An Evening with Connie Gault

On February 24th, I am excited to welcome Connie Gault to discuss her novel, The Rasmussen Papers. Connie has written for stage and radio and film. The Rasmussen Papers, short-listed for the Toronto Book Award, is her third novel. Her first, Euphoria, was short-listed for the Commonwealth Prize for Best Novel of Canada and the Caribbean. A Beauty—the 2016 Saskatchewan Book of the Year—was long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. A former prose editor of grain magazine, Connie has also edited books of fiction and has taught many creative writing classes and mentored emerging writers. After spending most of her life in Saskatchewan, she now lives in London, Ontario.

Toronto Book Award 2024 - Jury Citation

The Rasmussen Papers by Connie Gault is a perfectly imagined novel, executed with confidence, compassion and insight into the lives of its marginalized Cabbagetown characters. Gault’s precise observations and her descriptive prowess, shine through every page. This is a book that should be read slowly, savouring its reflections on the constraints to self-knowledge and the value of pushing through. The conclusion is a marvel, when all the intricate threads come together and the reader is left to consider the narrator’s reflection that “the puzzle itself is the solution.”

I hope everyone will take advantage of this evening out to Public Kitchen for a Tapas style meal and fire side chat with Connie. Your ticket includes the book which can be picked up at Word Worth Books in Waterloo, dinner with a cocktail with taxes/gratuities included. See you on the 24th at 6pm!

In the Holiday Mood?

As the snowy weather arrives and I panic about my Christmas shopping, I find it easier to plan something for the upcoming year, so there are two great events planned so far for 2025. I was going to hold onto them but decided to let them out into the world. I’m gifting my children “experiences” this year. Maybe you or someone on your list would enjoy an evening out with An Appetite for Reading. I will leave that idea here for you. You can find out more in the upcoming events. I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season!

Happy Reading,

Alison

Reflecting on Fall, Looking Forward to Winter

I am so pleased that our evening with Rod Carly was so well received by everyone who attended.  Rod was kind enough to share some pictures from the event.  I look forward to reading his book, Grin Reaping, which I have added to my “to read” pile.  I look forward to what is next from Rod.  When asked what might be next, “The character I want to feature in my next novel is Shuttlecock — an origin tail, er tale, of how he became a medieval animal lawyer and his strange and varied cases (alluded to in RUFF) that eventually lead him to defending the rats of London in a plague lawsuit.”  If you haven’t finished the book, I won’t reveal all, but watch for those characters in disguise. As a favour to Rod, reviews of RUFF would be appreciated on platforms you participate in such as www.goodreads.com.

What’s Next?

An Evening with Connie Gault

February 24th, 6pm at Public Kitchen

Connie Gault has written for stage and radio and film. The Rasmussen Papers, short-listed for the Toronto Book Award, is her third novel. Her first, Euphoria, was short-listed for the Commonwealth Prize for Best Novel of Canada and the Caribbean. A Beauty—the 2016 Saskatchewan Book of the Year—was long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. A former prose editor of grain magazine, Connie has also edited books of fiction and has taught many creative writing classes and mentored emerging writers. After spending most of her life in Saskatchewan, she now lives in London, Ontario.

The Ramussen Papers’ unnamed narrator is so obsessed with the desire to write the biography of her literary hero, the late poet Marianne Rasmussen, that she assumes a false name and talks her way into the house of Rasmussen’s former lover, Aubrey Ash. The Rasmussen Papers is a brilliant reply to Henry James’ The Aspern Papers. Connie Gault flips James’ story on its head and slides it into contemporary Toronto’s Cabbagetown, among the marginalized and dispossessed, people the narrator studies as intently as she studies everyone she meets—until she is forced to reconsider the limits of what you can know of another’s story, and how hidden we all are, especially from ourselves. 

 

 

Hello and Welcome!

Hello….I am Alison and I have a tough act to follow! I am so excited to get the club going for another year of reading, great food, and conversation. I appreciate everyone’s patience as Bev and I worked through the transfer of information, tools, and contacts. Over the ten past years I have enjoyed An Appetite For Reading and I am so excited to keep it going. Enough personal testimonial…..here’s what’s next!

Rod Carley will join us for dinner on November 4th at Public Kitchen. Rod is the award-winning author of three previous works of literary fiction: Grin Reaping (long listed for the 2023 Leacock Medal for Humour, 2022 Bronze Winner for Humour from Foreword Review INDIES, a Finalist for the 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Humor/Comedy, and long listed for the ReLit Group Awards for Best Short Fiction of 2023); Kinmount (long listed for the 2021 Leacock Medal for Humour and Winner of the 2021 Silver Medal for Best Regional Fiction from the Independent Publishers Book Awards); A Matter of Will (Finalist for the 2018 Northern Lit Award for Fiction).

‘Ruff’ is a theatrical odyssey packed with an unforgettable cast of Elizabethan eccentrics. It's a madcap world more modern than tomorrow where gender is what a person makes of it (no matter the story beneath their petticoats or tights).

Will Shakespeare is having a very bad year. Suffering from a mid-life crisis, a plague outbreak, and the death of the ancient Queen, Will's mettle is put to the test when the new King puts his witch-burning hobby aside to announce a national play competition that will determine which theatre company will secure his favour and remain in business. As he struggles to write a Scottish supernatural thriller, Will faces one ruff and puffy obstacle after another including a young rival punk poet and his activist-wife fighting for equality and a woman's right to tread the boards. Will and his band of misfits must ensure not only their own survival, but that of England as well. The stage is set for an outrageous and compelling tale of ghosts, ghostwriting, writer's block, and the chopping block.

Join us at Public Kitchen on Monday November 4th for a laugh, tickets available next week.

Click here for Tickets.

good-bye and hello

Ten years ago I posted my first message on the Appetite for Reading website titled “the beginning of something great”. I didn’t know at the time just how great.

Over ten years we’ve read 37 books, had dinner with thirty-seven different authors, eaten vast quantities of delicious food, sipped countless glasses of wine and generally had a wonderful time sharing thoughts about books with old and new friends. It’s been a thrill for me and certainly beyond anything I ever anticipated for this little project. And I couldn’t have done it without Dave Worsley at Wordsworth books, or Carly Blasutti at Public Kitchen and, obviously, each of you.

But now it’s time to pass the keys to someone else who will bring new energy and new thoughts about books to read. I am delighted to announce that Alison Sims has agreed to take it all on. Watch this space for an announcement from Alison about the first book club of the 2024/2025 season.

I’m looking forward to joining friends at the next event. I’ll be the one in the corner enjoying a glass of wine and listening carefully.

bev

we're back!

after a longer than usual pause, we are back with marsha lederman, columnist with the globe and mail, on monday march 18.

join us for a conversation fuelled by her thirty-three years as a journalist and seventeen years with the globe and mail. explore a host of social justice issues including politics, feminism, the environment, arts and culture and family life. a copy of her award winning memoir, ‘kiss the red stairs’, that explores how trauma migrates through the generations through the lens of her parents’ holocaust stories and her own divorce is included in the cost of the ticket.

join us at public kitchen on monday march 18 for what will surely be a wide-ranging discussion on a host of topical questions. tickets available here

for your late summer reading

we hate to be a killjoy and talk about the fall when it is only the beginning of august. but. we are so thrilled to bring dawn promislow, author of ‘wan’, to kitchener in september.

described as beautiful, painterly, sublime, and sonically exquisite, ‘wan’ is the story of a white woman living in south africa during apartheid.

join us on monday september 18 at public kitchen for a lively evening of dinner, drinks and discussion with dawn promislow. buy tickets here




more details

“this book is ultimately a feminist tale, one that shows how complicated and manipulative relationships between women can be, while implying the necessity of coming together for a greater purpose, “we jane” is captivating, well written, and mostly an important read for any woman who, through loss, wants to find a new beginning. ”
— montreal review of books

aimee wall will join us at public kitchen and bar on monday may 8 for dinner (and drinks!) and a discussion about her new book, “we, jane”.

longlisted for the 2021 scotiabank giller prize, ‘we, jane’ is a remarkable debut about intergenerational female relationships and resistance found in the unlikeliest of places.

aimee wall is a writer and translator from grand falls-windsor, newfoundland and labrador currently living in montreal.

click here to buy tickets

“we, jane is an ode to the power of vulnerability, the potential intensity of connections between women, and the importance of continuing to support women even when it seems impossible” ”
— gemma marr, the miramichi reader