Scaling the steps of the CN Tower. Hunting for Canada geese in Scarborough. Riding the Queen streetcar. These fragments of everyday life, familiar and unassuming though they may be to Toronto natives, are the language in which we dream. Over the centuries, our city has produced world-class authors who have, consciously or not, written Toronto into their fiction, essays, and poems. Some of Canada's most treasured literature has been incubated on Yonge Street, in High Park, and at the Exhibition. The city never fails to capture her writers, and sometimes, they return the favour.

City of Words is a collection of excerpts about Toronto from writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Lawrence Hill, accompanied by stunning original photographs; together, these words and images reveal the vibrant, vital soul of the city as it has seldom been seen before.

SARAH ELTON is the author of Locavore: From Farmers’ Fields to Rooftop Gardens—How Canadians Are Changing the Way We Eat, an instant national bestseller that won gold at the Canadian Culinary Book Awards. The food columnist for CBC Radio’s Here and Now, Elton has written for The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s and TheAtlantic.com. She lives in Toronto.

WEB: SARAHELTON.CA
TWITTER: @THELOCAVORE

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Kevin Robbins is a freelance photographer who lives in Toronto.

Kevin Robbins' profile page

“A handsome sampler of prose and poetry ranging over two centuries, edited by Sarah Elton with remarkably evocative, densely Toronto-ish photographs by Kevin Robbins.”

National Post

“This book would make a wonderful Christmas present for someone returning to the city, full of regret as the days grow dark and the streets grow cold. It conjures a Toronto that is rich and vital.”

Toronto Star