Tue, Aug 19  •  7pm

Toronto Lit Up: Black Cherokee

Antonio Michael Downing

Presented as part of Toronto Lit Up 2025

Tue, Aug 19  •  7pm

Toronto Lit Up: Black Cherokee

Antonio Michael Downing

Presented as part of Toronto Lit Up 2025

About

Celebrate the launch of Antonio Michael Downing‘s Black Cherokee (Simon & Schuster Canada) on August 21 at 7pm at It’s OK* Studios for a vibrant, genre-blending evening of music, literature, and community. The author—also known for his musical persona John Orpheus and his appearances on CBC’s The Next Chapter—will take centre stage for an unforgettable night and will be joined by moderator, Matthew R. Morris.
The event will feature a live music performance, an on-stage conversation, audience Q&A, and a festive close with a DJ set. Books will be for sale on site courtesy of Another Story Bookshop.
RSVP on Eventbrite.

Toronto Lit Up is a multi-year initiative, started in 2016 by the Toronto International Festival of Authors and the Toronto Arts Council, to spotlight Toronto writers and empower local artists with career-building opportunities. Between April 2016 and March 2025, Toronto Lit Up has presented over 200 events featuring over 250 Toronto authors and illustrators. Toronto Lit Up book launches take place throughout the year at venues across the city. They are open to the public and free to attend. Click here for more information.

Simon & Schuster Canada logoAnother Story Bookshop Logo

This event will be followed by a book signing.

Queenie meets Frying Plantain in this courageous coming-of-age story, set in the 1990s, about a mixed-race Black girl fighting for recognition in a South Carolina Cherokee community that refuses to accept her ancestry as legitimate. On the rain-swollen banks of the River Etsi in South Carolina, Ophelia Blue Rivers—six years old in 1992—catches frogs ... Read more
cover of Black Cherokee

Image of Antonio Michael Downing
Antonio Michael Downing is the author of Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming, which was shortlisted for the 2021 Speaker’s Book Award and longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. He is also the author of the children’s book Stars in My Crown, and writes and performs music as John Orpheus.
Read more about Antonio Michael Downing

Dates & Times

Tue, Aug 19
7pm

This FREE event is open to the public

Venue

It's Ok* Studios
468 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2B2

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