The Toronto International Festival of Authors announced bold programme plans for the next two years, including a brand new three-day festival devoted to crime and mystery. We’re excited. 

Last year, TIFA’s 2020 festival ranked as the largest digital literary festival in the whole world. This fall (October 21st to 31st), TIFA will return in a digital format that will be accessible to audiences all over Canada and globally. The ten packed days will include live conversations, entertaining performances, and all types of events that will focus on celebrating books, authors and stories. We’re especially looking forward to the return of the popular TIFA Kids! programme, and the Write in the Neighbourhood podcast series.

A new collection of commissioned pieces entitled Can You Hear Me Now? will tap some of the world’s most powerful voices, who will speak to global movements and how to best empower marginalized communities.

For 2022, the Festival will return to an in-person event at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. Next year, they will also launch a three-day festival devoted to crime and mystery that will take place between June 3rd – 5th 2022 and include over 50 events. We’ve already blocked it off in our calendar. 

“The crime and mystery genre is immensely popular in Canada, offering page-turning reads from fantastic storytellers. Alongside being widely accessible and relevant, the genre offers varied perspectives on the world and explores contemporary social issues through captivating narratives. I am incredibly excited to see how our audiences respond to the inaugural Festival,” said Roland Gulliver, Toronto International Festival of Authors Director. 

Moving things online allowed us to attend more author events this year than any other festival, which we’re grateful for as they truly helped us pull through, but we cannot wait to hear readings up close and in person. The idea of slowly browsing a bookstore (or in this case, tables at a literary festival) has been a fantasy we’ve fed ourselves for many months. The return to such a pleasure will surely be a pinch-me moment.