31. THE GREAT READCEPTION: A LITERARY CABARET - The FOLD

31. THE GREAT READCEPTION: A LITERARY CABARET

In-Person Event

Description

Alessandra Naccarato, Ali Hassan, Anuja Varghese, Catherine Hernandez, Elamin Abdelmahmoud, and Jen Sookfong Lee

In this in-person evening event, a unique sampling of festival authors read from their works accompanied by music composed and performed by Brampton musician Carmen Spada and a live jazz band. Whether you’re a regular FOLD attendee, a big reader or a lover of live entertainment, this not-to-be-missed signature event is designed to celebrate the power of storytelling and the magic of live musical performance.

Date: May 5, 2023
Time: 8:00pm – 9:30pm ET

Location: The Rose Theatre in Brampton, ON

This is a specialty event with a ticket price of $20 CAD. It is not included with a festival pass.

Get Tickets Now

How to Register

The 2023 festival will run from April 30 – May 7. Dedicated virtual programming on our innovative, online platform will run April 30 – May 3, while in-person events — many of which will also be live-streamed and available on-demand for virtual audiences — will run May 4-7.

A Virtual Festival Pass gives guests access to more than 20 virtual events which can be viewed from the website or through our festival app designed for mobile devices. In addition to festival events, virtual passes provide users with direct access to more than a dozen vendors in our festival exhibitor hall. Guests who purchase a virtual pass can also participate in trivia times, roundtable discussions and our new festival after-parties, which will follow all of our evening events.

An In-Person Festival Pass gives users access to all of our virtual events as well as our standard in-person events in Brampton, Ontario on Saturday, May 6.

This year, the festival includes three in-person Specialty Events – the Dine N’ Draw on May 4, the Literary Cabaret on May 5 and our Historical Fiction High Tea on May 7. Tickets for these events are not covered with our passes and are only available until April 30.

REGISTER NOW

On a Budget? Check out our Patron Pass program.

Featured Speaker(s)

A Black man with short hair and a goatee sits in front of a dark green background, resting his arm and propping his head against his right hand. He wears a dark blue shirt.
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Bio
A brown bald man with a goatee stands against a dark blue background. He is smiling and wearing a red-brown leather jacket over a blue shirt.
Ali Hassan
Bio
A queer brown femme with short dark hair, wearing a strapless black dress with a white skirt.
Catherine Hernandez
Bio
A middle-aged Asian Canadian woman with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a dark printed dress and standing against a black background with her arms crossed. She wears bright red lipstick.
Jen Sookfong Lee
Bio
A white woman with brown hair leans against a wooden countertop. She wears a black blazer,
Alessandra Naccarato
Bio
A young brown woman with long black hair, wearing dark pink lipstick.
Anuja Varghese
Bio
A young Black woman with long straight black hair, wearing long hoop earrings.
Téa Mutonji
Bio
A Black man with short hair and a goatee sits in front of a dark green background, resting his arm and propping his head against his right hand. He wears a dark blue shirt.

Elamin Abdelmahmoud

Elamin Abdelmahmoud is the host of CBC’s Commotion, and author of the No. 1 national bestseller Son of Elsewhere, a New York Times notable book of the year. He is a Reporter at Large for BuzzFeed News and a contributor to The National’s At Issue panel. Elamin was a founding host of Party Lines and Pop Chat for CBC Podcasts. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Globe, and others. When he gets a chance, he writes bad tweets.

A brown bald man with a goatee stands against a dark blue background. He is smiling and wearing a red-brown leather jacket over a blue shirt.

Ali Hassan

Ali Hassan is a Stand-up Comic, Actor and CBC Personality. Ali is the host of the CBC Radio stand-up comedy show Laugh Out Loud, and the host of Canada Reads – the annual battle of the books celebrating the best of Canadian literature. Ali  can be seen as a recurring guest star in Sort Of on CBC GEM and HBO Max, and the sitcom Run The Burbs on CBC Television, and just began touring his latest solo show ‘Does This Taste Funny?’ across Canada. His comedic memoir Is There Bacon in Heaven? is out NOW with Simon & Schuster.

A queer brown femme with short dark hair, wearing a strapless black dress with a white skirt.

Catherine Hernandez

Catherine Hernandez (she/her) is an award-winning author and screenwriter. She is a proud queer woman who is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian descent and married into the Navajo Nation. Her novel, Scarborough, was a finalist for several awards including Canada Reads 2022. She wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Scarborough, which won 8 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Her second novel, Crosshairs, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her latest novel, The Story of Us, was published this year. She is currently working on a few television projects and her fourth novel.

A middle-aged Asian Canadian woman with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a dark printed dress and standing against a black background with her arms crossed. She wears bright red lipstick.

Jen Sookfong Lee

Jen Sookfong Lee was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her family in North Burnaby. Her books include The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, The End of East, The Shadow List, and Superfan. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press and co-hosts the literary podcast Can’t Lit.

A white woman with brown hair leans against a wooden countertop. She wears a black blazer,

Alessandra Naccarato

Alessandra Naccarato is the author of Imminent Domains: Reckoning with the Anthropocene (Essays) and Re-Origin of Species (Poems). Born and raised in Tkaronto (Toronto), her poetry and essays speak to intersections of disability and ecological change, and have appeared widely in publications such as The New Quarterly, Room Magazine, and Event. She is the recipient of numerous recognitions, including the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award and the CBC Poetry Prize, and holds graduate degrees in both creative writing and community economic development, supporting two decades of work in grassroots social change, community arts, and the prevention of gender-based violence.

A young brown woman with long black hair, wearing dark pink lipstick.

Anuja Varghese

Anuja Varghese (she/her) is a QWOC Pushcart-nominated writer based in Hamilton, ON. Her work appears in Hobart, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, Plenitude Magazine, and others. Anuja is also a professional grant writer and editor, and in 2021, took on the role of Fiction Editor with The Puritan. Her debut short story collection Chrysalis (House of Anansi, 2023) centers brown women and girls in genre-blending stories that tackle sexuality, cultural expectations, and transformation through a feminist lens. Find Anuja on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok or through her website.

A young Black woman with long straight black hair, wearing long hoop earrings.

Téa Mutonji

Téa Mutonji is a poet writing fiction. Her short stories collection, Shut Up You’re Pretty (2019), was published by VS. Books and Arsenal Pulp Press.

The FOLD is a remarkable and wonderful event for authors and attendees alike. What an amazing community, dedicated to the vital need for inclusive stories and the critical role they play in building a better world.

Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her

Field Guide to the North American Teenager is my first novel and FOLD was my first Canadian literary festival. While American and Canadian culture overlap quite a bit, especially when it comes to bookshelves, Canadian literature is unique and I was very heartened by to be embraced by that community I consider home despite residing in the US. It was a homecoming I didn’t know I needed!

Ben Philippe, author of Field Guide to the North American Teenager

The Festival of Literary Diversity was an absolute joy–the organizers thought of *everything* and by anticipating authors’ needs, they freed us to focus on connecting with the audience and each other. There was no pretension, no posturing–just very genuine conversations with invested writers and engaged readers.

Zetta Elliott, author of Dragons in a Bag

I have been to a lot of writers festivals and the FOLD is definitely near the top of the list of those I want to be invited back to.

Harold Johnson, author of the memoirs Clifford and Firewater

Being part of such a clearly diverse, inclusive and mutually respectful group was thrilling and inspiring: a glimpse of a better world.

Kathy Page, author of Dear Evelyn, winner of the 2018 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize

Wherever I go in Canada and find another writer of colour, we eventually end up gushing about how great the FOLD is, how by normalizing diversity it liberates us to talk to audiences about craft. It’s hard to imagine the literary landscape returning to a prehistoric pre-FOLD era.

Ian Williams, Author of the Giller Prize-winning novel Reproduction

FOLD is a festival experience unlike any other I’ve had. The FOLD team strive to create a space that’s welcoming and engaging, while allowing for curiosity, ingenuity and the fostering of real community – and they succeed, every year.

Alicia Elliott, author of A Mind Spread Out On The Ground

The FOLD is one of the most important literary events on this continent. By focusing on diverse voices and giving authors space to share their stories and speak their truths, it is revolutionizing the writing and storytelling realm as we know it.

Waubgeshig Rice, author of Moon Of The Crusted Snow

Being part of the FOLD community has provided me with a strong sense of belonging. Sharing diverse stories and listening to different voices that broaden my understanding of the world has impacted me as a person and motivated me as a writer.

Ann Y.K. Choi, author of Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety

Stay connected

Follow us on social media

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: Access Token is not valid or has expired. Feed will not update.

Stay Informed

Sign up for our newsletter