About this Event
Pulling from twenty-five years of essays, articles, and reviews, Alex Boyd’s Take This for the Pain is a curious look at art and culture in a rapidly changing world. Boldly tackling topics ranging from faith to aging to work in factories and bookshops, Boyd’s work finds inspiration in the philosophies of writers like George Orwell, William Stafford, and Charlotte Brontë. If you’ve ever wondered about the value of poetry in the 21st century, or whether graffiti is a valid art form, Take This for the Pain reveals how art can reinforce selfhood and galvanize social change. Moreover, it includes a range of reviews that covers a number of overlooked, deeply worthy books that will prove interesting to any book lover.
Alex Boyd has written for publications such as The Globe and Mail and Taddle Creek magazine. He helped establish Best Canadian Essays, co-editing the first two collections of work selected from Canadian magazines. His poetry collections are Making Bones Walk (2007) winner of the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, and more recently The Least Important Man (2012). In 2018 his first novel was published: Army of the Brave and Accidental, a retelling of The Odyssey reviewed as “timely, original and profound.”
Jim Johnstone is a Toronto-based poet, editor, and critic. He is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently The King of Terrors (Coach House Books, 2023). His poetry has appeared internationally in magazines like POETRY, Poetry London, PN Review, The Kenyon Review, and Poetry Northwest, and he has won several national awards including the Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize, the Bliss Carman Award, and the Robin Blaser Award.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Another Story Bookshop, 315 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, Canada
CAD 0.00
