It is rather embarrassing that after several years of living and writing in the Annex I cannot confidently reflect upon the literary history of this neighborhood or its people. After all, if I am to ever emerge as an integral part of the slightly snobbish yet successful community of local literati, shouldn’t I at the very least be able to attest to the fact that the likes of Margaret Attwood and poet Dennis Lee both wrote “Alias Grace” and “Alligator Pie” while sipping coffee on the porches of their Victorian style homes in…wait for it; the Annex!!

I mean, for some strange inexplicable reason I have always had this aching desire to live in this area. Little did I know, it was because somehow I knew that here is where I was likely to run into seemingly “failing” poets nerdy UofT students and outspoken bums with previous artistic inclinations. The very thought of coming face to face with people I would admire from a distance but never really know the reason why, was both intriguing and inspiring to me. However, today I am almost certain that it is that very pattern of thinking which demanded no further action either than blind admiration, that has gotten me to a place of utter literary ignorance. I am sure however, that Jane Jacobs who lived in the Annex for 37 years, would have given me a friendly “hello” if she ever saw me walk along Albany Avenue. In a humbling sort of way Jane would look into my eyes and notice a certain twinkle; one that only writers, environmental geeks and flirty teens can master.

It’s 1959 and I am having a casual conversation with a then 20 years old Margaret Atwood about her fascination with tales and myths. Together, while eating fresh begets and sipping tea at a classic cafe in old Quebec, we  quietly dream of publishing 15 poetry books, of how surreal it would be to one day get our hands on the Governor General’s Award not once but twice…and we laugh.

Dennis Lee I’ve had the opportunity to meet and chat with. Let me tell you, what an outspoken, funny and insightful character that man is. Born in 1939 he does not look a day over fifty but that’s besides the point. If it wasn’t for the fact that, that night at The Harbord Room, reading series he was the feature poet or that his overzealous publicist couldn’t let him out of her sight, I would have told him how much I believe in the value of cooperative education and that Rochedale College was in fact, one of the best inventions of the 1960s. He would would have handed me a copy of “Civic Elegies and Other Poems” and after his reading of “Alligator Pie” I would clap my hands with child-like excitement….oh,wait a minute; that part did actually happen.

After a night of poetry and a few glasses of red wine, Dennis, Margaret, Jane and I are filled with glee. I ask them: Is this what literary Annex is all about? They look at me inquisitively “Yes this is it; it’s just how we all imagined it”.

Thank you to Stephen Young for the image.