The Town Crier

The Town Crier operated as a hub for criticism and commentary, connecting a community of writers, readers, and commentators through social media, and focusing on the interplay of literary opinion in and around the city of Toronto until its closure in February 2021.

• Dr. Chuck Tingle’s Guide to Make Books Real

  By Chuck Tingle | November 28, 2016

  Chuck Tingle discusses balancing literary elements in popular writing and the decisions fiction writers make that affect the way their message is delivered.

• Nom de Plume

  By Naben Ruthnum | November 25, 2016

  Naben Ruthnum discusses Ed McBain, Donald E. Westlake, Stephen King, and the reasons some authors choose to write under pseudonyms.

• Writing in the Nooks and Crannies

  By Sarah Feldbloom | November 23, 2016

  Sarah Feldbloom discusses Margaret Atwood, Journalists for Human Rights, and finding a place somewhere between commercial literature and literary fiction.

• Rambo of Green Gables: Part 3

  By Cian Cruise | November 21, 2016

  Cian Cruise continues an exploration of "Popular Literature" for the month of November and dives right into L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables."

• Beneath the Snow Piles

  By Laura McPhee-Browne | November 18, 2016

  Laura McPhee-Browne on her addiction to crime fiction, her love of Ruth Rendell, and a mystery hiding beneath a snow pile in Chinatown.

• Immersion

  By Miriam Breslow | November 16, 2016

  Miriam Breslow discusses her connection to Woolf, the painful pressures of school and panic attacks, and her journey on "coming back to reading."

• Trash

  By Brandon Varner | November 14, 2016

  Brandon Varner discusses Faulkner, Fifty Shades of Grey, the subjectivity of art, and the importance of finding something you like despite social scrutiny.

• Rambo of Green Gables: Part 2

  By Cian Cruise | November 11, 2016

  Cian Cruise continues an exploration of "Popular Literature" for the month of November and unpacks the bloody spirituality of David Morrell's "First Blood."

• Between Middle Earths: Book Shame and The Lord of the Rings

  By Kate Gies | November 9, 2016

  Katie Gies discusses Tolkien, "The Lord of the Rings", and the guilt of having only watched the Peter Jackson film adaptations instead of reading the books.

• Sex Trolls Learn to Love Genre

  By Nora Decter | November 7, 2016

  Nora Decter discusses troll erotica, "The Babysitter's Club", the Sookie Stackhouse series, and the divide between literary and genre fiction.

• 14 Notes on Tropes

  By Stephen Thomas | November 4, 2016

  Stephen Thomas discusses the transformative power of tropes, T.S. Eliot's "Tradition and the Individual Talent," and Ryan Trecartin.

• Rambo of Green Gables: Part 1

  By Cian Cruise | November 2, 2016

  Cian Cruise introduces an exploration of "Popular Literature" for the month of November and discusses fictional violence, Rambo, and "First Blood"