In the iconic Toronto novel, In the Skin of a Lion (McLelland & Stewart, 1987), Michael Ondaatje wrote, "Before the real city could be seen it had to be imagined, the way rumours and tall tales were a kind of charting." This observation is a particularly apt characterization of the role of Toronto's literature, which provides such an essential guide to a city that arguably has had such trouble perceiving itself.
Toronto writers have produced a large and diverse literature focused on the city's cultures, spaces, identities, politics, history, and environment.
For a list of books set in Toronto see Toronto in Books
Noted Toronto Writers
Noted writers whose works have focused at least in part on Toronto include Margaret Atwood, Dionne Brand, Catherine Bush, Stephen Cain, Morley Callaghan, Austin Clarke, Hugh Garner, Katherine Govier, Daniel Jones, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Anne Michaels, bpNichol, Darren O'Donnell, Michael Ondaatje, Ray Robertson, Raymond Souster, M.G. Vassanji, among many others.
