Join authors Chr istine Fischer Guy and Antanas Sileika for an engaging conversation about creativity\, identity\, and resilience in politically charged worlds. Thei r newest novels explore how art can become both a refuge and a quiet act o f resistance.
\nChristine Fischer Guy&rsquo\;s The Instrum ent Must Not Matter follows a young classical pianist uncovering family history and personal truth shaped by the legacy of Soviet oppressio n. Antanas Sileika&rsquo\;s The Seaside Café\; Metropolis< /em> offers a witty and poignant look at a bohemian café\; commu nity finding connection and creative freedom under the watchful eye of the Cold War Soviet regime.
\nTogether\, these books open up a rich dis cussion about how individuals express themselves\, protect their identitie s\, and build community&mdash\;especially when navigating restrictive or t urbulent times.
\nBooks will be available for purchase\, and a signi ng with the authors will follow the event.
\nPresented in partnershi p with Words Worth Books.
\nA sweeping coming of age novel\, The Instru ment Must Not Matter\, is the story of the gifted young classical pia nist Lila Rhys\, who wins a competition for a coveted year-long spot with a prestigious teacher in New York City. The move to an American city is te rrifying\, but Lila is determined to bring music back to the family\, whic h had suffered artistic silencing under the Soviet regime. But in New York she has a romantic encounter with a renegade female pianist and everythin g she knows is turned upside down\, until her brother discovers dissident literature that holds the stories her grandmother had not passed on. \ ; \;
\nChristine Fischer G uy is a Toronto writer and journalist. She&rsquo\;s a 2024 VCCA fellow and is the author of The Umbrella Mender (Wolsak and Wynn 2014)\ , a &ldquo\;terrifically entertaining read&rdquo\; that &ldquo\;keeps the reader interested partly because she avoids setting up stereotypical oppos ites.&rdquo\; Her second novel\, The Instrument Must Not Matter\, is a coming-of-age story about a classical pianist and arrives in spring 2026. She was awarded a National Magazine Award and contributes criticism and interviews to literary journals.
\nThe Seaside Café\; Metropolis a rolicking comic novel set in a 1959 Khrushchev-era café\; in t he Soviet Union\, run by expatriate Canadian\, Emmet Argentine. He is tryi ng to run a fashionable \;hotspot while the secret police listen in fr om the basement. Author Tamas Dobozy called this novel a "culinary picares que" with recipes. \;
\n< a href="https://antanassileika.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Antana s Sileika is the author of nine books of fiction \;and nonfiction. He has been short-listed for the Leacock Medal for Humour and the Toronto literary award\, and \;his books have been translated \;into Ital ian\, Lithuanian\, and Chinese. \;Buying on Time was long-lis ted for Canada Reads. He served for fifteen years as the director of The H umber School for writers. \;
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\nStaff: Nan cy
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