TSAR Publications
Encyclopedia
TSAR Publications is a Toronto-based nonprofit book publisher focusing on multicultural literature, particularly Canadian authors and subject matter.
TSAR Publications began as the literary journal The Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad (which was previously called The Toronto South Asian Review) in 1981, by M. G. Vassanji
and Nurjehan Aziz, among others. Authors that appeared in the Toronto Review include Austin Clarke
, Michael Ondaatje
, David Dabydeen
, and Dionne Brand
. The press was established in 1985 with the publication of a volume of essays on South Asian literature in North America. TSAR has published works on Canadian Studies
, Postcolonial literature, Women's Studies
, African literature
, Asian literature
, Caribbean Literature, and Canadian Literature
. Their books have included award winners of the Guyana Prize for Literature, the Quebec Writer's Federation First Book Award, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Alberta Prize, and the Gabrielle Roy Prize for Canadian Criticism.
TSAR Publications began as the literary journal The Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad (which was previously called The Toronto South Asian Review) in 1981, by M. G. Vassanji
M. G. Vassanji
Moyez G. Vassanji, CM is a novelist and editor, who writes under the name M. G. Vassanji. A citizen of Canada, Vassanji's identity easily straddles three continents.M. G. Vassanji was born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania...
and Nurjehan Aziz, among others. Authors that appeared in the Toronto Review include Austin Clarke
Austin Clarke
Austin Ardinel Chesterfield Clarke, is a Canadian novelist, essayist and short story writer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Born in St...
, Michael Ondaatje
Michael Ondaatje
Philip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
, David Dabydeen
David Dabydeen
David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born critic, writer and novelist.Dabydeen was born in Berbice, Guyana, his birth registered at New Amsterdam Registrar of Births as David Horace Clarence Harilal Sookram...
, and Dionne Brand
Dionne Brand
Dionne Brand is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and documentarian. She was named Toronto's third Poet Laureate in September 2009.-Biography:...
. The press was established in 1985 with the publication of a volume of essays on South Asian literature in North America. TSAR has published works on Canadian Studies
Canadian Studies
Canadian Studies is a Collegiate study of Canadian culture, Canadian languages, literature, Quebec, agriculture, history, and their government and politics. Most universities recommend that students take a double major and French, if not included in the course...
, Postcolonial literature, Women's Studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
, African literature
African literature
African literature refers to literature of and from Africa. As George Joseph notes on the first page of his chapter on African literature in Understanding Contemporary Africa, while the European perception of literature generally refers to written letters, the African concept includes oral...
, Asian literature
Asian literature
-Examples:*East Asian literature**Chinese literature**Japanese literature**Korean literature*Central Asian literature**Bengali literature**Indian literature**Pakistani literature**Tamil literature*West Asian literature**Arabic literature...
, Caribbean Literature, and Canadian Literature
Canadian literature
Canadian literature is literature originating from Canada. Collectively it is often called CanLit. Some criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes, although this is only a small portion of Canadian Literary criticism...
. Their books have included award winners of the Guyana Prize for Literature, the Quebec Writer's Federation First Book Award, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Alberta Prize, and the Gabrielle Roy Prize for Canadian Criticism.
Authors who have had books published by TSAR
- Funso AiyejinaFunso AiyejinaFunso Aiyejina is a Nigerian poet, short story writer, playwright, and Dean of Humanities and Education, at the University of the West Indies....
- Meena AlexanderMeena AlexanderMeena Alexander is an internationally acclaimed poet, scholar, and writer. Born in Allahabad, India, and raised in India and Sudan, Alexander lives and works in New York City, where she is Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College in the and at the CUNY Graduate Center in the...
- Nurjehan Aziz
- Frank Birbalsingh
- Rana Bose
- Lien Chao
- Cyril DabydeenCyril DabydeenCyril Dabydeen is a writer who was born in the Canje, Guyana, a locality which also produced his contemporaries Arnold Itwaru and Jan Shinebourne.He grew up in a sugar plantation with the sense of Indian indenture rooted in his family background Cyril Dabydeen (born 1945) is a writer who was born...
- Rocio Davis
- Raywat DeonandanRaywat DeonandanRaywat Deonandan is a Canadian author and scientist. He received his doctor of philosophy degree in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario in 2001...
- Zulfikar GhoseZulfikar GhoseZulfikar Ghose is a novelist, poet and essayist. A native of Pakistan who has long lived in Texas, he writes in the surrealist mode of much Latin American fiction, blending fantasy and harsh realism....
- Shaista Justin
- Farida KarodiaFarida KarodiaFarida Karodia is a South African novelist and short-story writer.By 1961 she was teaching in Johannesburg, South Africa and also Zambia. In 1968 the government of South Africa withdrew her passport so she emigrated to Canada...
- Chelva Kanaganayakam
- Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-SamarasinhaLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-SamarasinhaLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is a Toronto-based poet, writer, educator and social activist. Her writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer and trans people of color, abuse survivors, mixed-race people and diasporic South Asians and Sri Lankans...
- Kwai-Yun Li
- Rozena MaartRozena MaartDr. Rozena Maart is a South African writer, and professor, currently living between Cape Town, South Africa and Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She has been recognized for her writing, and for her work opposing apartheid and violence against women...
- Tariq Malik
- Muhammad Umar MemonMuhammad Umar MemonDr. Muhammad Umar Memon Professor Emeritus of Urdu Literature and Arabic Studies,, Dr. Memon is an accomplished scholar, translator, poet, Urdu Short Story writer, and the editor of The Annual of Urdu Studies.Dr...
- Arun Mukherjee
- Tahira Naqvi
- Uma Parameswaran
- Sasenarine PersaudSasenarine PersaudSasenarine Persaud is an essayist, novelist, short story writer, and poet. He is the author of eleven books: eight poetry collections, two novels, and a book of short stories. His latest books are, Lantana Strangling Ixora, TSAR Books and In a Boston Night, TSAR Publications...
- Trish SalahTrish SalahTrish Salah is a Canadian feminist writer and educator. Her first volume of poetry, Wanting in Arabic, was published in 2002 by TSAR Publications....
- Sam Selvon
- Olive SeniorOlive SeniorOlive Marjorie Senior is a Jamaican poet and short story writer currently living in Canada.She went to Montego Bay High School For Girls, then at age 19 joined the staff of the Jamaica Gleaner in Kingston. She later won a scholarship to study journalism in Cardiff, Wales, and then at Carleton...
- John Stewart
- Suwanda Sugunasiri
- H Nigel Thomas
- Yvonne VeraYvonne VeraYvonne Vera was an award-winning author from Zimbabwe. Her novels are known for their poetic prose, difficult subject-matter, and their strong women characters, and are firmly rooted in Zimbabwe's difficult past...
- Nalini Warriar