Blog
Quid Pro…So?
It’s all so caricaturable. A big, orange-toned president, acting on the advice of his stumpy, loud New York lawyer, barters over the phone with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, offering military aid in exchange for dirt on his political opponent Joe Biden, whose son sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. The move gets figured out and the walls around the president start to close in. President Trump is now facing an impeachment probe for this quid pro quo, and his chances of survival are looking thinner as the process advances.
Between the Pages: The Authors and Their Inspirations
At the end of October, six authors gathered in Toronto’s Koerner Hall, having been shortlisted for this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize, one of the most notable prizes in Canada. The event was dubbed “Between the Pages.” Shortlisted candidates travel from coast to coast to present excerpts of their nominated works and are offered a chance to discuss their work and creative lives.
Hong Kong Withdraws the Extradition Bill: What Now?
Following 13 weeks of conflict, Carrie Lam – Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, has finally declared the government’s formal withdrawal of its highly controversial extradition bill. “Our foremost priority now is to end violence, to safeguard the rule of law, and to restore order and safety in society,” she states.
Elections in Canada: Same old, same old?
As Canadians made their way to the voting booths on October 21, polls around the country had the Liberals and the Conservatives neck and neck to lead with a minority government. The tension showed that the stark divisions in Western democracies have not evaded our Great White North, with topics like wealth disparity, climate policy, and immigration dominating parties’ policies.
Honey Boy Is *Literal* Therapy.
The immersiveness of Honey Boy goes like this: You imagine playing your own father in an autobiopic. You imagine doing it so well that the audience believes you are not you, that you are your father, and a little boy with a different childhood is you. Maybe this pleases you in some way, because maybe you feel connected to your father only by exploring the pain he might have caused you.
Not Into Politics
Election season in Canada has mercifully come to a close. And after all the mudslinging, the scandal, and the painful-to-watch political ads we have a new prime minister…maybe, I don’t know. I’m writing this ahead of the final vote tally. Maybe your candidate won, maybe they lost. But if you didn’t vote, you definitely lost.
Horror Movie List
Happy Halloween A.V. readers! And what better way is there to celebrate today, and the rest of Scorpio season, than with a good old-fashioned movie marathon, horror edition. Below are a few recent (and one or two older) films to put you into the spirit of the season.
What’s on at the Fisher Library?
This autumn’s special exhibition at the Fisher Rare Book Library for the autumn combines the art of photography with that of bookmaking. It features the work of Michael Torosian’s Lumiere Press, the only fine press worldwide that focuses exclusively on photography. The Fisher Library recently acquired the Lumiere Press Archives, including all twenty-two books that the press has published to date. The display celebrates both the craftsmanship of Torosian’s entirely handmade books and the art of some of the most influential photographers of the 20th century.
Sennah Yee’s ‘How Do I Look’, and The Pleasure of Anecdotal Storytelling
I like stories where “nothing happens,” because it’s not true that nothing happens.