Friday Gala Authors
Trevor Cole’s career as a magazine editor and journalist was impressive. For twelve years he was a senior editor in the magazine division of the Globe and Mail, then was the senior writer for the Report on Business Magazine. For his work there, as well as his in-depth features for Toronto Life magazine and his notorious satirical column for Canadian Business, he has won a total of nine National Magazine Awards (gold and silver).
Not to be outdone, his more recent endeavours as a novelist have been equally lauded. In a recent Globe and Mail review, Trevor was described as “one of the best young novelists in this country.” He has written two novels, Norman Bray in the Performance of His Life and The Fearsome Particles, both of which—in a rare event—were short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for Literature and long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His most recent novel, Practical Jean (McClelland & Stewart, 2010) is a dark-humoured tale about Jean, a heroic character determined to protect her dear friends from the indignities of aging and illness…by killing them. It won the 2011 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.
Trevor is also a huge supporter of fellow Canadian authors, creating the website Authors Aloud which showcases authors reading from their works.
Author Jasmine Aziz’s debut novel, “Sex & Samosas” was released in October 2011 and sold out its first print run in only 4 months. Jasmine has been interviewed on Carleton University’s CKCU program “Special Blend with Susan Johnson”, as well as CBC 1 Radio’s “All in a Day with Alan Neal”. “Sex & Samosas” has received excellent reviews from both CapitalXtra! weekly as well as Ottawa’s largest daily newspaper the Ottawa Citizen. The Citizen review made special note that, “What saves the book from deteriorating into the gratuitousness or banality often found in chick lit is the earnest way the sex scenes are treated – with information, kindness and hilarity – and the surprisingly poignant family anecdotes.” “Sex & Samosas” has been widely praised for bringing erotic content to mainstream literature tastefully and with heart. Jasmine was one of the authors recently featured at the Ottawa International Writers Festival. She is currently working on her next two projects. One, a novel, and the other, her memoirs already titled “Bring Your Own Batteries”.
