Esi Edugyan & Tiya Miles: History's Fiction, Fiction's Truth

Toronto Public Library presents acclaimed novelist Esi Edugyan and celebrated historian Tiya Miles in a conversation that challenges the boundaries between fiction and history. In conversation with CBC Ideas host Nahlah Ayed.

National Book Award winner, Tiya Miles, brings the tools of fiction, vivid characterization, emotional resonance, and narrative suspense, to her groundbreaking histories of enslaved women and Indigenous communities. Esi Edugyan, a two-time Giller Prize winner and Booker Prize finalist, grounds her historical novels in exhaustive archival research, excavating the lives of Black figures navigating 19th-century Europe and America with a historian's rigor and a novelist's grace.

Together, they'll explore the practical and ethical questions at the heart of their work: How do you responsibly imagine the inner lives of people who left few records? When does historical accuracy serve the story, and when does it constrain it? What can historians learn from novelists about making readers care, and what can novelists learn from historians about accountability to the past?

Edugyan and Miles will discuss how we recover, reckon with, and retell the stories that shaped us, with host Nahlah Ayed.

Question and answer session and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event are available to book via Eventbrite.

About this event’s guests:

Esi Edugyan

Tiya Miles

Read More:

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This event is part of TPL's Black History and Culture Series.

Presenting Sponsor of Heritage Programs: TD Bank Group, through the TD Ready Commitment.

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PLAN YOUR VISIT:

Location: Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street), 2nd floor

Time: Doors open 6:00pm, Event starts 7:00pm.

Tickets: Free registration required.

Ticket policy: We oversell these events to make sure that most people have an opportunity to attend. Tickets are guaranteed until 6:45pm or until capacity is reached. Any remaining space will be opened up to the rush line beginning at 6:45pm.

Accessibility: TPL is committed to accessibility. If you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation for this event, please contact [email protected] or 416-393-7099 at least three weeks prior to the event.

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Information Collection Notice: The personal information on this form is collected by the Toronto Public Library under the Public Libraries Act, sections 20(a), 20(c), and 20(d). The information will only be used for event and program registration, delivery and evaluation. Registrants may be contacted to fill out a brief survey following the program. Questions about how the library handles your information can be directed to Answerline staff at [email protected], 416-397-5981, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto ON M4W 2G8.

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Host or Publisher Toronto Public Library