Image by denmar from the Torontoist Flickr Pool
Kensington Market. The Don Valley. Cabbagetown. Bay Street. Toronto Islands. Yorkville. The Danforth. The Beach(es). Toronto is a city of neighbourhoods. It is also a city of stories. They just needed to be uncovered. Torontonian and freelance journalist Sarah Elton did just that with her new book City of Words: Toronto Through Her Writers’ Eyes. From Michael Ondaatje’s beautiful descriptions of the Don Valley from In the Skin of the Lion to Anand Mahadevan’s ode to Dufferin Street in “subzi bazaar,” this collection of essays, archival writing, poetry and photographs celebrates the literary Toronto.
Divided geographically, City of Words brings together dozens of authors, poets, historical writings, photographs and archival pieces about Toronto’s physical spaces. This Books@Torontoist editor chatted with Sarah this past weekend to learn more about this project.
Torontoist: Tell me about City of Words.
Sarah Elton: City of Words is a collection of over one hundred writers looking at the city. It’s a mix of previously published works, poetry, archival writing and original pieces commissioned for the book that all capture Toronto in some form. There’s a great mix of writers in there – Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Anne Michaels are in the book, as are some historical writers. Great new names like David Bezmozgis and Terry Woo are there as well.
TO: What inspired you to put this compilation together?
SE: I was spending some time in Paris, and that’s a city where you live among stories. You live in and about places you read about in books. It’s really quite magical. Toronto didn’t have that same sense of literary history. But then, I came back to Toronto and to my job at Metro Morning. I started doing a series about new books about the city. There were so many! It was amazing to see this city I lived in for so long in a completely different manner. I was wrong – there were thousands of stories about Toronto. They just weren’t know and celebrated the same way stories about Paris or New York or London are. I’m so surprised that no book like this has been done before. The writing out there about the city is so diverse. Torontonians should be celebrating it!
TO: Do you feel the book accurately represents the city?
SE: I think the book does a good job of showcasing different parts of Toronto during different periods of time. I made a conscious effort when putting the book together to have historical as well as contemporary pieces. I will admit, however, that the suburbs probably deserve better representation in this collection. They’re an important part of our city and it’s history. I do believe that’s changing. David Bezmozgis, Sasenarine Persaud and Terry Woo all submitted pieces that paint vivid portraits of those communities.
TO: What was the process behind putting together this book like?
SE: I was always on the lookout for vignettes that captured the city. Some days, it was literally me walking up and down the rows at the Toronto Public Library and pulling books off shelves. While the library does a great job cataloging and cross-referencing their books, I didn’t want to miss that gem of a passage or poem. I actually found one of the best poems in the book that way. Irving Layton wrote a poem about Kensington Market, “Varied Hues,” in a 1984 centennial booklet edited by Barbara O’Neil. I couldn’t believe my luck. I spent hours going through the libraries files and microfiches. I also commissioned some new essays to give the book a contemporary and vibrant feel, much like the city itself. I tried to select pieces that captured a sense of place within the city and that conveyed the physical space that is Toronto.
TO: What was the response like when you approached writers about contributing?
SE: The response was all very, very positive. I didn’t speak to everyone because there are simply too many contributors, but for the most part, people were excited by the project and thought it was a great way to celebrate Toronto and its literary community.
TO: Are there any essays that are particularly memorable for you?
SE: There are so many amazing pieces in this book. The writers are superb. But I especially love this piece that describes a public hanging in Corktown. It surprised me and told me about a different side of Toronto’s history. Another great piece is “Wild Animals I Have Known,” from Ernest Thompson, who was a homesteader in the Don Valley in the 1950s. It exposes readers to another reality of this piece of wilderness in the middle of the city. A personal favorite is Sasenarine Persaud’s “Canada Geese and Apple Chatney” essay. It’s about three immigrants from Guyana who come to Toronto and see all the Canada geese everywhere. They’re so confused by this, thinking that back home people would be hunting these geese and eating them for dinner – so that’s exactly what they do!
TO: You’ve lived in the city for a number of years. What’s your Toronto look like?
SE: My Toronto is very much the University of Toronto. It’s one of my favorite places in the city. I went to school there, but my family ties to the university can be traced back to my grandfather, John Abrams. He founded the Institute of History and Philosophy of Science. The area south of campus is a favourite, as are the streets around Baldwin and Beverly. There’s so much history on those city blocks.
TO: What do you hope this book says to Torontonians?
SE: I hope this book demonstrates that Toronto has a vibrant, diverse and rich literary history within it and that we, as Torontonians, should be celebrating that.
