Photo: "Chantal Kreviazuk" natashalcd, member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.

Events on Toronto's Radar for MONDAY OCTOBER 26, 2009... lovingly handpicked from blogTO's events calendar.

BOOKS AND LIT | Governor General's Literary Award Finalists at the International Festival of Authors
You can't walk down the street this week without bumping into a brilliant author in town for the IFOA. Of course, you just don't know you're bumping into them, cause nobody knows what any of these people look like. I may have run over Eric-Emmanuel Scmitt's foot with my bike last week, who knows. Tonight the finalists for the Governor General's Award Kate Pullinger and Deborah Willis will read from their nominated works, while Annabel Lyon and Michael Crumney will appear via satellite and Miriam Toews will read from Alice Munro's Too Much Happiness.
Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queen's Quay West, $25, 8 pm

MUSIC | Fucked Up Weekend 2009 Pre-party
To celebrate their recent Polaris Prize win, Toronto hard core kings Fucked Up throw a week-long festival featuring some of the city's hardest rocking bands. Things kick off tonight with a festival pre-party at the Garrison fueled by performances from UK band Lovvers, Vicious Cycle, and the School Jerks. Thursday things really heat up with Metz, the Meligrove Band, and the Little Girls, before Fucked Up headlines two shows at the Kathedral and Sneaky Dee's over the weekend.
Tonight: The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W., $8, 9 pm

FILM | Get Animated! With Chris Landreth
In 2005 while Canadian filmmaker Chris Landreth was in Los Angeles accepting an Oscar for his animated short about Ryan Larkin, a brilliant NFB animator who fell victim to substance abuse, Larkin himself was likely somewhere on the streets of Montreal, living a life of homelessness. Despite the attention garnered by Landreth's poignant tribute, Larkin died in 2007. Landreth comes to the NFB Mediatheque to talk about Ryan and the rest of his remarkable films as part of the Get Animated! Festival.
NFB Mediatheque, 150 John St., Free, 1pm

FORUM | War, Art and Healing
A group of artists and thinkers with very different backgrounds meet at the Gardiner Museum tonight to discuss the relationship between art and the larger world and examine whether or not artists have the responsibility to confront social issues. Panelists include Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin, Uganadan actor Arthur Kisenyi, and Barbara Harmer, Director of Music and Special Initiatives at War Child Canada.
Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen's Park, Free, 7 pm

MUSIC | David Gray at Massey Hall with Lisa Hannigan
Remember the guy who wrote that song Babylon ten years ago? Apparently he's not only still touring but is still successful enough to play places like Massey Hall. Exhaustion has forced David Gray into hiatus a few times over the last decade, but he's back on the road and coming to one of Toronto's most intimate of large venues tonight, which should serve as a perfect setting for his warm ballads. Does he just play that one song over and over do you think?
Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St., $54.50 - $64.50, 8 pm

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