Read The North

by The Word On The Street

A history of CanLit, as told by Toronto's favourite book festival. Since 1990, The Word On The Street has featured books by Canadian and Indigenous authors at a free, annual street fair created to promote literacy and celebrate the written word. In this series, WOTS' Rebecca Diem interviews authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, readers, & historians to discover the origins of the festival, the creation of a Canadian L... Read more

Podcast episodes

  • Season 1

  • S01 E05 - The Readers and Writers

    S01 E05 - The Readers and Writers

    In the series finale, we return to the beating heart of the festival. Thank you to our community of book lovers and authors who make The Word On The Street such a special place to connect with each other. Hosted by Rebecca DiemPro...

    36:43
  • S01 E04 - The Booksellers and Librarians

    S01 E04 - The Booksellers and Librarians

    Visit a few of Toronto's famed independent bookstores and sneak into the archives of the Merril Collection with us in this celebration of booksellers, librarians, and their communities. Hosted by Rebecca Diem Produced by Quinton B...

    34:51
  • S01 E03 - The Publishers

    S01 E03 - The Publishers

    In this episode, we go behind-the-scenes of the publishing industry with Canada's world-class independent presses to see how a book is made and meet a few of the people who make them happen. Hosted by Rebecca DiemProduced by Quint...

    34:10
  • S01 E02 - The Creation of 'CanLit'

    S01 E02 - The Creation of 'CanLit'

    To understand where CanLit, or Canadian Literature, came to be what it is today, we need to go back in time to when it was first imagined into being. In this episode we cover the 1951 Massey Report, the founding of the Writers’ Un...

    36:16
  • S01 E01 - The Word On The Street

    S01 E01 - The Word On The Street

    The Word On The Street’s annual festival in downtown Toronto has endured for more than 30 years. But with the onset of a global pandemic in 2020, the festival’s future was far from assured…Hosted by Rebecca DiemProduced by Quinton...

    33:05