Way cooler location for spring Toronto Small Press Fair

[UPDATE: Apparently all is not sunny and positive yet at the Toronto Small Press Book Fair. The editor of Taddle Creek, Conan Tobias, has asked us to remove his magazine from the list of participants -- taken from the book fair's website. He is boycotting the event because he is unhappy about last year's problems. And, although this isn't his reason for boycotting it, thinks the move to the JCC is a "bad idea".]

Cooler heads have (literally) prevailed this year for the spring Toronto Small Press Fair, which is taking place at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, 750 Spadina Avenue (cor Spadina and Bloor) from 12 - 5 on June 7. The space is bigger, with more room for exhibitors. plus it is air conditioned.

Among the smaller literary and cultural magazines taking part this year, according to the fair's website are Taddle Creek, Maisonneuve, broken pencil, The New Quarterly, Carousel magazine (that's Carousel editor Mark Laliberte pictured at last year's fair), Descant, Existere, Kiss Machine, Misunderstanding and Public.

Readers may recall that last year's fair provoked a certain amount of controversy. This year, organizers say that they have got things together, according to a post on Torontoist.

Last year’s fair was the subject of some controversy, with a few of those involved claiming that Villegas and her co-organizer Myna Wallin hadn’t done enough to advertise and promote the event. A spat broke out on Facebook, but now all of that has been cleared away for this year’s more cheerful announcements.

“People were used to the old ways of postering all over town, and it upset them that there weren’t posters,” says Villegas of last year’s outcry. “But it’s ecologically crazy to do that, and posters get ripped down.”

Instead, they have focused on promoting via Facebook, radio announcements, and other media. This year they have also been able to buy an ad in NOW with additional funding from the Toronto and Ontario Arts Councils. With the move to a larger venue and over 70 exhibitors, Villegas says they’re hoping for a much better turnout.