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Write Around Town
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By: Deanna McFadden
July 2009
 One of the surest ways to pinch pennies during a recession is to make use of your local library. Torontonians are extremely lucky to have 11 million items available to them through the Toronto Public Library system, the largest of its kind in the country. From books to DVDs to audio books and much more, the library has another feather in its cap – for the most part, it’s unaffected by the strike.
One of the TPL’s most unique assets, The Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, contains almost 70,000 works in the genre. The non-circulating collection came into existence almost forty years ago when “the little mother of science fiction,” Judith Merril, donated about 5,000 works of science fiction, fantasy and associated non-fiction to the library. Originally titled “The Spaced Out Library,” these works became the central reference collection that served both scholars and the general public who have an interest in ‘contemporary speculative literature.’
Currently housed at the Lillian H. Smith Building (239 College Street, 3rd Floor), the collection has a mandate to collect every science fiction and fantasy title published into the English language. In addition to literature, it also houses substantial amounts of genre-related critical materials, and non-fiction materials that include art work and information on topics like parapsychology, UFOs, and SF in movies and television.
Now here’s where science and science fiction merges for two special days in mid-July presenting what they’re calling “a galaxy of exciting events in conjunction with NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory Mission,” the general public can spend two whole days contemplating the most interesting and far out (literally) aspects of outer space. The program starts off on Friday, July 17 with a speaker from the observatory taking a rapt audience through the myriad of discoveries the mission has made since its inception nine years ago. After that, stick around and launch Rift in the Sky (the third novel in the Stratification Cycle of the Clan Chronicles) with author Julie Czerneda. The events start at 6:00pm and run until 9:00pm.
On Saturday, plan to stay from 9:30am until 4:30pm for a day that includes two workshops (the first lets the attendees “play with the cosmos”; the second includes a session with writer Julie Czerneda) and two lectures (a visual journey through art and space with Donna L. Young, and a session on science fiction art and illustration with Jean-Pierre Normand). Specific details and registration information can be found on the TPL’s website within the section dedicated to the Merril Collection.
One of the most unique literary events to experience in the city this summer, the two-day mini-festival will give attendees the chance to see, in very real and very fascinating ways, how science and fiction intersect. For those of you with small children, note that the program’s intended audience is teenagers and adults. And if you’re busy on July 17-18, why not drop by the Merril Collection at some point in the summer to enjoy the current exhibition entitled, “Toronto’s Tomorrows,” showcasing, among other things, science fiction, horror and fantasy set in our fair city.
For more information on the Toronto Public Library please visit their site: http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca
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