Summer’s over and class is in session!

Settle in for an evening of comedic and shockingly informative PowerPoint presentations with the grlish Faculty of Pop Culture, who will enlighten and entertain you with their hot takes and niche interests.

Hosted at Queen West gem Hopeless Romantic Books, our lectures will be punctuated with interactive themed activities (get ready for a pop quiz!). Expect “‘studying’ with your friends on a school night” vibes – and grlish always has the good snacks.

🎟️ Tickets: $15

Refundable until one week before the event via email request.

A note on accessibility: Hopeless Romantic has a permanent ramp at the front entrance. A small section of the bookstore, a cozy back room, and the bathroom are up a step. The bathroom is single-stall and gender-neutral. If you have any questions, please feel welcome to contact us via email at grlishto@gmail.com.

Meet the Faculty

Sarah Sahagian is a long-time journalist and life-long pop culture enthusiast. She currently serves as the publisher of the award-winning news website rabble.ca. Sarah also co-hosts the popular podcast The Reheat, which she created with her good friend, Sadaf Ahsan. The Reheat re-examines celebrity scandals of the past through a contemporary feminist lens. She lives in Toronto with her family.

Sadaf Ahsan is a Toronto-based culture writer and editor. Her work has appeared in The Globe & Mail, Vogue, Refinery29, Elle Canada, etc. She is also a journalism prof at Humber College, and co-host of Frequency Podcasts’ pop-culture show The Reheat alongside her wonderful friend Sarah Sahagian. She dreams of running her fingers through Dev Patel’s hair. http://sadafahsan.com/

Julia Lennox is Events & Program Lead at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, where she builds national programs that celebrate Canada's songwriting legacy and carve out real opportunity for emerging music creators. Before joining the Hall of Fame, Julia earned a Canadian Screen Award for her work on "Artists & Icons: Indigenous Entertainers in Canada," an Entertainment Tonight Canada production. She has also led diversity and inclusion work across the music industry, helping the Canadian Country Music Association earn its Rainbow Registered certification and facilitating k.d. lang's induction as the first openly queer artist into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

Olivia Tharme is a Toronto-based creative producer and (occasional) performer. By day, she’s the Scripted Development Manager at Skywild Pictures, developing a slate of TV series and collaborating with Canadian talent. She holds a Master’s degree in Media Production with a focus on film and television scholarship, and a BFA in classical acting. Olivia has been known to rant and rave about comedy, feminist storytelling, and the future of Canada’s screen-based industries.

Michelle Reyes Boon is an events programmer bringing a Twilight shout along or Mamma Mia Sing Along to a cinema near you, if that cinema happens to be the Fox Theatre in Toronto or Bytowne Cinema in Ottawa. She is a devout patron to independent theatres, the municipal pool, and her best friend's apartment. 

Dara Poizner is a grant strategy professional and an events programming amateur. She has an MA in comparative literature and has always been a sucker for media analysis. 

Location& Time:

Thursday, September 17, 2026: 8:30 – 10:00 pm

Hopeless Romantic Books: 1080 Queen Street W, Toronto, Ontario, M6J 1H8