Amy Lavender Harris teaches in the Department of Geography at York University in Toronto, Canada, where her work focuses on urban identity and the cultural significance of place. She is the author of Imagining Toronto (Mansfield Press, 2010), which was recently shortlisted for the Gabrielle Roy Prize in Canadian literary criticism. Amy is also a contributing editor with Spacing Magazine, where she writes a regular column on Toronto literature. She has also contributed essays to Reading Toronto, Open Book Toronto, Canada: A Literary Tour, Hagar: Studies in Culture, Polity and Identities, Plan Canada, the Ontario Planning Journal, The State of the Arts: Living with Culture in Toronto (Coach House, 2006) and GreenTOpia (Coach House, 2007). Amy speaks regularly to popular and scholarly audiences about Toronto literature and the imaginative qualities of cities. Organizations/events where she has presented include the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes, the Glocal City in Canadian Literature conference (Salamanca, Spain), the Toronto Public Library, Classical Pursuits, Jane's Walk, Brockton Writers' Series, BookCamp Toronto, Doors Open Toronto, the Osgoode Constitutional Roundtable, This Is Not a Reading Series, the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC), Walk21, Salon Voltaire and the Toronto Festival of Architecture & Design. Amy is currently at work on a novel set in Toronto.