KEVIN G IS REALLY GOOD AT CALLIGRAPHY
an evening with Rajiv Surendra > JAN 15
The Paper Place and Type Books are excited to be co-presenting an evening with Rajiv Surendra.
Rajiv has developed a unique, personal style of calligraphy and chalkboard art. Stop by at 5pm on Sunday, January 15th to see a demonstration of his work and discussion of his memoir, Elephants in My Backyard, which includes a reflection on his time working at The Paper Place.
Type Books will have Elephants in My Backyard available for purchase & Rajiv will be providing individualized calligraphy work after the presentation.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In 2003, Rajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls, playing the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, when a cameraman insisted he read Yann Martel’s Life of Pi.
Mesmerized by all the similarities between Pi and himself—both are five-foot-five with coffee-colored complexions, both share a South Indian culture, both lived by a zoo—when Rajiv learns that Life of Pi will be made into a major motion picture he is convinced that playing the title role is his destiny.
In a great leap of faith Rajiv embarks on a quest to embody the sixteen-year-old Tamil schoolboy. He quits university and buys a one-way ticket from Toronto to South India. He visits the sacred stone temples of Pondicherry, he travels to the frigid waters off the coast of rural Maine, and explores the cobbled streets of Munich. He befriends Yann Martel, a priest, a castaway, an eccentric old woman, and a pack of Tamil schoolboys. He learns how to swim, to spin wool, to keep bees, and to look a tiger in the eye. All the while he is really learning how to dream big, to fail, to survive, to love, and to become who he truly is.
Rajiv Surendra captures the uncertainty, heartache, and joy of finding ones place in the world with sly humor and refreshing honesty. The Elephants in My Backyard is not a journey of goals and victories, but a story of process and determination. It is a spellbinding and profound book for anyone who has ever failed at something and had to find a new path through life.
Art demonstration & calligraphy signing
for Elephants in My Backyard by Rajiv Surendra
The Paper Place, 887 Queen Street West
Sunday January 15, 5-7pm
FREE