Every year, in Toronto, the first days of December bring back the Salon du livre de Toronto French Book Fair. It is always held at the Toronto Reference Public Library. A rendez-vous not to miss December 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Bram & Bluma Hall, 2nd floor, 789 Yonge Street).
This book fair is your chance to access a wide selection of French-language books for kids, teen-agers, and adults. Dozens of booths represent publishers from Canada (Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Manitoba) and Europe.
This year, the Salon du livre de Toronto doesn’t only offer food for the mind. There will be a special event called Poutine et Poésie (Poutine and Poetry). Visitors will be served poutine and a glass of wine while listening to poetry.
For its 24th edition, the Salon du livre de Toronto welcomes a special guest writer, Québécois novelist Yves Beauchemin. He is best known for Le Matou (1981), translated in seventeen languages (Alley Cat in English). The French version sold over 1.5 million copies world-wide.
In his fiction, Beauchemin is a detached but caring observer of the contemporary world around him. The panoramic canvases of his novels capture the teeming life of the streets, reflecting the author’s appreciation of such great nineteenth-century writers as Balzac, Dickens and Dostoevsky.
In partnership with Alliance française de Toronto, Beauchemin will give a causerie on Friday, December 2nd at 6:30 PM in the Spadina Theatre (24 Spadina Road).