Other Happenings

Our in-studio events were postponed until pandemic restrictions are loosened. We hope to resume our lectures and other events. See you soon, we hope!

Sunday Afternoons @ Back Lane Studios

Our Toronto neighbourhood is filled with people with wide-ranging interests and experiences. At Back Lane, we want to bring back the idea of the salon so that we can meet and learn from our fellow residents. With the COVID crisis, we’ve had to postpone any events, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop thinking about future programs. Do you know someone with an interesting story to tell or subject to discuss? Please email us at info@backlanestudios.ca. We hope to develop some fascinating Sunday afternoon programs, and we can’t wait to see what our inventive baker, Laurel Toews will come up with for refreshments themed to the events. (The photo featuring Victorian seed cake and gingernut biscuits were likely enjoyed at Bloomsbury. The lecture was about couples who write, including Virginia and Leonard Woolf.) So all  suggestions are welcome!


Virginia and Leonard Woolf had a supportive marriage. They are among the “Paragons” that our lecturer Janice Keefer will discuss.

For Better or Worse – Mostly Worse: Lectures about couples who write

We have completed one lecture, March 1. The others will be rescheduled when we can safely meet again.

Perhaps you saw the movie or read the novel The Wife, or watched the bio-pic Colette, in which husbands put their names on their wives’ work. Guelph professor emerita Janice Kulyk Keefer will explore literary relationships like these in three lectures, titled For Better or Worse — Mostly Worse.

Join us at Back Lane Studios (entrance to the studio is from the laneway at 9 Neepawa Ave., in Roncesvalles). The lectures will take place the first Sunday of the month, starting at 3:00 p.m., on March 1, April 5 and May 3. (Complimentary refreshments are included.)

Janice has divided these literary partnerships, functional and dysfunctional, into three categories:

The Paragons (March 1): Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning; George Eliot and George Henry Lewes; Virginia Stephen and Leonard Woolf. In which a “disadvantaged” woman writer is nurtured and sustained by an admirable man of letters.

The Disaster Prone (April 5): Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley (shown above); Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes; Elizabeth Smart and George Barker. In which a female writer is initially exalted and inspired by a male writer of genius who ultimately “does her in.”

The Scarred and Stalwart (May 3): Colette and Willy; Dorothy Sayers and John Crounos; Rebecca West and H.G. Wells. In which a young woman writer, entangled in an exploitative relationship with an older, masterful man, not only frees herself, but makes a brilliant success of her vocation.

Janice’s lectures will not only introduce us to these fascinating characters and relationships; she’ll also be taking us on quick tours of the literary world.

About the Guest Speaker: Janice Kulyk Keefer is an award-winnning novelist, poet and literary critic. A specialist in Modernist literature, she is Professor Emerita at the University of Guelph where she taught in the literature and theatre departments. Among her books is a fictional look at the life of Katherine Mansfield.

Lecture: The Man with the Black Valise

To be rescheduled.

Former Toronto Star reporter and True Crime writer John Goddard tells of the murder of 13-year-old Jessie Keith, who was brutally killed 125 years ago while walking home along the railway tracks to her farm at the edge of Listowel, north of Stratford. The detective who helped crack the case became the model for William Murdoch in the popular TV series “Murdoch Mysteries.” In a one-hour talk with video, photos and a Q&A, John will share his six top research discoveries and argue why a memorial to Jessie merits recognition as an Ontario Heritage Site.

John’s book on the subject, The Man with the Black Valise, has recently been published by Dundurn Press.

Tickets, $11 in advance on Eventbrite, $15 at the door. Refreshments included!


Past Events:

Hildegard of Bingen: Her Life, Art and Music

Hildegard of Bingen embarked on one of the most creative outpourings in history after a mystical experience in her early 40s.

After more than 800 years in obscurity, Hildegard of Bingen has in recent years caught the modern imagination. Back Lane Studios has featured the 12thcentury abbess in our Extraordinary Women Series at the Revue Cinema, and on each occasion,  audience members expressed the wish to learn more about this remarkable polymath and her work.  She composed music, poetry and the first known morality play; she wrote theological books and was the only medieval woman to preach openly to a mixed audience; she also explored the sciences – medicine, botany and cosmology.

In a series of three Sunday afternoon lectures at our studio at 9 Neepawa Ave., we will look more closely at her life, the art in her manuscripts and her music. Space is limited.

Coffee or tea are included. We will also have complimentary baked goods based on Hildegard’s recipes — yes, she was also knowledgeable about herbs, remedies and devised healthy diets. Our intrepid baker Laurel Toews will be preparing the Hildegard treats, many of them made with spelt — perfect for autumn weather, Laurel says.  

1.  Her Life and Mysticism with author Teri Degler: Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 p.m.

Following a screening of the documentaryIn the Symphony of the World: A Portrait of Hildegard of Bingen, Teri will lead an in-depth discussion of the film, exploring Hildegard’s profound mystical experience, the transformation in consciousness it triggered and creative output it sparked, rivaled only by Leonardo Da Vinci’s. The afternoon’s discussion will also explore what we can learn from Hildegard’s experience and  how we can use it to enrich our daily lives. Teri has been writing about extraordinarily creative women saints and mystics for over three decades. Hildegard has long been her favorite.

2. Her Art with Manuscript-scholar Rebecca Golding: Sunday, Sept. 29, 3 p.m.

The first page of the original 12th-century copy of Hildegard’s work, Scivias, doesn’t include words but instead displays an image. Adorning the page is a self-portrait of Hildegard composing her visions on a wax tablet (the scrap paper of the Middle Ages) and, perhaps shockingly for an enclosed nun, a male monastic sits beside her. This is only the first of many unprecedented illustrations in her works —unprecedented for their composition, iconography and abundant images of women.:

Emerging in these illustrations are ideas that resonate today: Hildegard’s unusual views on the position and role of women, the importance of the environment, and an original and holistic approach to medicine, the body and the cosmos. In this talk, Rebecca will help uncover Hildegard’s visual language by placing her illustrations in the context of 12th-century art and, in particular, art produced by or for women.

Lecture 3: Her Music with the Trio Cordium Voces (Voices from the Heart): Sunday, Oct. 6, 3 p.m.

Three medieval music specialists, Krystina Lewicki (voice, plucked strings featuring the bandura, and hand drums),  Linda Falvy (voice, bells, and drones) and Rebecca Enkin (voice, recorder and drones) will discuss and perform a selection of Hildegard’s compositions.

Their program will include poetry readings and sample writings, and highlight a number mystical chants from Hildegard’s 70-song cycle known as the Celestial Harmonies. Cordium Voce has created special arrangements of these pieces, featuring solos, trios and instrumental music. The trio met singing with Cantores Celestes choir several years ago, and share a love of chant, especially the mystical compositions of Hildegard.