About TINARS

This is not a Reading Series (TINARS) is a program designed to investigate the creative process involved in the conception and development of literature. Why do people write books? What compels them to spend endless hours—often years--using their imagination and research skills to produce stylish publications for the public?

TINARS was created to get to know writers better. Since the first principle of the program was the insistence that writers shouldn’t read from their texts, every other cultural outlet had to be employed, in varying contexts, to understand their creative intent.

TINARS provides writers with an opportunity to stage performances to provide readers with a sense of how a given text corresponds with our wider culture. Our events showcase the creative process and the thematic concerns of an individual text. Each one is as unique as the book it celebrates. For instance, we have staged mock wakes, boxing matches and on-stage interviews. The only constant feature is that authors do not read their own words aloud. Overall, the series is an ongoing exploration of how the Canadian literary voice has come to be defined at the dawn of the twenty-first century. This Is Not A Reading Series has provided a creative forum for emerging and internationally renowned writers alike since September of 2003. TINARS Series was conceived by Marc Glassman, former proprietor of Pages Books and Magazines, and executed in collaboration with senior staff of the bookstore, beginning with author Shaun Smith and continuing with the creative tenacity of Coordinator Chris Reed.

TINARS works closely with publishers to select authors and works that are relevant to our mandate and which offer the greatest opportunity for cultural explorations (and entertaining events). TINARS was originally funded by Pages Books and Magazines and supported by the sale of books at events. It is now supported by the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canadian Council for the Arts, as well as publishers and individual donors.

Events are promoted through ads in NOW, the TINARS website and a Facebook group with hundreds of members. NOW is a media sponsor, offering valuable editorial coverage to specific events. Targeted e-mails are also used to inform audiences of upcoming events. We aim to hold no more than 1 event per week, but have held as many as 32 events in a four month season.

This Is Not A Reading Series has a home at the Gladstone Hotel, frequently animating the main floor Ballroom (capacity about 200). Occasionally, the presence of another event will oblige us to hold events in the 2nd floor reception area (capacity about 150). We also hold events in other venues depending on the nature of the event, the size of the anticipated audience, or technical requirements.

This Is Not A Reading Series is co-curated by Marc Glassman and Chris Reed, who also acts as coordinator. Partners include the Gladstone Hotel, every Canadian publisher and Canadian office of American publishers, NOW, CIUT and Bravo. Administrative support is provided by Consulting Matrix. TINARS is now produced by The Force for Cultural Events Production, Inc., a non-profit incorporation.

While TINARS programs widely, there are certain areas in which the series has developed an expertise.

They are, with examples of past authors and works:

Canadian Literature 

TINARS list of novelists is compelling: Coupland, Pyper, Quarrington, Gibson, Rosenblum, Winter, Redhill, Schultz and many others. The nature of our events—non-readings forcing writers to work outside of the box—has meant that we’ve worked often with innovative youthful (at least in spirit) author.

Urban Affairs 

TINARS is keenly concerned with the culture and politics of cities. We’ve hosted panel discussions and interviews celebrating and interrogating the issues dealt with in Coach House’s volumes on Utopia as well as works by John Lorinc, David MacFarlane, Alan Broadbent and John Sewell. We were honoured to have Mayor David Miller introduce Mr. Broadbent to a packed TINARS audience.

Diversity 

TINARS celebrates Black History Month and has hosted events with George Elliott Clarke, Lawrence Hill, Austin Clark, Afua Cooper and Dan Hill. We presented the celebration of the book on the film festival Reel Asian and have hosted presentations by Jan Wong, Ann Marie Fleming and other Asian-Canadians. TINARS has worked with TSAR presenting anthologies of writings on South Asian culture. We’ve launched books by Priscilla Uppal and Kerri Sakamoto.

Graphic Novels and Memoirs

The combination of art and narrative involved in the creation of graphic novels and memoirs makes it a natural fit for TINARS. Often using digitized images playing sequentially on a screen, graphic artists have been able to “animate” their presentations to a vast TINARS audience. Diversity has also been a feature of graphic novels with works by Ann Marie Fleming, Mariko Tamaki and Ho Che Anderson attracting critical attention and response.

Sustainability

TINARS has actively curated books and authors involved in the green movement. Two of our biggest successes were the launch of GreenTopia by Toronto’s remarkable Coach House Books with an informed panel discussion and the debut presentation of The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery. TINARS was honoured to have the Honourable Jack Layton introduce that evening, with the promise that he would give the book to Prime Minister Harper; the discussion between Mr. Flannery and Bob McDonald of Quirks and Quarks was enlightening.

 Film and Media

Film and music fit like a glove into the TINARS philosophy of showing the creativity and art that has inspired authors to write books. Working with Toronto jazz musicians Jane Bunnett and Larry Cramer, TINARS created an event incorporating notable jazz players with interviews on texts written by former Globe critic Mark Miller and musician/scholar David Lee. Using film and interviews, filmmaker/curator Mike Hoolboom presented an event on Canadian experimental film.

Islam and Jewish Cultures 

The clash of religious beliefs and cultural concerns in the Middle East is relevant to Canada where many Muslims and Jews live. TINARS is committed to a dialogue between the cultures and often presents evenings looking at Canadian responses to being either Jewish or Muslim in contemporary society. These have ranged from Nelofer Pazira’s passionate memoir of life growing up in Afghanistan to Jonathan Garfinkel’s incisive description of the dilemmas he faced during his travels as a Canadian Jew in Israel.

Aboriginal

From Thomas King’s droll and sophisticated interview with Margaret Atwood about being “Indian” in Canada to Sam McKegney’s moving anthology about the effects of residential schools on our First Nations, TINARS is proud to present the Native experience to Canadian audiences.

Gay and Lesbian 

Whether in poetry (Couture), prose (Coyote) or graphic memoirs (Tamaki), TINARS is committed to presenting lesbian and gay culture.

Art & Politics 

TINARS has worked with ASpace to present the work of photo-artists Carole Conde & Karl Beveridge and MOCCA to show the videos of Floria Sigismondi. We expect to pursue more art-oriented presentations in the future.

The Force for Cultural Events Production, Inc.

President: Judy Wolfe, Treasurer: Steve Glassman, Secretary: Ellen Wexler.

Members of the Board: Doina Popescu, Tasleem Thawar, Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director: Marc Glassman, Coordinator and Co-Artistic Director: Chris Reed, Webmistress: Rachael Glassman.

BlackMask is the bookseller at all TINARS events.

Booksellers: Lauren Stewart, Rachael Glassman.