Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  IT IS A DOG’S LIFE IN THE WORLD OF ANDRE ALEXIS Woof. Woof. Who let the dogs out? The Crow’s Nest Theatre in downtown Toronto is quick to answer that it is Caribbean Canadian author Andre Alexis who is to blame.   For almost two weeks the Carlaw Avenue theatre has been selling out each and every performance of their new play “Fifteen Dogs”.  The new work is based on the award winning novel  by Alexis which won the Giller Prize, the  Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and Canada Reads   back in 2015.    The book has been adapted for the stage by  Marie Farsi and has received funding in part from  The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation  and the Canadian Literature Adaptation Fund.    The play follows the book storyline which begins with two Greek Gods – Hermes and Apollo, drinking in a seedy Toronto tavern. They make a bet to what will happen when they grant 15 dogs human consciousness. They watch from above as the pups discover the pitfalls of complex thought and emotion. In this mo

Hurricane warning at the CP-24 weather map   Say it isn’t so Patricia Jaggernauth. Say it isn’t so.  Toronto’s TV world got a shock last week with the announcement that the community’s favourite weather announcer had just quit, and the details aren’t pretty.  The 40-year-old Caribbean Canadian journalist worked as a weather specialist a  fill-in host of the CP24 morning show.  The Emmy award winner also hosted lifestyle and celebrity talk series, Patricia J Show on  Bell Fibe TV1.  She was also  a staple at the best of the best Caribbean events in the city appearing ob behalf of the station.  With Jamaican and Guyanese parents, she was raised in Scarborough and is Caribbean to the bone. She was a fixture reporting from Caribbean Carnival events including the Grand Parade. Jaggernauth was so much a part of the parade she actually volunteered to put on the feathers and sequins and was the showstopper at a late night costume launch. This reporter, while working for the Caribbean Carnival

Linked Stories From Nassau.  People Just Don’t Understand By Stephen Weir Wow – the young-uns knew a long time ago what an incredible story-teller Bahamian Canadian author  Janice Lynn Mather is. Later this month it will be the adults turn to discover this  Governor General's Literary Award-winning novelists with the release of her new book Uncertain Kin. The Vancouver based writer first made a name for herself here in Canada with her first two books, Learning to Breathe and Facing the Sun. Not only did the Young Adult titles make a splash with junior high schoolers they won awards and were nominated for some biggies too. Now she is about to return to the bookstore shelves with her first adult work of fiction.   Uncertain Kin   is a collection of linked   stories about the lives of women and girls living in The Bahamas and Canada. Eighteen strange haunting stories introduce us to women and girls searching for identity and belonging during moments of profound upheaval. “I like to r

BOOKS Children’s Literature – First Day At School In Canada For Jamaica’s Leroy By Stephen Weir Immigration and children is The hot topic button today.   The differences between Canada’s approach and the United States have never been so profound.   In the genre of Children’s Literature, Toronto author, storyteller and bookstore owner Itah Sadu’s latest book (her sixth)   – Greetings, Leroy – is suddenly germane to the discussion. Itah Sadu has written a new children’s picture book as an email to a friend back home about Roy’s first day at a Canadian school. His family has just moved to Canada from Jamaica. His new home is different from his old home – in in the North, even the sun feels cold! His nerves ease, though, as welcome reminders of home follow him through his day. It begins when his neighbour gives him a Bob Marley button as a gift to get him through that stressful first day at school. The principal tells him about the soccer team and his new class makes