Q&A | City Voices: A Book of Monologues by Toronto Artists

L to R: Anila Pant, Jenna Harris and Ronit Rubinstein. Photo by Max Telzerow.

The Toronto arts scene is bursting with talent, and now we have a book to prove it! City Voices: A Book of Monologues by Toronto Artists launches on Wednesday, December 19 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Published by Discord and Din Press, the anthology features works by a diverse array of local artists, including playwrights Jordan Tannahill, Neale Kimmel, Kat Sandler, Daniel Pagett, Jason Maghanoy and Jessica Moss. We caught up with the book’s editors Jenna Harris, Anila Pant and Ronit Rubinstein to find out more about this exciting publication (answers by Jenna Harris below).

Theatromania: Tell us about City Voices. What inspired you to self-publish this anthology?

JH: City Voices is a completely local and grassroots book project that started about a year ago and came out of a desire to create a forum with which to showcase the fierce talent this city has to offer. With cuts to arts funding and our current local government’s less-than arts-friendly approach to governance, we wanted to show that not only is Toronto’s theatre community thriving, but that as artists, we can make our own opportunities and not feel as though we need to wait patiently on the sidelines to be noticed.

City Voices features 29 monologues by 28 writers who were selected from a call for submissions in April. Among the writers we have playwrights, poets and spoken word artists at different stages of their careers, and with an age range that spans from 13 to well into their golden years.

Theatromania: How would you describe the book’s contents in a sentence or two?

JH: City Voices is a collection of monologues by an incredibly diverse group of Toronto writers, some established artists and some up-and-coming. The book offers a mix of theatrical monologues, spoken word, poetry and prose, and will expose readers to the work of some of our most interesting contemporary local writers.

Theatromania: Can you give us a few examples of how the local arts community has helped to support this initiative?

JH: The arts community has been, and continues to be, incredibly supportive of this project.  Initially when we put out the call for submissions we had theatre companies, writing groups and individual artists sharing the call, rapid-fire, via social media and through word-of-mouth.  Now, as we are about to launch this book, the same thing is happening. And the willingness by those in the arts to share information about this project and their words of encouragement and support, have been overwhelming. But I think that the biggest thrill for us has been the response from the writers themselves, not only in the sheer number that submitted, but also in their excitement over having a project like this to submit to.  This whole experience has shown us just how supportive the local arts community is, and we are so honoured to be a part of it.

Theatromania: What do you hope readers take away from City Voices?

JH: Mainly, we hope they enjoy it! The writers take us on so many unique journeys in this book, and what we want is for the readers to feel the intensity of emotions of these diverse stories. We also hope they take away a sense of the deep talent, and breadth of perspectives, that thrives in the artistic community of Toronto. And hopefully readers can discover a new writer or two whose careers they will want to follow, and whose shows and writing they’ll continue to support in the future.

Theatromania: It may be a bit too soon to ask, but do you anticipate publishing a sequel?

JH: We’ve been so wrapped up in this project that we haven’t had the time or wherewithal to plan that far into the future. But the process of putting this book together has been so rewarding, and we had so many strong submissions to choose from, that there is certainly the potential for another volume.

Book Launch Party: Wedesday, December 19 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander Street). Reception 7pm, readings at 8pm. Visit cityvoices.ca for more information and to buy a copy.

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