Toronto International Festival of Authors

Running from September to June, the weekly event series includes authors taking part in events like readings, round table discussions and interviews.

The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), one of the most celebrated literary festivals in the world,[2] was inaugurated in 1980 with a mandate to bring together the best writers of contemporary world literature. Like the weekly series, IFOA includes readings, interviews, round table discussions and talks, as well as public book signings and a festival bookstore. IFOA also continues to present readings by Scotiabank Giller Prize, Governor General’s Literary Award and Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize finalists, the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction recipient, and the awarding of the $10,000 Harbourfront Festival Prize.

Beginning in 2007, TIFA sought to grow their audience base by introducing the IFOA’s touring program, IFOA Ontario. This touring program visits communities in numerous cities and towns across Ontario. In 2010 IFOA Ontario featured 16 events in 14 towns and cities, from Windsor to Picton and Hamilton to Thunder Bay.[3]

An integral part of TIFA, Book Bash, previously known as Young IFOA,[4] was born as a way to include a younger generation of readers in a festival of international repute.

ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers was also introduced in 2005, featuring some of the world’s leading authors for young people. In 2010, ALOUD was incorporated as part of the Forest of Reading Festival of Trees.

In May 2007, TIFA hosted the first annual Forest of Reading Festival of Trees on the 10-acre Harbourfront Centre site. Now Canada’s largest children’s literary event, attracting 8,000 audience members annually, this action-packed festival celebrates the shared experience of reading through award ceremonies, workshops and activities. The Festival of Trees is presented with the Ontario Library Association.