The Word On The Street Announces Author Line Up & New Attractions!

Following a successful move from Queen's Park to the newly revitalized Harbourfront Centre in 2015, The Word on the Street is set to continue its reign as Toronto's premier literary event in 2016.

The festival has just announced a star-studded literary line up, including The Book of Awesome author Neil Pasricha, TVO's Steve Paikin, award winning Newfoundland author Lisa Moore, recent Scotiabank Giller Prize winner André Alexis, and many others.

They've also announced several new initiatives that will take place in Toronto at the September 25 event. There will be an opportuity for emerging writers to have manuscripts evaluated by Canadian editors, a spelling bee, and a new focus on genre writing, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comic books.

Returning this year are the Author Cruises, where book lovers can hit the high seas (or, high Great Lake) with some of their favourite writers for a sailing adventure combined with great readings and panel discussions. The cruises are tickets events, so be sure to check out the Word on the Street website for details.

In addition, there will be tons of programming for children and young adult readers, a thriving marketplace populated by book and magazine publishers, food sellers, and more.

Open Book is excited to partner with The Word on the Street again this year to bring you all the festival news. Stay tuned to Open Book as well for our annual interview series with several authors appearing at the Vibrant Voices of Ontario tent, a multi-genre literary line up of the province's most talented writers, and several exciting contests where our readers will have the chance to win amazing book prize packages courtesy of The Word on the Street and their publisher partners.

As always, attendance at The Word on the Street is free to all. The year's festival will run from 11:00a.m. to 6:00p.m. on September 25, 2016 at the Harbourfront Centre site on Queen's Quay West in Toronto. A full festival programme will be released in early August.