WHAT’S THIS ‘SMALL PRINT’ THAT ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE TALKING ABOUT?

“A new literary series aimed at kids and teens, [that] is set to break the book-talk mould."
- Sarah Barmak, The Toronto Star

Small Print runs literary programs for curious minds between the ages of two and seventeen: Tot Studio, Volume One Project and Teen Beat. Our interactive literary events and workshop sessions are designed to provide budding readers and sprouting writers a hands-on opportunity to enrich their understanding of how stories work. Overall, Small Print cultivates a dialogue between professional writers and their primary audiences.

Our Tot Studio program encourages readers between two and eight years old to participate in the creative process. It also serves as a public forum for children’s authors and illustrators who want to forego the routine of traditional ‘story-time’ and develop a more creative, performative way of bringing their tales to life. Magic tricks, drawing demonstrations, short plays and sing-alongs are just the tip of the iceberg. Every show culminates with a group arts and crafts project.    

The Volume One Project is a workshop series for scribes between the ages of eight and twelve. The project director, Natalie Kertes, ran literary workshops for young people with renowned author Roddy Doyle at Fighting Words Dublin Kertes and Chris Reed have started working with Toronto authors and illustrators to develop an indigenous variation on Doyle’s group-writing exercises. Every session gives kids a chance to tell their stories and leave with their own books.

Teen Beat is a series where YA authors get a candid and creative response to their latest work directly from their primary audience. Writers between thirteen and seventeen  spend an afternoon with professional writing instructors and create short pieces based on a new YA book. That evening, the book’s author and the teen scribes share the stage and present their respective works to an audience. The format will vary, depending on the concerns of an individual text. Expect everything - from a thoughtful group discussion to a rollicking cabaret.

Our Teen Beat Workshop (TBW) provides a supportive and creatively rigorous space for twenty young poets and prose writers, between the ages of twelve and sixteen, to develop and perform their own original solo performance piece. With the guidance and support of Ibi Kaslik, and instructors Natalie Zina Walschots and Emily Pohl-Weary, members of the TBW learn how to take an idea from conception to completion during bi-weekly sessions and present their final works at the Teen Beat Workshop Showcase, held at the Gladstone Hotel as part of Small Print’s season of public events.

IS SMALL PRINT A ‘HIPSTER CINDERELLA STORY’?

Chris Reed, Co-Artistic Director and Series Coordinator of This Is Not A Reading Series (TINARS), launched a test pilot for a monthly children’s program, TINARS For Tots in September of 2008. Would the ‘non-reading’ approach to literary launches that he developed at TINARS work with kids’ books?  The response was phenomenal. 

The first show, 'Kids Can Day', hosted by Claudia Dey, featuring two authors from the Kids Can roster, Irene Luxbacher and Matt Hammill, attracted about 50 people.

In January 2009, it took just four days to sell all 150 tickets for ‘Totsapalooza’ – a celebration of the DIY spirit in song, story and crafts featuring Don Kerr & The Blue Bin Band, Dave Bidini, and Sho, Mo & The Monkey Bunch. Toronto Life ranked ‘Totsapalooza’ number 14 in their June 2009 cover story, “50 Reasons To Love Toronto Now”

Last June about 1,100 folks turned up for the final show of the season, 'Totstock ‘09' , a fundraiser for The High Park Nature Centre hosted by Don Kerr & The Blue Bin Band, held in Souraren Park. ‘Totstock ‘09’ was presented by editor Vicki Bell’s indispensable monthly guide for urban parents, The Little Paper, Kerr’s award-winning Rooster Studio, and Rebecca Brown’s innovative family event group, Bunch.

Such remarkable growth in under a year is not a ‘hipster Cinderella story’. Rather, it’s the result of plain old hard work mixed with a collaborative effort on the part of those mentioned above. The popularity of the “TINARS For Tots” test pilot encouraged us to expand our scope and start up writing programs for tweens and teens. To do so, we created a brand new entity: named, you guessed it, Small Print.

SMALL PRINTERS

Artistic Director: Chris Reed

Musical Director: Don Kerr

Writing Workshop Director: Ibi Kaslik

Writing Workshop Instructors: Emily Pohl-Weary and Natalie Zina Walschots

Volume One Project Director: Natalie Kertes

Illustrator & Graphic Designer: Walker Ballantyne-Hill

Web Designer & Webmaster: Derek Ma

Show Squad: Lauren Stewart, Sarah Syperek and Aleks Wrobel

Advisory Board:  Vicki Bell (The Little Paper), Rebecca Brown (Bunch), Judith Keenan (BookShorts), and Susan Kernohan (Toronto Public Library)

Presenting Partners: BookShorts Literacy Program, Bunch, Gladstone Hotel, The Little Paper, Rooster Studio, Torontoist.com, and TYPE Books

Stay In Touch: Visit www.smallprinttoronto.org and join the Small Print Facebook Group.

Contact for Media / Info: Chris Reed, chris@smallprinttoronto.org

"A person's a person, no matter how small".
- Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who