Almost a month ago, Toronto’s Buskerfest flooded our area, limiting our mobility on the streets outside our building. This weekend, a different kind of festival is taking over the city — Nuit Blanche!

Nuit Blanche is an all-night exhibition of music, art, dance, and beyond. The entire city gets overrun by the arts community from sundown to sunrise. There’s tons of stuff to see, lots of opportunity for viewer interaction, and never a dull moment.

Unfortunately, this is the first year I likely won’t be able to participate in Nuit Blanche as I’m currently battling a terrible cold. Yes, the flu has hit me early and rather than walk around the city all night in the cold, I’m thinking that a nice night in a warm bed with a book might be the better way to go.

And well, that got me thinking of all the arts related books that Dundurn has published, and in particular — one book that got terrific news this week! Arts and Politics by Sarah Jennings tells the story of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and we’re really happy to announce that it has been shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award! The winners are going to be announced at a ceremony towards the end of the month, but we think Sarah’s look at one of the staple buildings of the city is a shoe-in.

Good luck to Sarah, and all the other arts enthusiasts who will be out and about in the city this weekend.