While there are many events with writers I will enjoy
discovering, here are a few of the events that I am specifically looking
forward to at the festival this autumn:
Ottawa
Premiere of Midnight’s Children Screening and on-stage conversation with Deepa
Mehta at the Empire 7, Wednesday, October 24, 2012 7:30pm
Ms. Mehta fascinates me. I saw a documentary where she
talked about her film Water & I was rapt. I have seen a few of her films
& enjoyed them. Much to my disgrace, I have not yet read Rushdie's novel or
any of his work, but this should make a fine intro. The description sounds
enthralling. I saw Mehta's adaptation of Carol Shield's the Republic of Love.
It is my opinion that Mehta is exceptional at novel to screen adaptations. I'm
pleased that the festival is able to be very creative & stretch the limits
of what your typical literary festival might offer. I'm going to be interested
to hear what Mehta has to say about her experiences in film, particularly with
the adaptation of this novel.
This means, of course, that I will miss the
Ottawa Book Awards and ARC's Archibald Lampman Poetry Award taking place
way out in Orleans at the Shenkman Centre at 8pm. I admit that I am not overly
enthused with this location. If it ain't downtown, it doesn't interest me.
However, I am rooting for all three of my amigos Sandra Ridley, Michael Blouin
& rob mclennan for the Lampman Award & Shane Rhodes for the Ottawa Book
Award. I love it when a poet wins an award dominated by fiction. It feels
subversive somehow. Obviously, I'm looking forward to this one. No further comments are necessary really; however, I will say that the host is beautiful, sexy & intelligent (ahem). More importantly, Neil Gerster's music will be enjoyable. At our summer reading he performed exquisitely on the ukulele & his lyrics contained references to literature, which was great fun. He has a lovely voice & a great demeanour. rob mclennan will be launching his chapbook, Miss Canada (international), a kind of sequel to his Corrupt Press "Miss Canada" chapbook. We will hear from this year's honourable mentions and winner. All of us will remember & celebrate the brilliant poetry of John Newlove, as we do every year. I hope you will help us celebrate, not only John Newlove, but also Bywords as we complete our tenth year. I'm always so pleased that the festival includes us in their program. It's an honour to be included. Hope to see you there.
CBC All In A Day Songwriters' Circle with Alan Neal, Friday,
October 26, 2012
I always enjoy this event. I am a regular listener to All In
A Day. Alan Neal always curates a fine collection of musicians, some of whom
I've heard of, but many I haven't. As of this blog entry, we don't know yet who
the musicians will be. Exciting!Ok, I admit that I loved the band Moxy Fruvous. They had intelligent & hilarious lyrics, & they even had a song which mentioned Robertson Davies, my favourite novelist, so how could I not be intrigued? Also, I am a sporadic but loyal listener to the CBC Radio Show Q, which Ghomeshi hosts. In 1982 I was just finishing high school & starting at the University of Toronto's Victoria College. It was a frightening time. I wouldn't go back to that era for all the tea in my cupboards, but for Mr. Ghomeshi, I shall revisit. I look forward to his reminiscences of 1982, including the glitter. argh, the glitter.
Plan
99 Poetry with Nyla Matuk, Matthew Tierney and Marcus McCann, Sunday,
October 28, 2012
Firstly I must say that I love Marcus McCann. He is a dear
friend of mine & was part of my editing dream team, along with Nicholas
Lea, Sandra Ridley, Pearl Pirie & Roland Prevost when we were in a poetry
workshop together that some of us called Ampersand. His latest collection, the
Hard Return, features poems I remember well from workshopping with him. I heard
Matthew Tierney read at the festival before & immediately bought both his books.
I have never heard of Ms. Matuk, but her poetry collection sounds delightfully
absurd. I always enjoy Plan 99 in large part because of host David O'Meara, who
is not only handsome but intelligent. When he hosts a reading, he masterfully
keeps it to one hour. No more. I like that in a host. No rambling. No sycophantic
intros. Some intro, but no fawning.
Long
Story Short with Nadine McInnis, Miranda Hill and Steven Heighton, Sunday,
October 28, 2012
I have a sweet old-fashioned crush on the handsome &
talented Steven Heighton. I am very fond of his fiction & I look forward to
an opportunity to hear him read & to watch him from across the room. I keep
meaning to read Miranda Hill's work, so now I finally get the chance to hear
her read. I enjoyed Nadine McInnis' last poetry collection & am looking
forward to hearing her read from her short fiction. Also this event is hosted
by the dashing & talented Stephen Brockwell. His introductions, like David
O'Meara's when he hosts at the festival, are legendary essays that should be
published. Plus there is something intriguing about the idea of a poet, and I
consider Stephen to be a poet's poet, hosting a fiction event. Of course, dear
Stephen is brilliant & has hosted
events on scientific topics with intelligence & panache.
Relit
Awards: Ideas Not Money, Monday, October 29, 2012
Note that this event is taking place at Octopus Books' new
location at 251 Bank, not in the crowded store in the Glebe…so that makes more
sense. I always enjoy these awards, mainly because of all the books the
organizer of the event, Ken Harvey throws out into the audience. A couple of my
pals are shortlisted; other than that I'm torn because while I dearly want
Sandra Ridley to win for Post-Apothecary, I would be very excited to meet Joel
Thomas Hynes, whose Straight Razor Days is also up for poetry. It's his fiction
that turns me on so far…
Cosmo Lava Bridge with Anton Piatigorsky, Spencer Gordon andBarry Webster, Tuesday, October 30, 2012
When he was in Ottawa, Spencer was part of my fiction
workshop group along with rob mclennan, Kate Heartfield, Steve Zytveld and
Emily Falvey. I remember being blown away by how excellent & unique his
short fiction was. After he left, I invited him to be part of the first issue
of Experiment-o.com. You can
read his story, "Tired But Always Thinking, Thinking,' in the pdf. Spencer
dazzled me with his talent & skill.
I look forward to seeing what five years has done to his writing. Anton
Piatigorsky gave a talk at the Writers Festival
on plays a number of years ago & it was brilliant. He was mesmerizing.
I look forward to hearing him read. I don't know Barry Webster at all, but am
looking forward to being introduced to a voice I haven't heard before.
Thanks once again to the Ottawa International Writers
Festival for putting together an exciting and varied program. It's a great opportunity to reconnect with friends & be introduced to new (to me) authors & their intriguing books. You can buy
tickets and passes here.
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