Toronto International Festival of Authors

The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), previously known as the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), is an annual festival presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

History
Since 1974, the mission of TIFA programming has been to promote interest and enthusiasm for writing and reading, both locally and internationally, to showcase the excellence and variety of Canadian literature, and to introduce young readers to the possibilities of reading and writing. TIFA provides Canadian and international authors with an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas. In addition, the organization offers programs and events for communities to increase the awareness of all forms of literature.

Programming
TIFA programming runs throughout the year with several different categories of programming. Each TIFA event is digitally recorded with photo, video and audio. Beginning in 2006, these recordings are sent to the holdings of the Library and Archives Canada. This allows researchers and documentary makers extensive use of the archives, and acts as a permanent documentation of IFOA’s extensive programming.

TIFA Weekly Event Series
Running from September to June, the weekly event series includes authors taking part in events like readings, round table discussions and interviews.

Toronto International Festival of Authors
The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), one of the most celebrated literary festivals in the world, was inaugurated in 1980 with a mandate to bring together the best writers of contemporary world literature. Like the weekly series, IFOA includes readings, interviews, round table discussions and talks, as well as public book signings and a festival bookstore. IFOA also continues to present readings by Scotiabank Giller Prize, Governor General’s Literary Award and Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize finalists, the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction recipient, and the awarding of the $10,000 Harbourfront Festival Prize.

Lit on Tour
Beginning in 2007, TIFA sought to grow their audience base by introducing the IFOA’s touring program, IFOA Ontario. This touring program visits communities in numerous cities and towns across Ontario. In 2010 IFOA Ontario featured 16 events in 14 towns and cities, from Windsor to Picton and Hamilton to Thunder Bay.

Book Bash
An integral part of TIFA, Book Bash, previously known as Young IFOA, was born as a way to include a younger generation of readers in a festival of international repute.

ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers
ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers was also introduced in 2005, featuring some of the world’s leading authors for young people. In 2010, ALOUD was incorporated as part of the Forest of Reading Festival of Trees.

In May 2007, TIFA hosted the first annual Forest of Reading Festival of Trees on the 10-acre Harbourfront Centre site. Now Canada’s largest children’s literary event, attracting 8,000 audience members annually, this action-packed festival celebrates the shared experience of reading through award ceremonies, workshops and activities. The Festival of Trees is presented with the Ontario Library Association.

Harbourfront Festival Prize
Established in 1984, the Harbourfront Festival Prize ($10,000 CDN) was presented annually in recognition of an author's contribution to Canadian letters. It is based on the merits of their own published work and/or the time they have invested in nurturing the next generation of literary talent.

Past recipients

 * 2019 Stuart Ross
 * 2018 Lee Maracle
 * 2017 Joseph Kertes
 * 2016 Miriam Toews
 * 2015 Avie Bennett
 * 2014 Margaret MacMillan
 * 2013 Alice Munro
 * 2012 Austin Clarke
 * 2011 Seth
 * 2010 Peter Robinson
 * 2009 Helen Humphreys
 * 2008 Wayson Choy
 * 2007 Christopher Dewdney
 * 2006 Dionne Brand
 * 2005 Guy Vanderhaeghe
 * 2004 Jane Urquhart
 * 2003 Linda Spalding
 * 2002 Paul Quarrington
 * 2001 Daniel David Moses
 * 2000 Victor Coleman
 * 1999 Matt Cohen
 * 1998 Marty Gervais
 * 1997 Ken Gass
 * 1996 Timothy Findley
 * 1995 Douglas George Fetherling
 * 1994 M. G. Vassanji
 * 1993 Graeme Gibson
 * 1992 Alberto Manguel
 * 1991 Nicole Brossard
 * 1990 Howard Engel
 * 1989 Tomson Highway
 * 1988 Michael Ondaatje
 * 1987 Barry Callaghan
 * 1986 Margaret Atwood
 * 1985 John Robert Colombo
 * 1984 Dennis Lee

Scotiabank Giller Prize

 * Johanna Skibsrud, 2010
 * Linden MacIntyre, 2009
 * Joseph Boyden, 2008
 * Elizabeth Hay, 2007
 * Vincent Lam, 2006
 * David Bergen, 2005
 * Alice Munro, 2004
 * M.G. Vassanji, 2003, 1994
 * Austin Clarke, 2002
 * Richard B. Wright, 2001
 * Michael Ondaatje, 2000
 * David Adams Richards, 2000
 * Bonnie Burnard, 1999
 * Mordecai Richler, 1997
 * Margaret Atwood, 1996
 * Rohinton Mistry, 1995

Governor General's Literary Award for English Fiction

 * Dianne Warren, 2010
 * Kate Pullinger, 2009
 * Nino Ricci, 2008, 1990
 * Michael Ondaatje, 2007, 2000, 1992
 * Peter Behrens, 2006
 * David Gilmour, 2005
 * Miriam Toews, 2004
 * Douglas Glover, 2003
 * Gloria Sawai, 2002
 * Richard B. Wright, 2001
 * Matt Cohen, 1999
 * Diane Schoemperlen, 1998
 * Jane Urquhart, 1997
 * Guy Vanderhaeghe, 1996, 1982
 * Greg Hollingshead, 1995
 * Rudy Wiebe, 1994, 1973
 * Carol Shields, 1993
 * Rohinton Mistry, 1991
 * Paul Quarrington, 1989
 * David Adams Richards, 1988
 * M. T. Kelly, 1987
 * Alice Munro, 1986, 1978, 1968
 * Margaret Atwood, 1985
 * Josef Skvorecky, 1984
 * Leon Rooke, 1983
 * Mavis Gallant, 1981
 * George Bowering, 1980
 * Jack Hodgins, 1979
 * Timothy Findley, 1977
 * Marian Engel, 1976
 * Brian Moore, 1975, 1960
 * Robertson Davies, 1972
 * Mordecai Richler, 1971
 * Robert Kroetsch, 1969
 * Douglas LePan, 1964
 * Kildare Dobbs, 1961
 * Hugh MacLennan, 1959, 1948, 1945
 * Morley Callaghan, 1951

Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

 * Ian Brown, 2010
 * Tim Cook, 2009
 * Richard Gwyn, 2008
 * Rudy Wiebe, 2007
 * J.B. MacKinnon, 2006
 * Charles Montgomery, 2005
 * Isabel Huggan, 2004
 * Carol Shields, 2002
 * Wayne Johnston, 2000

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

 * Emma Donoghue, 2010
 * Annabel Lyon, 2009
 * Miriam Toews, 2008
 * Lawrence Hill, 2007
 * Kenneth J. Harvey, 2006
 * Joseph Boyden, 2005
 * Alice Munro, 2004
 * Kevin Patterson, 2003
 * Paulette Jiles, 2002
 * Helen Humphreys, 2000
 * Peter Oliva, 1999
 * Greg Hollingshead, 1998
 * Austin Clarke, 1997

Nobel Prize in Literature

 * Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru), 2010
 * Herta Müller (Romania. Germany), 2009
 * Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (France), 2008
 * Doris Lessing (UK), 2007
 * Orhan Pamuk (Turkey), 2006
 * Harold Pinter (UK), 2005
 * J.M. Coetzee (South Africa), 2003
 * Seamus Heaney (Ireland), 1995
 * Kenzaburō Ōe (Japan), 1994
 * Toni Morrison (U.S.A.), 1993
 * Derek Walcott (St. Lucia), 1992
 * Nadine Gordimer (South Africa), 1991
 * Joseph Brodsky (Russia), 1987
 * Wole Soyinka (Nigeria), 1986
 * John Polanyi (Canada/Hungary), 1986 (Prize in Chemistry)
 * William Golding (UK), 1983
 * Czeslaw Milosz (U.S.A.), 1980
 * Saul Bellow (Canada/U.S.A.), 1976

Man Booker Prize

 * Howard Jacobson (UK), 2010
 * Hilary Mantel (UK), 2009
 * Anne Enright (Ireland), 2009
 * Aravind Adiga (India), 2008
 * Kiran Desai (India), 2006
 * John Banville (Ireland), 2005
 * Alan Hollinghurst (UK), 2004
 * Yann Martel (Canada), 2002
 * Peter Carey (Australia), 2001, 1988
 * Margaret Atwood (Canada), 2000
 * J.M. Coetzee (South Africa), 1999, 1983
 * Ian McEwan (UK), 1998
 * Graham Swift (UK), 1996
 * James Kelman (UK), 1994
 * Barry Unsworth (UK), 1992
 * Michael Ondaatje (Canada), 1992
 * Ben Okri (Nigeria), 1991
 * A.S. Byatt (UK), 1990
 * Kazuo Ishiguro (UK), 1989
 * Penelope Lively (UK), 1987
 * Keri Hulme (New Zealand), 1985
 * Thomas Keneally (Australia), 1982
 * Salman Rushdie (UK), 1981 (and in 1993 – Booker of Bookers)
 * Penelope Fitzgerald (UK), 1979
 * Nadine Gordimer (South Africa), 1974

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

 * Paul Harding, 2010
 * Elizabeth Strout, 2009
 * Junot Díaz, 2008
 * Geraldine Brooks, 2006
 * Marilynne Robinson, 2005
 * Edward P. Jones, 2004
 * Jeffrey Eugenides, 2003
 * Richard Russo, 2002
 * Jhumpa Lahiri, 2000
 * Michael Cunningham, 1999
 * Richard Ford, 1996
 * Carol Shields, 1995
 * E. Annie Proulx, 1994
 * Robert Olen Butler, 1993
 * Jane Smiley, 1992
 * Oscar Hijuelos, 1990
 * Toni Morrison, 1988
 * Peter Taylor, 1987
 * Larry McMurty, 1986
 * Alison Lurie, 1985
 * William Kennedy, 1984
 * Alice Walker, 1983
 * John Cheever, 1979
 * Saul Bellow, 1976
 * Wallace Stegner, 1972
 * William Styron, 1968

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

 * Gerbrand Bakker (The Netherlands), 2010
 * Michael Thomas (USA), 2009
 * Rawi Hage (Canada), 2008
 * Per Petterson (Norway), 2007
 * Colm Tóibín (Ireland), 2006
 * Edward P. Jones (U.S.A.), 2005
 * Orhan Pamuk (Turkey), 2003
 * Alistair MacLeod (Canada), 2001
 * Andrew Miller (UK), 1999
 * Herta Müller (Germany), 1998
 * David Malouf (Australia), 1996

Orange Prize

 * Marilynne Robinson (USA), 2009
 * Rose Tremain (UK), 2008
 * Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria), 2007
 * Zadie Smith (UK), 2006
 * Andrea Levy (UK), 2004
 * Valerie Martin (U.S.A.), 2003
 * Kate Grenville (Australia), 2001
 * Carol Shields (U.S.A.), 1998
 * Anne Michaels (Canada), 1997
 * Helen Dunmore (UK), 1996

Venues

 * Fleck Dance Theatre
 * Brigantine Room
 * Studio Theatre
 * Lakeside Terrace
 * Concert Stage - outdoor concert venue
 * Miss Lou's Room