KYA PUBLISHING TO HOST “TORONTO URBAN BOOK EXPO” BOOK FAIR AT TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARY

TORONTO, ONT (November 2014) – Toronto publishing company Kya Publishing, in association with the Toronto Public Library, will be hosting the second annual Toronto Urban Book Expo on Saturday, February 28, 2015 from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at the Library’s Malvern Branch (30 Sewells Road at Neilson).

TUBE is the only Canadian event dedicated to celebrating Canadian Urban Fiction. The Expo will highlight published and self-published writers and their books—it will also feature publishers of urban fiction, and guests from the Canadian literary and urban cultural communities.

“Kya Publishing is Canada’s only dedicated urban fiction publisher, and we’re committed to the celebration of contemporary Canadian Urban Fiction and culture through books, research, events, and community initiatives,” said founder Stacey Marie Robinson. “Following in the tradition of our urban fiction counterparts in the U.S., we have established an annual venue for urban writers to sell their books and raise awareness for this genre of writing.”

Partial proceeds from TUBE will go towards the Rita Cox Endowment Fund for Black and Caribbean Heritage (in support of the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection foundation at the Toronto Public Library). Proceeds will also support Kya Publishing’s Kya Keys Book Donation Program.

“Despite its growth, the genre of urban fiction still remains somewhat ambiguous and underrated in Canada,” said Robinson. “By gathering these talented writers and sharing their books, unique stories and experiences, we are excited to contribute to the development of the urban fiction infrastructure, and the culture that inspires it.”

TUBE will also feature live interviews, refreshments, giveaways/prizes from Canadian urban brands, and music by Toronto’s DJ Majesty; confirmed authors to be announced in January 2015.

For more information or to register for a vendor area at TUBE, please contact Stacey Marie Robinson at stacey@kyapublishing.com or 647-342-3040. Join the conversation online using #TUBE2015!

KYA PUBLISHING AUTHOR STACEY MARIE ROBINSON TO PARTICIPATE IN DIVERSITY PANEL AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

TORONTO, ONT (November 2014) – Toronto author and founder of Kya Publishing, Stacey Marie Robinson, will be participating in the first annual INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair as a speaker on Dalton Higgins’ “Diversity, DJs, and DIY” panel. The panel, taking place on Sunday, November 16, 2014 from 4:00pm to 5:00pm will look at diversity in Canadian literature and its place and importance in the Canadian literary landscape. The panel will also feature Greg Frankson (aka Ritallin), Kayla Perrin, and Leonicka Valcius.

The Book Fair, taking place from Friday, November 14 through Sunday, November 16 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, features an exciting lineup of panels, workshops, a marketplace, and book signings.

As noted on the festival’s website: “INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair will be part exhibition, part market and part cultural festival, celebrating reading in all forms and embracing all facets of the book trade. It will be a place for readers to connect with those who write and produce the books they love—to learn, explore and be entertained, in all print and digital formats.”

Robinson, who has just self-published her ninth novel, Carnival Spotlight, is pleased to be a part of this national celebration, and also to help bring awareness to issues of diverse literature and the balance in Canadian literary perspectives.

“I write contemporary Canadian Urban Fiction, which is a genre that is relatively new in the Canadian publishing scene,” said Robinson. “Striving to see increased diversity in literature is a circumstance that many of us writers have been working through for years, and it is just as important as having diversity in business, politics, the education system, entertainment, and in the overall identity of this nation. Dalton Higgins is always on the cutting edge of Canadian cultural topics—I look forward to having this important discussion with him and the panel he has assembled.”

For more information about the Toronto International Book Fair, please visit www.torontobookfair.ca.

Kya Publishing contact: info@kyapublishing.com or 647-342-3040.