In 2007, Prince played an unprecedented 21 sold-out shows (each with an attendance of 20,000) in 21 straight nights in London, England. With the help of visuals by photographer Randee St. Nicolas, the legendary tour was well-documented, and Prince's first book 21 Nights will be available at the end of September.

To celebrate the legend, and the launch of the book, Purple Electricity will be having a party at Revival on Friday night.

Here's your chance to win a pair of tickets to the event, and a copy of the book (which features a bonus CD as well).

One of the people in Toronto to show up to the party on Tuesday at the Canadian Corps legion hall was Olivia Chow, NDP MP for Trinity-Spadina (pictured above right with Spacing publisher Matthew Blackett and Laura Boudreau).

The magazine is chock full of great photos and stories of people who are shaping our city.

Inside the 64-page issue you'll discover a story about a guy who ensures turtle eggs hatch each year along the banks of the Humber River. There's a profile of Sunjye, the friendly neighbourhood rock balancing artist. And there's a cute piece about Alice, the backyard chicken farmer.

Inside Dandyhorse, you'll find a eulogy to Igor Kenk entitled "Rust in pieces, Igor." Other stories and features that include bike safety, bike fashion, cycling advocacy, couriers, BMXers and legal advice. The magazine is aimed at social riders, competitive racers, casual riders and regular commuters.

The magazine itself is 48 pages long in all its full-colour splendour, printed on Cascades Roland Enviro100, which uses 100 percent post consumer waste, is chlorine free and produced with biogas energy.

The party was a lively one. I've never seen the place so packed. Cheerleaders, dubbed Critical Sass (pictured below) that helped keep spirits up as the beer ran out early.

But before the comedy tour comes to Toronto, Tommy Chong (one half of the legendary bud-baked comedy duo) will be in Toronto to promote his newest effort - an autobiographical book Cheech & Chong: An Unauthorized Biography.

blogTO has three hardcover copies of the book to pass on to fans. Continue reading for full contest and event details.

The brainchild of Dan Misener, GRTTWAK enables us to take a nostalgic trip by delving into the often embarrassing bits of poetry and prose we wrote as kids.

Misener got an email a few weeks ago from his mom, saying, "Came across a Rubbermaid tote with an orange popple and more of your writings. The Ron Trilogy, Putrid Poems and some other poems."

Here's an example from Misener at age 11:

Little Jack Horner,
Sat in the corner,
Eating his purple pie.
He stuck in his thumb,
And pulled out a thing,
He couldn't identify.

Continue reading for more grownup fun and details of the evening's event...

Tuesday, July 8

We've written a lot about author and illustrator Patricia Storms before here on blogTO, but if you haven't had the chance to check out her work just yet, she'll be at TPL's Barbara Frum Branch this afternoon at 2pm as part of the Toronto Public Library Summer Reading Club.

Also on Tuesday:

• Heather Haley, Terence Go, and Luciano Iacobelli feature at the Art Bar Poetry Series at Clinton's at 8pm.
• The Lexiconjury Reading Series returns as part of the Scream Festival, featuring individual and collaborative poetry, at The Pilot at 8pm.
   

Tuesday, July 1

Yolanda T Marshall invites everyone to her launch party, A Poetic Journey into the Mind of Miss Marshall, which features readings, dances, and performances by Cloud 9 Co-op. The launch will be followed by an afterparty hosted by DJ MelBoogie from CKLN. It all goes down at Nile Bar & Lounge at 7pm.

Also on Tuesday:

• Tanya Davis, Ronda Eller, and Klyde Broox feature at the Art Bar Poetry Series at Clinton's at 8pm.
   

Hosted by Toronto Poetry Slam veteran Arianna Pozzuoli, there was a stellar line-up of Toronto's literary scene, coupled with crowd-favourites such as Yukon golden child Ivan E. Coyote as well as Christina Starr, activist and queer parent who took us on an adventure through topics covering gender, femininity and fairytales.

Once again Proud Voices is hosting a reading series featuring upcoming authors and distinguished veterans.

Presented in partnership with everyone's favourite Toronto magazine and book festival Word on the Street, Proud voices is a Saturday afternoon of free readings by local, Canadian, and international writers.

blogTO has a prize pack to give to a lucky reader, consisting of four books from the reading series. Continue reading for contest entry details, and Proud Voices' descriptions of the works.

Tuesday, June 24

You may not have thought that Gandhi was a character rife with controversy, but it turns out that not everyone thinks that the legendary Indian was all the movies make him out to be. Dr. Timothy Watson will be launching his new book, Gandhi: Under Cross-Examination at Conspiracy Culture tonight at 7pm, and will put the famous historical figure under a critical lens.

Also on Tuesday:

• Travel writer Robert Ward reads from his new book, All the Good Pilgrims: Tales of the Camino de Santiago at TPL's North York Central Branch at 7pm.
• Lauren Weisberger, bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada, will be at the Indigo Bay & Bloor to read from her new novel, Chasing Harry Winston at 7pm.
• Spoken word artists Sky Gilbert, Tara-Michelle Ziniuk, Kate Leadbeater and d'bi young anitafrika take the stage as part of Pride Voices at the Gladstone Hotel at 8pm.
• David Day, Lee Maracle, and Mel Sarnese feature at the Art Bar Poetry Series at Clinton's at 8pm.
   

Tuesday, June 17

Paul Polak, founder of Colorado-based non-profit International Development Enterprises, visits OCAD tonight to deliver a talk on why current poverty-alleviation strategies might not be working, and what can be done to make them more effective. He will also be launching his book Out of Poverty: When Traditional Approaches Fail. The talk and launch take place at the OCAD Auditorium at 6:30pm tonight.

Also on Tuesday:

• Lien Chao reads from her short story collection The Chinese Knot and her other works at TPL's Locke Branch at 2pm.
• Michael Knox launches The North End Poems at The Supermarket at 6:30pm.
• James Deahl, Laura Pasol, and Pier Giorgio Di Cicco feature at the Art Bar Poetry Series at Clinton's at 8pm.
   

Tuesday, June 10

Straight from Norway, acclaimed cartoonist JASON will be at The Central in Toronto to launch his new work Pocket Full of Rain. JASON's work can be currently seen in the New York Times Magazine, and will be interviewed on his process and inspirations by The Beguiling's Peter Birkemoe.

Also on Tuesday:

• Launch for Sailor Girl by Sheree-Lee Olson @ 6pm - Ben McNally Books
• Jeff Fuchs at This is Not a Reading Series @ 7:30pm - Gladstone Hotel
• Monty Reid, Phlip Arima, and Yannick Marshall at Art Bar Poetry Series @ 8pm - Clinton's
   

Thoughts of Luminato — Toronto's Festival of Arts and Creativity — don't always conjure up images of the Toronto Public Library, but as it did last year, the country's largest library system is sponsoring a whole slew of literary events as part of the upcoming festival.

The highlight of TPL's Luminato activities (especially for lovers of all things short like me) is the Festival of the Short Story, featuring readings and panels with eight of this country's best short story authors at four library locations across the city.

Tuesday, June 3rd:

Gregory Betts, Nathan Whitlock, Tanya Runyen, Joe Rosenblatt and Norman Snider will be reading at the Dora Keogh Irish Pub, while Esther Mazakian, Katia Grubisic and Rocco de Giacomo will take the mic at Clinton's for the weekly Art Bar Poetry Series.

Over at the MacMillan Theatre at the University of Toronto, seven finalists for the Griffin Poetry Prize will read their selected works.