Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

                         Salad Days of Literature Brings Lots Of Cabbage to Ian Williams These are salad days for Caribbean Canadian authors. Earlier this week another Trinidadian-born author won big, really big, and the country has sat up and taken notice. On Tuesday evening  Ian Williams  won the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his very first novel “ Reproduction ”, published by Random House Canada, taking home $100,000. Earlier this month Trinidadian Canadian author  André Alexis  won big as well capturing the $50,000 Writers’ Trust fiction prize for his English language novel “ Days by Moonlight ”. He is only the second author in the country to capture the award twice. Days by Moonlight  is his seventh novel. The book is about Alfred Homer who takes a Southern Ontario road trip to investigate the story of John Skennen, a poet whose ghost haunts a few souls around the provin...

It Isn’t A Game In The Other Side Of The Game Amanda Parris Toronto fervently wishes that the name Lester Donaldson would not be spoken and that 29 years after his death the city could return to being known as Toronto The Good.   But if wishes were kittens, Amanda Parris’s debut play, Other Side Of The Game, would still be a lion’s roar against Toronto’s treatment of the Black community – from police shootings in the last century to carding in the 2000s. Lester Donaldson is a name from way back.  He was a mentally disturbed Black man who was shot dead by police in a Toronto rooming house.  It was 1988 and the community rose up and marched, shouting Lester’s name at the police and City Hall. It was the spark that lit a roman candle under Dudley Laws who shortly thereafter formed the Black Action Defense Committee (BADC). There were more shootings of innocent Black men and BADC hit back with more  and larger demonstrations and finally a riot. In Oth...

Stan Douglas, left, with Michael Audain  awarded the $100,000 Audain Prize for Visual Art. Four Canadian Caribbean Cultural Icons in the National Spotlight By Stephen Weir Stan Douglas just won a really big one while Amanda Parris, Ian Williams and André Alexis are up for a some big ones too! September and early October has been a rewarding time for four Canadian Caribbean artists, dramtists and writers. Ten days ago Vancouver photographic artist Stan Douglas was awarded the $100,000 Audain Prize for the Visual Arts. It is a Canadian art  award  that recognizes the outstanding achievements of British Columbia's artists. The Prize is administered by the  Audain  Art Museum. Born in British Columbia to Caribbean parents, 59-year old Stan Douglas is one of Canada’s most widely celebrated and internationally important contemporary artists. Best known for his photography, film and video installations, his art often examines the complexities of...