D 155: A Winter Reader, out now!

Launch: January 17th, 7:00pm at the Trane Studio (964 Bathurst St.)

Come and join the Descant team as we celebrate the launch of issue 155: A Winter Reader.

Descant is a quarterly literary magazine that showcases poetry, prose, essay, memoir and art. Our most recent issue, A Winter Reader, is an assortment of works that speak to the current season. Join us and readers Angel Beyde, Ricardo Sternberg and Rosemary Sullivan, as we escape the cold through our shared passions for good company and well-articulated ideas.

No cover. Cash bar. Complimentary hors d'euvres; full menu available for individual cravings.

*RAFFLE*
Sporting event tickets! Autographed cookbook! Gift Certificates! Books! Subscriptions!
All proceeds go to the Descant Arts & Letters Foundation.
Made possible through the generous support of:
Ben McNally Books
Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment
Oliver and Bonacini Restaurants
Random House Canada
The Walrus

We hope to see you there!

:::::::::::::To look at excerpts, images and the table of contents for the issue, click here.

::::::::::::: Visit the Facebook event HERE

D 154: Sicily, Land of Forgotten Dreams

Join us October 5, 2011, as we launch Descant 154: Sicily in style.

Come hear Sicily contributors Valentino Assenza, Gil Fagiani, Darlene Madott and Gianna Patriarca as they explore this geographically and historically impressive island in an authentic Italian atmosphere. The event will take place at grano <a href=“http://www.grano.ca/” grano</a> ristorante on Yonge St., Toronto, with doors opening at 7 p.m, readings starting at 7:30 p.m. Arrive early to partake in the cash bar and antipasto.

The Descant 154: Sicily launch is the perfect place to chat up our Guest Editors, Michelle Alfano and Venera Fazio, and tour Sicilia through the poetry and prose of our contributors. Don’t miss this exciting evening celebrating Descant 154: Sicily! (In stores September 25, 2011)

D 153: Possible Worlds

Come out and help us celebrate the release of Descant 152: Ghosts and The Uncanny [which arrives on store shelves March 28th].

This special event takes place at the beautiful, historic and allegedly haunted George Brown House (186 Beverley St., Toronto) on Wednesday, April 6th, 2011, beginning at 7:30 p.m. [Descant's offices are located on the third floor of this grand old mansion]. Enjoy some light food and a cash bar.

Featured readings include Descant 152 contributors Richard Rosenbaum, Jennifer Oliver, Kate Cayley and Daniel Zuckerbrot. In addition, National Ballet orchestral violinist Phoebe Tsang will accompany the event.

Descant 152 is an outstanding collection of fiction, poetry, essay, memoir and visual art. This issue's ghost stories and strange tales explore the world of the dead, sometimes beckoning, even daring readers to interact with it.

::::::::::::: Visit the Facebook event

D 152: Ghosts and The Uncanny

Come out and help us celebrate the release of Descant 152: Ghosts and The Uncanny [which arrives on store shelves March 28th].

This special event takes place at the beautiful, historic and allegedly haunted George Brown House (186 Beverley St., Toronto) on Wednesday, April 6th, 2011, beginning at 7:30 p.m. [Descant's offices are located on the third floor of this grand old mansion]. Enjoy some light food and a cash bar.

Featured readings include Descant 152 contributors Richard Rosenbaum, Jennifer Oliver, Kate Cayley and Daniel Zuckerbrot. In addition, National Ballet orchestral violinist Phoebe Tsang will accompany the event.

Descant 152 is an outstanding collection of fiction, poetry, essay, memoir and visual art. This issue's ghost stories and strange tales explore the world of the dead, sometimes beckoning, even daring readers to interact with it.

::::::::::::: Visit the Facebook event here

D151: Winter Reader

Descant Magazine, Canada’s pre-eminent literary journal, is proud to celebrate Descant 151: Winter Reader, an engaging body of work from a diverse range of local and international writing talents.

D150: Writers in Prisons
featuring cover artwork by Nir Bareket

Mark your calendars! You are invited to come celebrate with us at the launch of Descant 150. This special event takes place at Revival (783 College Street, Toronto) on Wednesday, Oct 06, 2010, and begins at 7:30 p.m.

… Featuring readings by Descant 150 contributors: Rueben Carter, Ken Klonsky, Mark Kingwelland Jorge Vallejos

Descant Magazine, Canada’s pre-eminent literary journal, is proud to celebrate Descant 150: Writers in Prison, an engaging body of work from a diverse range of local and international writing talents.

::::::::::::: Visit the Facebook event here

D149: Summer and Smoke — The Search for Values

The free Toronto launch of launch of Descant 149 took place at Bar Italia (582 College Street, Toronto) on Wednesday, July 14, 2010.

… Featuring readings by Descant 149 contributors: Roxanna Bennett, Lauren Carter, Glenn Hayes, David Mason and Douglas Rodger

::::::::::::: Visit the Facebook event here

D148: The Search for Happiness

The free Toronto launch of launch of Descant 148 took place at The Victory Cafe (581 Markham St, 2nd Floor, Toronto) on Monday, April 19, 2010.

… Featuring readings by Descant 148 contributors: Emi Benn, Roo Borson, David Day, Larry Frolick and Alex Pugsley

We celebrated our first issue of the decade, Descant 148: The Search of Happiness, an engaging body of work from a diverse range of local and international writing talents.

This spring issue features new poetry, fiction, memoirs and travel essays that question whether one can truly obtain the unobtainable: genuine satisfaction. Descant has captured an intriguing blend of fiction, memoir and visuals in The Search for Happiness, a stand out spring reader.

::::::::::::: Visit the Facebook event here

D147: Dance

The free Toronto launch of Descant 147 was celebrated with a night of readings, dance and film. This special event took place at The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto (14 Elm Street, Toronto), one of the country’s oldest centres for the arts, on Thursday, January 28, 2010.

The evening of readings by Descant 147 contributors Vickie Fagan, Johanna Householder and Andrew Smith were puncuated by performances from current Descant editors and former dancers Alex Maeve Campbell, Mary Newberry and Nadia Szilvassy, along with Tom Brouillette. Films by Danny Grossman and Vickie Fagan were shown. The evening was a must-attend for those interested in dance, its history, its future.

D146: Immanence + Transcendence

The launch of Descant 146, with readings and music and more. This special event takes place at Olga Korper Gallery (17 Morrow Ave, Toronto) on Wednesday, September 30, 2009, and begins at 7:30 p.m.

Readers for the evening include Helen Guri, Mark Kingwell, Michael Lista and others.

D145: Private Worlds, Public Exigencies

The launch of Descant 145 was celebrated in style, at the Descant Annual Fundraising Salon which occured on June 17th, 2009. The event was graciously hosted at the home of Mary Newberry and Gus Sinclair (located at 133 Major Street in Toronto), and was an evening of good food, drink, music and readings by featured writers from the issue, including christine estima, Christine Fischer Guy, Katie Franklin and Adam Lindsay Honsinger.

The launch of Winter/143: Cats and Spring/144: Dogs — the two companion issues dedicated to exploring the special creatures that many of us share our homes and lives with — was happily celebrated during a snowy Monday evening at Supermarket in Kensington Market, Toronto, on April 06th, 2009. The event showcased our talented contributors: Wendy Brandts, Glenn Hayes, Denise O’ Rourke and Pradeep Solanki, and also featured an introductory reading by guest editor Michael Mitchell.

Our delightful audience was treated to an intermission performance by the 6-piece Toronto band Les Singes Bleus who entertained with a collection of french cafe songs with a modern twist (and a song or two about cats and dogs!)
A big thanks to all the guests, volunteers, readers, performers and, of course, the great Supermarket staff for making this a very special evening.

Did you miss the launch? Visit the amazing site synchlive.com and sign up for a free membership — then watch the entire launch online!

D142: Hotels
featuring cover artwork by Arnaud Maggs

The free Toronto launch event occurred at Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave, Kensington Market) on Wed Oct 01 @ 7:30pm


Readers for the evening were:
Ian Brown
Mark Kingwell
Michael Knox
Nathaniel G. Moore
Priscila Uppal
Mary B. Valencia

Music by:
Ron Davis (featuring Brandi Disterheft on bass)

D140: Improvisations
featuring cover artwork by Sandra Meigs

Spring 2008 Issue Launch!

The free event occurred at Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave, Kensington Market) on Wed Apr 16 @ 7:30pm


Readers for the evening were:
Beverly Akerman
David Balzer
Elisabeth de Mariaffi
Anthony De Sa
Aaron Giavannone

Sound Improv by:
The Toronto Vocal Cobra Choir

D139: Apostasy
featuring cover artwork by John McEwen

Winter 2007 Issue Launch!

Occurred at Cervejaria Downtown Bar and Grill (842 College St W) on Thu Jan 10 @ 7:30pm

Readers for the evening were:
Elaine Batcher
Kristen den Hartog
David Mason
Mary Ann Mulhern

....plus the musical duo Gorgasm UK, a lounge act that features Alex Pugsley (whose work appeared in the pages of Descant 137: Margins and Borders) and Beatriz Yuste. The two so enchanted everyone at our October launch that we have invited them back.

D138: Fashion
Fall 2007 Issue Launch!

The fashionbale Toronto launch event occurred at Revival (783 College St) on Wed Oct 10 @ 7:30pm

Hosted by:
Ian Brown

Readers:
Katherine Ashenburg
Ron Charach
Simon Leigh
Andrew Tibbitts

Music by:
Jesse Barksdale Trio

D136: A Trompe l'Oeil Calendar

The Toronto launch event occurred at Cervejaria (842 College St) on Wed May 16 @ 7:30pm

Featuring performances/readings by:

Christine Fischer Guy
John B. Lee
Charles Meanwell
Bernadette Rule
Ewan Whyte

D135: Bibliomania 2

A convivial evening of readings and revelry to celebrate the debut of Descant’s warming winter volume.

Featured performances by four inimitable Toronto talents:

Goran Simic
Jacob Scheier
Pauline Carey
Kildare Dobbs

[ Click here to see images from our Winter 2006 Launch ]