Toronto International Festival of Authors returns to in-person events in 2022, reveals fall line-up

on Aug 30, 2022

The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) returns to in-person events in 2022, from September 22 to October 2 at Toronto's Harbourfront Center.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, TIFA was a virtual event in 2020 and 2021.

"We had no clue what was about to happen to our planet when I began my work in 2020. This period in history has reminded us that as humans, we have an innate urge to tell and share tales, as well as to join together as a community "In a statement, TIFA director Roland Gulliver stated.

TIFA is Canada's longest-running literary festival, an annual celebration of books, authors, and readers that draws thousands of people to locations around Toronto.

Gulliver told CBC Books that this year's TIFA expands on the previous two years of virtual events, incorporating programming like "in-conversation" author discussions, concerts, and masterclasses, to give the festival a new yet familiar vibe. Over the course of 11 days, audiences will have the opportunity to meet and hear from Canadian and worldwide authors such as Dionne Brand, Tomson Highway, Ian McEwan, Marian Keyes, Ben Macintyre, Ali Hassan, and Margaret Atwood.

TIFA 2022 will include a variety of comparable activities, as well as TIFA Kids, the organization's youth and children's programmes. The event will be held both indoors and outdoors at Toronto's Harbourfront Center, with digital material and activities available online to supplement live programming.

The "new look" festival will enhance the experience for audiences and authors by providing new creative options for festival programming and activities.

TIFA held its first Motive Crime & Mystery Festival in June, a literary festival centered on crime and mystery fiction. Motive, which included writers such as Thomas King, Shari Lapena, and Kathy Reichs, was held this past spring at Harbourfront Center and was TIFA's first in-person event since 2020.

Gulliver stated that the event established the tone and acted as a great "road test" for what festival programming may look like, with a combination of indoor, outdoor, and virtual events.

"We've created a foundation for what [TIFA] is," Gulliver added. "It's incredibly thrilling to finally be gathering folks for 11 days. We're honoring books and tales and building on all of the many types of learning experiences we've had over the years."