Ibi Kaslik Takes Centre Stage

Last night was the Toronto launch of Ibi Kaslik's new novel, The Angel Riots, hosted by Pages' This is Not a Reading Series.

The event began with an ill-matched interview between Eye Weekly's Sarah Liss and Kaslik. Liss' cool man, cool vibe did not connect with Kaslik's critical considerations of the creative process.

I mean, I wasn't expecting Liss to get all Mike Wallace on Kaslik, but Liss definitely wasted an opportunity. Kaslik is one of Toronto's most honest and intelligent writers and her thoughts on the craft are always thought-provoking, if not provocative.

After the one-on-one, Kaslik pulled out a guitar and put on a show of spoken word, melody and beats. All eyes in the standing-room-only crowd were fixed on Kaslik, although I admittedly had one eye surveying the room to see if any familiar faces could be spotted.

Much of Penguin's PR machine has focused on the 'social scene' that inspired Kaslik's rock novel and I wondered if any scenesters would make an appearance that extended beyond the page. There were a number of hipster exes in attendance (in fact Apostle of Hustle performed after Kaslik) but none of the charts' current darlings were to be seen.

Of course, who needs showy pop stars when you've got a lit lion taking centre stage?

As Kaslik advised Andrew Whiteman when he was plugging in her guitar, "Less effect is better." In Kaslik's case, it's all about keeping it real.