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Toronto Spark
@torontospark.bsky.social
The Toronto Spark is an online media outlet focusing on underrepresented artists and advancing understanding of diverse communities. Check us out at https://torontospark.ca/.
Eisha Marjara’s richly textured Calorie stands as a testament to the power of Canadian filmmaking. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/eisha-marjar...
Eisha Marjara's richly textured Calorie stands as a testament to the power of Canadian filmmaking - Toronto Spark
Calorie is poignant and profound family drama weaving together intergenerational relations and diasporic reconnection with the homeland.
torontospark.ca
November 29, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Manok and “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” win audience awards at Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/manok-and-co...
Manok and “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” win audience awards at Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival - Toronto Spark
Two queer-themed films set in Asia were each a big hit with those who attended the recent Reel Asian screenings.
torontospark.ca
November 27, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Rauleyan Vele (In the Time of Unrest) author Balbir Parwana wins Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/rauleyan-vel...
Rauleyan Vele (In the Time of Unrest) author Balbir Parwana wins Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature - Toronto Spark
Parwana received $25,000 for winning the Dhahan Prize; runners-up Mudassar Bashir and Bhagwant Rasulpuri each took home $10,000.
torontospark.ca
November 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Choreographer Lai Hung-chung embodies human desire for comfort and freedom in Birdy. Learn why the Taiwanese dance artist put four foot pheasant feathers on dancers' heads @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/choreographe...
Choreographer Lai Hung-chung embodies human desire for comfort and freedom in Birdy - Toronto Spark
Birdy choreographer Lai Hung-chung was inspired by an Alan Parker film starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage.
torontospark.ca
November 25, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Canada Post honours Scott Pilgrim series creator Brian Lee O’Malley and five other graphic novelists with postage stamps. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/canada-post-...
Canada Post honours Scott Pilgrim series creator Brian Lee O'Malley and five other graphic novelists with postage stamps - Toronto Spark
Graphic novelists Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas are the other honourees.
torontospark.ca
November 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Souvankham Thammavongsa wins her second Giller Prize. @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/souvankham-t...
Souvankham Thammavongsa wins her second Giller Prize - Toronto Spark
CBC broadcast the Giller Award ceremony, which was hosted by Rick Mercer.
torontospark.ca
November 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
The comedy economy: Nigeria’s online video skits are making millions. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/the-comedy-e...
The comedy economy: Nigeria’s online video skits are making millions - Toronto Spark
With 63 percent of Nigerians under 25 and high social media uptake, skits tap into abundant creative energy and mobile-first audiences.
torontospark.ca
November 18, 2025 at 5:57 AM
UBC postdoctoral fellow Kashif Raza points out how Zohran Mamdani’s win shows how multilingualism bridges divides in diverse democracies. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/zohran-mamda...
Zohran Mamdani’s win shows how multilingualism bridges divides in diverse democracies - Toronto Spark
Mamdani called for fairness in Arabic, Bangla, Urdu-Hindi, and Spanish during his campaign to become mayor of America’s largest city.
torontospark.ca
November 12, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Directors Guild of Canada honours A Mother Apart and Final Destination: Bloodlines at 24th annual awards ceremony. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/directors-gu...
Directors Guild of Canada honours A Mother Apart and Final Destination: Bloodlines at 24th annual awards ceremony - Toronto Spark
Laurie Townshend won the Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary for her film about spoken-word artist Staceyann Chin.
torontospark.ca
November 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival announces 2025 award winners. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/toronto-reel...
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival announces 2025 award winners - Toronto Spark
Montréal, Ma Belle, which stars Charlotte Aubin and Joan Chen, won the RBC Best Canadian Feature Award.
torontospark.ca
November 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Booker prize 2025: the six shortlisted books, reviewed by experts. Learn more about each finalist @torontospark.bsky.social torontospark.ca/booker-prize...
Booker prize 2025: the six shortlisted books, reviewed by experts - Toronto Spark
Academics review the Booker finalists ahead of the announcement of the winner on November 10.
torontospark.ca
November 6, 2025 at 8:26 PM
New online @torontospark.bsky.social cover designed by art director Jessica Sung. Learn more about innovative Toronto artist/musician Vicki Lovelee at torontospark.ca.
November 4, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Toronto alt-pop artist Vicki Lovelee invites listeners to experience dark, theatrical pop in her opera house. She will perform at Jade Music Fest next Fri. & Sat. on Granville Island in Vancouver. Learn more about this innovative artist @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/toronto-alt-...
Toronto alt-pop artist Vicki Lovelee invites listeners to experience dark, theatrical pop in her opera house - Toronto Spark
Lovelee studied classical piano and has a degree in jazz vocals but nowadays, she transforms pain into powerful anthems.
torontospark.ca
October 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Creativity is good for the brain and might even slow down its ageing – new study. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/creativity-i...
Creativity is good for the brain and might even slow down its ageing – new study - Toronto Spark
Brain health is not defined by the absence of disease but by its ability to sustain efficient, resilient, and integrated activity.
torontospark.ca
October 29, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Toronto-based Dr. Holic bridges rap and Cantopop in crafting catchy, cross-cultural hip-hop. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/jade-music-f...
Jade Music Fest: Dr. Holic bridges rap and Cantopop in crafting catchy, cross-cultural hip-hop - Toronto Spark
With original works like "RICE!", "Like Sunshine", and "New York to Taipei", the Toronto-based artist is creating a sound all his own.
torontospark.ca
October 27, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Literary stars Madeleine Thien and Kiran Desai will be at this week's Toronto International Festival of Authors. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/literary-sta...
Literary stars Madeleine Thien and Kiran Desai will be at Toronto International Festival of Authors - Toronto Spark
Thien is author of The Book of Records; it's about people from different centuries who take refuge at a staging post between migrations.
torontospark.ca
October 27, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Today is International Artist Day, which is celebrated every year on Pablo Picasso's birthday. For those interested in art and poetry, here is a new poem in the @torontospark.bsky.social by Cathy Xinman. It's called "Guernica Strikes Like Lightning at the Core". torontospark.ca/cathy-xinman...
Cathy Xinman: Guernica Strikes Like Lightning at the Core - Toronto Spark
Xinman has written an ambitious art poem, inspired by Picasso’s Guernica painting as its spiritual ignition point.
torontospark.ca
October 25, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Veena Yamano plays Yonsei Japanese Canadian in her 20s who lands in Tokyo in “Tears Burn to Ash”. It's part of Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival's Shorts: Otherworlds program at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 4 at 6:30 pm Nov. 8. More @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/reel-asian-t...
Reel Asian: “Tears Burn to Ash” depicts diaspora’s distance from ancestral homeland - Toronto Spark
Veena Yamano plays a fourth-generation Japanese Canadian in her 20s who lands in Tokyo in “Tears Burn to Ash”.
torontospark.ca
October 23, 2025 at 9:52 PM
With Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Cree artist Kent Monkman confronts history. @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/with-miss-ch...
With Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Cree artist Kent Monkman confronts history - Toronto Spark
Paintings by Monkman present the landscape as a theatrical stage upon which stories of human exploitation play out.
torontospark.ca
October 21, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Canada’s Hong Kong diaspora is seen in Finch & Midland. The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival will present Timothy Cheung's debut feature at 3:30 pm on Nov. 9 at TIFF Lightbox. Learn about the film from becky tu's article in @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/reel-asian-c...
Reel Asian: Canada's Hong Kong diaspora is seen in Finch & Midland - Toronto Spark
Named after the Scarborough intersection of Finch and Midland, Timothy Cheung's film depicts the resilience of the Hong Kong diaspora.
torontospark.ca
October 20, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Tennyson King makes you pause and look inside yourself with new video for “Most of My Days”. Learn more about this innovative Mississauga-raised musician @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/tennyson-kin...
Tennyson King makes you pause and look inside yourself with new video for "Most of My Days" - Toronto Spark
According to King, his song is about finding the courage to speak our truths and not being afraid of judgment from others.
torontospark.ca
October 19, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Nikki Shaffeeullah’s “Purgatory” delivers joyful and authentic take on Indo-Caribbean Muslim life in Canada. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/nikki-shaffe...
Nikki Shaffeeullah’s “Purgatory” delivers joyful and authentic take on Indo-Caribbean Muslim life in Canada - Toronto Spark
With “Purgatory”, the Toronto artist resists the tumult of what one might expect from a queer Muslim tale.
torontospark.ca
October 18, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Cathy Xinman: Maple Leaves Rustle, Another Season... Read her poem for autumn @torontospark: torontospark.ca/cathy-xinman...
Cathy Xinman: Maple Leaves Rustle, Another Season - Toronto Spark
Remember the last time you walked through fallen leaves and heard that distinctive rustle beneath your feet?
torontospark.ca
October 16, 2025 at 2:08 PM
In Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, what makes us monstrous is refusing to care. Learn more @torontospark.bsky.social: torontospark.ca/in-guillermo...
In Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, what makes us monstrous is refusing to care - Toronto Spark
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein gave The Creature an eloquent voice—but cinema has often silenced him.
torontospark.ca
October 15, 2025 at 3:18 AM