Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  CBC Derails Award Winning Porter Canada/US series BY STEPHEN WEIR The Black-led CBC and BET Plus series The Porter has been making waves in the entertainment industry, but it seems that the success of the show has been short-lived. Despite winning 12 Canadian Screen Awards last week, including Best Drama Series, the series will not be returning for a second season. The Porter, a fictional series based on true facts, tells the story of Canada's Black train porters in the 1920s and a coming-of-age film set in Scarborough. The show was aired last year on CBC Gem in Canada and throughout the USA on BET Plus. The series was praised for its spotlight on the railway workers' pursuit of safer working conditions, better pay, and a union. The show boasts a largely Black Canadian creative team, including co-creator Arnold Pinnock and showrunners Marsha Greene and Annmarie Morais. Late last week, the winners of the Canadian Screen Awards were announced, and The Porter was the television ...

Four  Jamaican Canadian University Students Can Spend 5 Weeks In Jamaica Free, Learning About Heritage By Stephen Weir Every summer four Jamaican Canadian university students are brought back to the island to learn about their heritage.   The deadline to apply for this free five-week programme is November 30 th . The Jamaican Birthright Program (JPB) is thanks to the  GraceKennedy Company  which seeks to reconnect second and third generation Jamaicans Canadians attending universities in Canada back to their cultural roots. It provides round-trip transportation, accommodation, a stipend and an internship in Jamaica. The students will be on island from July 1 to Aug 7th 2019.   Petronilla Marchan, one of the organizers of the programme in Canada, said, “students should apply soon. Candidates must be second or third generation Jamaicans, who have never lived in Jamaica for more than a period exceeding six months,” she sai...

DAVID WINS BIG ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT Photo by: Ceta Ramkhalawansingh Story by Stephen Weir  On Wednesday night Trinidadian Canadian writer David Chariandy’s award winning novel, Brother has won thi s year’s Toronto Book Awards. David Chariandy’s book is a devastating story about the love between a mother and her sons, the impact of race, masculinity and the senseless loss of young lives in Scarborough, in the violent summer of 1991. Brother was one of five books on the City of Toronto and Toronto Library‘s 2018 Toronto Book Awards shortlist. Established by Toronto City Council in 1974, the awards honour books of literary merit that are evocative of Toronto. The 2018 shortlist  Dionne Brand “The Unpublished City“  David Chariandy “Brother“  Carrianne Leung “That Time I Loved You“  Lee Maracle “My Conversations with Canadians“  Kerri Sakamoto “Floating City“ The winner of the 2018 Toronto Book Awards was announced last night at the Toro...

70-year old Rachel Manley in the running for the $40K   Amazon Canada First Novel award. By Stephen Weir Author and Mayor John Tory at Word on the Street   Rachel Manley is a different sort of bird when it comes to the shortlist for this year’s   $40,000 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.  Not only is the 70-year old the oldest writer in the book contest, she is the only finalist who has won a Governor General Award for writing (nonfiction), and, her book –The Black Peacock - has   flown under the radar of the country’s book journalists. Since its publication in the fall of 2017, her book has gotten just a single major review in Canada and it was in the Caribbean Camera newspaper. And, oh yes, she is the only shortlisted author that has royal Jamaican roots. The Amazon Canada First Novel Award recognizes the outstanding achievement of a Canadian first-time novelist.   There are six authors in the running for this large award...