Ayelet Tsabari's Blog, page 11

CBC Books’ Writers to Watch (and Other Lists)

A very exciting thing happened the other day, just in time for Canada Day. CBC Books included me on their list of Ten Canadians Writers to Watch. I’ve been following their annual list over the last two years so I was amazed and a little stunned to be on it. And excited. Did I mention how excited I am?

The list includes other great writers I would like to watch, like Jowita Bydlowska (my ESl buddy and author of the buzzing Drunk Mom), Saleema Nawaz, Rebecca Silver Slayter, John Vigna, (whose bo...

‘Yemeni Soup’ Wins a Western Magazine Award

Late last night, as I woke up to breastfeed, I found out that ‘Yemeni Soup and Other Recipes‘ won gold at the Western Magazine Awards! (The gala was too late for me to follow on Twitter, because of the time difference with Vancouver.) The piece (originally published at Grain Magazine) just won silver at the National Magazine Awards last week. I am shocked and delighted! Now I have to call my mother (whom the piece is about) and inform her of this new development…

In other news, I had a great t...

Reading at Luminato’s Literary Picnic

On Saturday afternoon (June 22nd) I’ll be reading at Luminato Festival’s A Literary Picnic. It’s an exciting, free event at Trinity Bellwoods Park: fifty authors reading on three different stages—“Woodstock meets Bookstock,” as the press release put it—then signing books and spreading blankets on the grass to engage with readers.

The theme of the event is Beginnings, which is appropriate since my first Luminato experience, four years ago, was only days after Sean and I moved to Toronto from Va...

Teaching Creative Non Fiction at the University of Toronto

I’m teaching both Introduction to Creative Nonfiction and anAdvancedCreative Nonfictionworkshopat the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies this summer. I’m really excited about it!

The introduction course invites you to explore what it is you want and need to say, and it helps you find an immediate, noteworthy, compelling and perhaps provocative form for expressing it.

The advancedcourse is an intensive workshop for writers with a memoir, personal essay, lyric essay, travel stor...

Teaching a Creative Non Fiction Workshop at the University of Toronto

I’m teaching an advanced creative nonfiction workshop at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies this summer. I’m really excited about it!

This course is an intensive workshop for writers with a memoir, personal essay, lyric essay, travel story or biography in progress. Each participant will submit at least two pieces of writing for discussion and evaluation. With the help of constructive criticism and support from your peers, you will have the opportunity to refine a work-in-...

On Writing about My Mother and Winning a National Magazine Award

My mother and her world-famous jichnoon in my Toronto kitchen

On Friday night, the night of the National Magazine Awards gala in Toronto, I was sitting at home in my PJ’s following the Twitter feed, waiting to hear if the piece I wrote about my mother, ‘Yemeni Soup and Other Recipes,’ won in the One of a Kind category.

It was past my bedtime, because now that I’m a mother I can’t waste precious sleeping hours when my baby is sleeping. I kept refreshing the feed, looked at photos that other peop...

A Confession (Plus Upcoming Readings)

Photo by Nikki Mills

I have a confession to make: I haven’t been completely straight with you these past few months. Some huge, life-changing things were happening (aside from the publication of my first book) that I neglected to mention here. The reason for this omission is that I’m superstitious (or as I wrote in my National Post essay: I’m a knock-on-wood-mantra-chanting-afraid-of-the-evil-eye type). I know it’s silly. In fact, it’s ridiculous. It’s also extremely tiring to keep knocking on...

Photos from the Book Launch

Yes, I know it’s been two months, but better late than never, right? I had two wonderful photographers documenting the launch.My friend, Danielle Nakouz, who is a budding photographer (and who was unnecessarily nervous about the gig, as you can see below!)andNikki Mills, who’s a beautiful professional photographer based in Toronto. Both did an amazing job. I couldn’t be more pleased. I already posted some of Danielle’s photos here. I finally had time to sort through the rest and here are some...

A Review in Publishers Weekly

The Best Place on Earth had another great review in Publishers Weekly. From their website: “Publishers Weekly, familiarly known in the book world as PW and ‘the bible of the book business,’ is a weekly news magazine focused on the international book publishing business.” Exciting!

The review is short and sweet; apparently all PW reviews must be under a 100 words. Here’s a quote: “This short story collection is a fiction debut for Tsabari, but it demonstrates that she is already a talented stor...

A Glowing Review in The Vancouver Sun (and Other Places Too)

The Best Place on Earth was reviewed in The Vancouver Sun last week, which was exciting for many reasons. First of all, it was a fantastic, thoughtful and well written review by author and poet Dennis E. Bolen, in which some comparisons to Hemingway (!) were made. Secondly, the article was a full-page spread with a ridiculously huge picture of me (I was kind of startled when I saw it). And finally, it was The Vancouver Sun!!! Perhaps because Vancouver was my home for eleven years, and it is w...