seated and overheard the couple behind me whisper “they usually never open up the upstairs; I guess they had to, with the mob of people still trying to get in.” In this setting my height worked well to my advantage, as I squeezed through the crowd and ascended upstairs. The upper level resembled a long dining hall with a U-shaped bar, upholstered seating cemented against the back wall and a few scattered couches, chairs and bar stools. I made myself comfortable by the bar perfectly parallel to the stage-ish area where the novelists were appropriated to speak. Each of the four novelists were given fifteen minutes to read passages from their books and answer questions from the audience. The headliner Bernice Friesen addressed her works The Book of Beasts. This piece did not spark with me and my personality, where as Angie Abdou, the second writer, did just that. Abdou spoke about the intimate ties she carried towards her book The Bone Cage, since one of the main characters happened to be her own brother. I found her 15 minutes of fame particularly illuminating as she spoke about her book in such a way that it was relatable to all, even though the series of events taking place in the The Bone Cage were not. This is a story about the post Olympic wrap up of an athlete’s career. “The Olympics leaves its athletes broken souls. Mostly, the book focuses on the athletic realm, a world where the connection between body and identity are highly intensified, as are the ways in which individuals come up against the body’s limitations,” expressed Abdou. Next on the agenda was the works by Lolette Kuby entitled “Out of Cleveland.” Again, just not my taste. Lastly, first time reader and the first novel by Theanna Bischoff took the stage. It was easy to see her posse of supporters had spread across the audience. Her book Cleavage is about a young woman’s reality of being diagnosed with breast cancer. “Having cancer gives Leah permission, in a sense, to do and say a lot of things that aren’t typically acceptable. Modern society really emphasizes rationality and keeping one’s emotions in check, but with Leah, I was able to really explore the dark side of a person’s psyche, and the cynical things we all think but don’t say aloud, ” utters Bischoff. It was inspiring (for me personally) to see that the young and lovely Theanna Bischoff was the one who stole the show (in my humble, bias opinion). She carried herself with poise, sharp wittedly answered the questions directed towards her and gave birth to a novel I am eager to read myself. Save the best for last was exactly the case at this year’s Toronto Fictionistas event. |