Welcome to the home of S.W.A.T. (Students, Writers And Teachers), Toronto’s first-ever ongoing writers-in-schools program.

Welcome to NOW HEAR THIS!

NOW HEAR THIS! is the literacy outreach arm of the Descant Arts & Letters Foundation. The program connects professional authors with community groups, students and aspiring writers in order to promote Canadian literature and encourage self-expression, critical thinking and empowerment through literacy education. Explore our website to find out more about our projects, writers, how to bring a workshop to your school or organization, and ways to get involved!

This website was recently redesigned with the help of an Ontario Arts Council Compass Grant.

Recently on NOW HEAR THIS!!

Toronto Poetry Slam event!

Posted by Rachel Hopwood on Jul 28th 2010

Looking for some praiseworthy poetry performances in Toronto next week? Look no further than the SPEAKout Poetry Summer Slam — being held at the Royal Ontario Museum on Friday, August 6th!

This event is a poetry slam — a competition for poets to perform their work for an audience. After all poets have performed, a winner will be declared. This slam has no pre-selected theme but will definitely feature some powerful readings by poets including Boonaa Mohammed and The Narcicyst.

SPEAKout aims to create art that entertains "with a purpose." They also "support local artists and encourage real talent by providing a platform from which they can gain access to a wider audience; fostering & cultivating the poetic tradition in Canada by providing exposure as well as financial support."

Keep reading to learn more about the Summer Slam and how you can attend!

Return to the good stuff: HEAR/HEAR #7, c/o podcasts and YouTube

Posted by Hilary Fair on Jul 23rd 2010

Wednesday, June 9 was a great night for the NHT! community. Tons of friends and three fabulous S.W.A.T. Writers-in-Residence crowded into the Free Times Cafe for an evening of new poetry and prose.

We were delighted by the turn out (thanks, everyone!) and we loved having Elisabeth de Mariaffi, Angela Szczepaniak and Natalie Zine Walschots there with us.

We hope you'll all join us again soon (like, for the next HEAR/HEAR Reading Series featuring Devon Code, Colin Frizzell and Paul Vermeersch. Wednesday, August 11 is an evening we'd like to spend with you!)

To revisit the work Angela, Natalie and Elisabeth shared with us (via podcast and YouTube) check out the links below the fold ...

Looking for some summer reading ideas?

Posted by Rachel Hopwood on Jul 20th 2010

If you're looking for some great new books to fill up your summer you HAVE to check out the Toronto Public Library's Word Out 2010 Teen Summer Reading Project! Every week throughout the summer, Word Out is picking three books — one fiction, one non-fiction and one graphic novel to recommend to youth readers.

To find out more about this awesome program and learn about ways you can win prizes, keep reading!

Get ready, budding novelists — the 3-Day Novel Contest returns

Posted by Hilary Fair on Jul 16th 2010

With plenty of lead time, NOW HEAR THIS! draws your attention to a fun, frantic contest set to hit Toronto (and the international writing community) on Labour Day weekend. That's right: this is 49 days notice — but we want to give your creative juices time to flow, simmer and, ultimately, boil over. We hope you'll be raring to write by September 4, 2010!

The International 3-Day Novel Contest is a chance for all writers (brand new and veteran) to let the subconscious play, unbridled, for an entire weekend. What can you craft in 72 hours? Find out by joining the heaps of folks from around the world that take part in this furiously fast event every year.

The contest has been going strong since 1977 (that's 33 years!) — its longevity being a testament to the pleasure contestants (must) get from the adrenaline rush of no holds barred writing.

For more information and registration details, see below the fold ...

50 years of To Kill A Mockingbird!

Posted by Rachel Hopwood on Jul 15th 2010

Have you heard? This past Sunday Harper Lee's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, turned 50 years old! The book was first published on July 11, 1960 and quickly became one of the most successful and acclaimed novels in America.

It has never been out of print in its 50-year lifetime and began to be studied in schools as early as 1963! A 2008 survey revealed that it is still the most commonly read book by American students in grades 9-12. And most of us were probably exposed to To Kill A Mockingbird in Canadian schools at some point — even though, according to the American Library Association, it was the 21st most-challenged book from 2000-2009, and was taken off a Brampton school's reading list just last year.

To Kill A Mockingbird depicts life in a fictional town in Alabama during the Great Depression. At this time in the deep south of the United States, racism was a fact of life, and everyone was exposed to it to some degree. The protagonist of the book is Scout Finch, a youg girl raised, with her brother, by a principled single father. Much of the first part of the book surrounds Scout, her brother Jem and their friend Dill and their life, bu the book then delves into a legal case in which Scout and Jem's father, Atticus, is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, against a charge of rape.

Most of the controversy surrounding To Kill A Mockingbird centres on its unflinching depiction of racism, including words and attitudes that are no longer acceptable. But we have to remember that this portrayal of the people of small-town Alabama was incredibly accurate to the time (so much so that many of Harper Lee's neighbours complained of finding themselves in the book!). To Kill A Mockingbird has been cited as an influence on the American Civil Rights movement and won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize. It is by no means a perfect, critique-proof book, but no such book could ever exist. There's no denying that it remains an incredibly important and influential book to thousands of readers, and remains a wonderful teaching tool.

Keep reading past the jump to see a round-up of our favourite pieces about To Kill A Mockingbird's 50th anniversary from around the web...

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