Backstage at the PEN Canada benefit “Cockburn & Ondaatje: An Evening of Music and Words”, which was held at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Theatre on Nov. 21. From left: Bruce Cockburn, Lydia Cacho (the recipient of PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award), musician Sarah Harmer, Michael Ondaatje, and moderator Laurie Brown. (Photo courtesy of Matt Hayles)

Backstage at the Writers’ Trust Awards, which were held in Toronto on Nov. 24. From left: Annabel Lyon (whose novel The Golden Mean won the Rogers Writers‘ Trust Fiction Prize), Lyon’s agent Denise Bukowski, Random House Canada publicist Adria Iwasutiak, and author Joy Fielding. (Photo courtesy of Tom Sandler and Random House Canada)

Words Worth Books in Waterloo, ON, has been featuring our 2009 Books of the Year issue at recent author events. About that sign: we’re blushing. (Photo courtesy of Words Worth Books)