The Ampersand Review Shares Award with Mississauga’s Central Library
By: J.M. and Kimberley Cameron
The Ampersand Review is honoured to share the Award of Excellence with Mississauga’s Hazel McCallion Central Library. The award was to commemorate the magazine’s partnership in hosting the inaugural Mississauga Literary Festival in September 2024. Celebrations were two-fold as the launch of Issue No. 6 also took place as part of the festival.
Building on this partnership, on September 13th of this year, Sheridan College and The Ampersand Review of Writing & Publishing teamed up with the Hazel McCallion Central Library to bring dynamic programming to this year’s annual Mississauga Literary Festival. Those who came out to the festival had the chance to explore local exhibitors, attend author talks and panels, and engage with the local literary community. During the festival, The Ampersand Review alsolaunched Issue No. 8, with the event featuring readings from contributors Mark Sampson, Atma Frans, Salma Hussain, Paige Maylott, Selena Mercuri, and Etienne Marsolet.
The Ampersand Review has always maintained a strong belief in the importance of literary events: back in 2023, The Ampersand Review and Sheridan College’s Creative Writing & Publishing program hosted its first annual & Festival at Sheridan College’s Hazel McCallion Campus in Mississauga. The festival ran November 3rd and 4th to celebrate both writing and publishing; it brought together small presses within the CanLit community and industry professionals from both disciplines. In collaboration with the Meet the Presses Collective, the & Festival featured the Indie Lit Market, where guests could interact with independent publishers and purchase works of their favourite authors. Writers and publishing professionals also held thought-provoking panel discussions and workshops about their different perspectives on the industry.
When the & Festival returned for the second time in 2024, the & Books Market was launched. Similar to the Meet the Presses’ Indie Lit Market, guests could purchase books and literary magazines from small presses across Canada. The festival ran from October 4th to 5th, allowing free access to the public on the first day.
In both festivals, featured speakers that were invited included Anuja Varghese, Tamara Faith Berger, Phoebe Wang, and Kelvin Kong. Each festival concluded with a celebratory gathering in which the winner of The Ampersand Review Essay Contest was announced.
The Ampersand Review remains dedicated to fostering community-driven and creativity-focused spaces through workshops, panels, and social events. This past October, the magazine returned with its Writing and Reading Series, which are monthly events that invite authors to engage with the local literary community.
The Writing Series is a workshop-style event that provides up to 20 attendees with the opportunity to develop their craft in varying genres through a two-hour lesson with a professional writer: on Thursday, October 30th, the magazine brought in Christine Estima for a two-pronged writing workshop on writing the first page and what’s left unsaid in dialogue.
The Reading Series is a panel-style event where two authors are invited to share readings and engage in a moderated discussion: on Tuesday, November 4th, The Ampersand Review had the privilege of sitting down with poets Ronna Bloom and Charlie Petch to discuss their new collections from Brick Books. The Reading Series also encourages attendees to share their own works-in-progress, with each event concluding with an open mic.
On Wednesday, November 5th, The Ampersand Review celebrated the publications of two creative works from Sheridan’s Creative Writing & Publishing faculty; Paul Vermeersch’s NMLCT (ECW 2025); and Dr. Alexander Hollenberg’s Human Story will not Consume the Cosmos (Gaspereau Press 2025). The lively-attended joint-book launch showcased the community’s support of literary spaces.
The Ampersand Review is first and foremost a bi-annual literary magazine that publishes works of various formats by authors from across the country. However, what the magazine does for the community pushes past the pages of each issue. Through events such as the Reading and Writing Series, The & Festival, and their partnerships, The Ampersand Review fosters opportunities for the literary community to come together and share their love for the written word.
