A boy’s voyage
Steve Mazey, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA WRITER’S FESTIVAL:
■ Monday’s reading was the first of several events to be presented before the fall writers’ festival runs Oct. 20 to 25. Others include an event with chef Michael Smith Sept. 26, Wayne Johnston Sept. 29 and Adrienne Clarkson Oct. 17.
■ Writers scheduled to appear during the Oct. 20-25 festival include Guy Vanderhaeghe, Ian Rankin, Chang Rae-Lee, Anita Rau Badami, Johanna Skibsrud, Miriam Toews and others.
■ Information: 613-562-1243; www.writersfestival.org
OTTAWA — The new book by one of Canada’s literary stars is about an 11-year-old boy named Michael who travels alone by ship from Ceylon to England, much like a trip Michael Ondaatje once took as a boy on his own.
The Cat’s Table tells the story of the boy and his impressions of the sometimes mysterious adults he watches on the ship. It also shifts ahead in time to the boy as an adult, looking back on the trip. But the Booker, Giller and Governor Generals’ Award-winning Ondaatje says the book is a novel and not autobiography.
The Decline of the American Empire?
Bestselling author Dambisa Moyo makes her Writers Festival debut with How the West Was Lost, a bold account of the decline of the West’s economic supremacy. Specifically, the book suggests that America is not just in economic decline, but on course to become the biggest welfare state in the history of the West.
How the West Was Lost reveals not only the economic myopia of the West but also the radical solutions that it needs to adopt in order to assert itself as a global power once again.
Readers will remember her previous book Dead Aid a bestselling and devastating take on the cherished myths about foreign aid being a good thing.
Dambisa Moyo received a Ph. D in economics from Oxford University and a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is a former consultant for the World Bank and an investment banker specializing in emerging markets at Goldman Sachs.
Dambisa Moyo takes the stage at Southminster United Church (15 Aylmer Ave. at Bank St.) on February 25, at 7:30 PM. The event is presented with Carleton University’s Faculty of
Public Affairs and Institute of African Studies and is hosted by CBC’s Lucy van Oldenbarneveld.
Tickets are available in advance online at www.writersfestival.org, onsite, or by phone at 613-562-1243. Tickets are also sold at the following locations: Books on Beechwood (35 Beechwood Ave.); Collected Works (1242 Wellington St.); Octopus Books (Cash Only, 116 Third Ave.); and the Ottawa Festivals office (47 William St.)
Other upcoming pre-festival events, include Israeli superstar Etgar Keret (April 3), Penguin Canada’s Extraordinary Canadians featuring Charles Foran on Maurice Richard, Vincent Lam on Tommy Douglas and Andre Pratte on Wilfred Laurier (April 13), and Tim Flannery with his latest Here On Earth: A Natural History Of The Planet (April 14).
Authors’ speeches wrap up writers fest
JOE LOFARO | METRO OTTAWA
Photo by Joe Lafaro for Metro Ottawa
The Ottawa International Writers Festival is wrapping up this week but not without the remaining speeches by a number of renowned authors.
William Gibson was at Mayfair Theatre yesterday giving a speech about Zero History, his latest novel in a sci-fi thriller trilogy.
Full Preview: Authors’ speeches wrap up writers fest
A queer weekend of sexual tension and body-loving people
Noreen Fagan, Xtra!
This is going to be a sexy weekend in Ottawa. What with queer readings at Transgress, titillating vaudeville acts by the Sexual Overtones, a masquerade fantasy with the Ottawa Wolves and lesbian comedienne Elvira Kurt headlining a comedy event, queers are going to have a hard time keeping their cool on.
On Friday, Oct 22, the Mayfair Theatre on Bank St will open its doors to the queer side of the International Writers Festival with Transgress. The evening, hosted by Xtra’s Marcus McCann, will feature Canadian authors Amber Dawn, Peter Dubé, Lisa Foad and S Bear Bergman sharing their works. It is guaranteed to be hot.
Weekend preview from Xtra!: A queer weekend of sexual tension and body-loving people
A night with J.S. Bach at the Writers Fest
Steven Mazey, The Ottawa Citizen
Zelenka, assistant principal cellist with the Toronto Symphony, has known Bach’s spellbinding music since she was a 10-year-old student in Toronto. She recorded the suites recently for the Marquis Classics label, and the disc was released in June to some glowing reviews.
At her Ottawa performance, presented by the Ottawa International Writers Festival, Zelenka will join Eric Siblin, a former pop music writer with the Montreal Gazette, who will read from his acclaimed book The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece.
Read the full story: A night with J.S. Bach at the Writers Fest
Ottawa International Writer’s Festival 2010
Peter @ Apt 613
Wednesday October 20th marks the kickoff of the Fall edition of the Ottawa International Writer’s Festival, still going strong in its 13th year. The festival, which runs from Oct. 20 – Oct. 26, has a new home this year, with the majority of events taking place at the Mayfair Theatre (1074 Bank St.).
This year’s lineup includes some great writers and thinkers, including former Member of Parliament and Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden, Stanford professor and historian Ian Morris, Governor General Literary Award winner Kate Pullinger, and Giller Prize winner Richard B. Wright.
For tickets, call 613-562-1243 or visit the Writer’s Festival website. Festival passes are $75, $65 for students and seniors. Considering individual events are $15/$10, it’s a great deal. Apartment613 picks some of the highlights of this year’s festival after the jump.
Read the full preview on Apt 613: Ottawa International Writer’s Festival 2010
Raj Patel: MESSENGER OF RADICAL ECONOMICS TO SPEAK AT SOUTHMINSTER CHURCH
Ottawa, May 26, 2010 – Award winning writer, activist and academic Raj Patel, author of the recently published bestseller, The Value of Nothing, will be speaking in Ottawa at Southminster United Church on Monday May 31 at 7 PM as part of the Ottawa International Writers Festival’s Global Perspectives Series.
One of the world’s most respected young visionaries and one of the most controversial and outspoken, Mr. Patel does not mince words or approach the current economic crisis with the delicacy of a diplomat. “We have mortgaged our future and called it freedom,” he says.
The Value of Nothing systematically points out some of the major flaws in our current economic model and goes on to speak of alternatives to the market as it is presently configured. “Our economy has been hijacked by free market fundamentalists and what we are left with is debt and diabetes.” He salutes the growing grass roots movements that are capturing the imaginations of ordinary citizens around the world outraged that some agriculture workers, for example, make less in a year than some Wall Street stock brokers make in an hour.
Refusing to hate: Doctor’s moving account of family tragedy in Gaza
By Irwin Block, The Ottawa Citizen
Joanne Harris will appear on May 18 at 7 p.m. at the Mayfair Theatre, courtesy of the Ottawa International Writers Festival, to discuss blueeyedboy. A screening of Chocolat will follow. Tickets $15 for adults, $10 for students or seniors.
Read more: Refusing to hate
Israeli author a ‘lousy reader,’ but a great storyteller
Written by Lynne Cohen, Jewish Tribune
OTTAWA – “I am an amazing writer,” said Israeli novelist Amir Gutfreund, before reading from his newest book during Ottawa’s recent international writers’ festival week. “But I am a lousy reader.”
He went on to prove the second part of his statement as he stumbled though 10 minutes of reading selected sections of The World a Moment Later: A Shadow History of Israel, (The Toby Press, 2008, 499 pages), his latest of four novels, and one of two that have been translated from Hebrew.
Read more: Israeli author a ‘lousy reader,’ but a great storyteller
From Canada to Tibet A clash of values amid an international confrontation
By Philip Marchand, Canwest news Service
Steven Heighton and Yann Martel will appear together Monday at 7 p.m. for a presentation titled The Writing Life, hosted by Adrian Harewood, at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St. Tickets are $15, students and seniors $10, free to Ottawa International Writers Festival Members.
Read more: From Canada to Tibet
