TAC Says No, WOTS Says Yes, Neil Says Let's Dance

I am 0 for 2 in the arts council grants department. A few years ago the Ontario Arts Council turned me down, and last week the Toronto Arts Council said no dice. So while I didn't score any taxpayer-funded largesse from TAC, I'm pleased to say Steve Thornton, A.M. Matte and Rob Brunet did. All of them are associated with the Toronto Writers Co-op, which has to be the best writing group in Hogtown: Thank you founder, promoter and eminence grise John
Miller.

And the same week that I missed out on some TAC coin, the Word on the Street moved to its new digs at Harbourfront. I've already said I was none too keen on the idea. That's because I predicted that it won't be long before WOTS is charging for some of its talks, panel discussions and so on. I still think that, and I still don't like the idea, but the switch to Harbourfront was nothing less than remarkable. The exhibitor layout was easy - or at least easier - to follow; I didn't see or smell any food trucks selling their deep fried gut plugs; there was more space to move around; there was a clear separation of the kids' and adults' sections; the sun shone; the ducks on the lake quacked. Of course, I had some quibbles: I only saw one coffee shop and its lineup was long and discouraging; there were far too few places to lock up a bike; and fortunately I didn't need a Fraser Nash, as Cockney rhyming slang has it, so I didn't have to visit no doubt oversubscribed washrooms.

I made first for the Quattro Books tent, yakked it up with Luciano Iacobelli, one of the gang of four that runs Quattro, scanned their table and found Terminal Grill, a 2013 book by Rosemary Aubert, one of this country's finest crime writers. I'm already reading it and Rosemary had me hooked from the first page, which is exceptionally well done, as is her portrait of the down and out poet we meet on that page. He's unnamed but can only be the late Milton Acorn. A few pages later we learn that the antagonist Matthew claims to be Neil Young's pianist and is back in Hogtown to shoot a music video. Great crime writing and Neil Young. I mean, how good can it get? All the more so because Neil's wonderful and delicate country gem, Harvest Moon, is the song this week at Choir! Choir! Choir! II which I belong to along with lots of other untrained songsters. Clinton's on Wednesday at 7:30pm. Five bucks gets you in and a song sheet with the lyrics and an arrangement from Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman, who run the choir and the event.

So no TAC cheque, but WOTS @ Harbourfront was a winner, I get to warble a classic tune on Wednesday,  and there's a spate of launches up ahead and the promise of some interesting reading. Not bad.