rss-feed http://www.writersfestival.org/rss-feed en Ottawa International Writers Festival 2006 120 Violence Against Women http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/violence-against-women Flags are flying at half mast as we remember the 14 women killed at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal 22 years ago today.

 

And in Kingston the Mohammad Shafia murder trial of his three teenaged daughters and first wife continues to stagger the imagination.

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:33:17 -0800 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/violence-against-women writersfest Civilization and Its Contents – an evening with Niall Ferguson http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/civilization-and-its-contents-an-evening-with-niall-ferguson The topicality of Niall Ferguson’s books possesses an uncanny - bordering on conspiratorial prescience - quality.

]]> Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:23:58 -0800 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/civilization-and-its-contents-an-evening-with-niall-ferguson Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Peter Behrens' The O'Briens http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/peter-behrens-the-obriens A friend of mine loathes most Canadian fiction, decrying the same tropes that seem to be recycled time and time again. In all likelihood, she would not enjoy The O’Briens, Peter Behrens follow-up to his 2006 prize-winner Law of Dreams.

]]> Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:21:04 -0800 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/peter-behrens-the-obriens Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Wade Davis' Into The Silence http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/wade-davis-into-the-silence On a bright sunny Sunday afternoon, the lower half of the Mayfair filled up for a post-writers festival talk by a festival favourite, Wade Davis. Davis has graced us with his presence many times before, the last time of which was a packed house in this very venue.

]]> Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:16:48 -0800 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/wade-davis-into-the-silence Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Scottish Crime Night http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/scottish-crime-night Scottish Crime Night at the Ottawa International Writers Festival kicked off in style as the esteemed authors, Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, and Stuart Macbride, were piped in to the fittingly Scottish Knox Presbyterian Church.

]]> Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:06:24 -0800 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/scottish-crime-night Daniel Bezalel Richardsen David Gilmour's The Perfect Order of Things http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/david-gilmours-the-perfect-order-of-things

 

Although the vignettes and opinions in this thinly-veiled autobiography appear somewhat randomly, they are united by Gilmour

]]> Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:58:26 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/david-gilmours-the-perfect-order-of-things Daniel Bezalel Richardsen “Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome” http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/jacob-wrestled-the-angel-and-the-angel-was-overcome Talking about Israel is perennially topical, and on the packed Sunday afternoon there was palpable expectation about David Berlin and Hirsh Goodman delivering their talk based on their respective books.

]]> Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:51:31 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/jacob-wrestled-the-angel-and-the-angel-was-overcome Daniel Bezalel Richardsen The Poetics of Heartmaking where Obsolescence Is Only the Beginning http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/the-poetics-of-heartmaking-where-obsolescence-is-only-the-beginning

By the time the evening ended, it was as if I were transported to my favourite museum in the world: Seattle’s Frank Gehry-designed ]]> Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:45:37 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/the-poetics-of-heartmaking-where-obsolescence-is-only-the-beginning Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Dionne Brand's Ossuaries http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/ossuaries-by-dionne-brand

 

I first picked up Ossuaries late at nigh

]]> Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:36:55 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/ossuaries-by-dionne-brand Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Love of My Life http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/love-of-my-life With David Gilmour, Kevin Chong, and Anne Enright, Hosted by Steven Hayward

 

One hesitates to write a review of an event where three writers spoke at length on their past experience of bad reviews.  Their opinions ranged from dismissive pity (“I wish that this aspiring writer

]]> Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:53:13 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/love-of-my-life Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Stories about Storytellers http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/stories-about-storytellers Having worked closely with many of the most significant and influential writers of the past half-century, Douglas Gibson is a literary treasure and a wealth of knowledge about Canadian literary and political figures.

]]> Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:39:47 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/stories-about-storytellers Daniel Bezalel Richardsen In the Shadow of the Soviet Union http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/in-the-shadow-of-the-soviet-union Hosted and curated by Mark Medley, book editor at the National Post, Saturday evening’s In the Shadow of the Soviet Union welcomed authors Andrew J. Borkowski and David Bezmozgis to the Knox Church.

]]> Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:05:21 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/in-the-shadow-of-the-soviet-union Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Ukrainia was fantastic! http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/ukrainia-was-fantastic How can you not attend an event when the performing band claims their sound as the edge of mania, vodka fuelled and drenched in old country passions? Seriously, that’s tempting.

]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:12:42 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/ukrainia-was-fantastic Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Lunch Laughs with Miriam Toews and Christian McPherson http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/lunch-laughs-with-miriam-toews-and-christian-mcpherson It was great to be able to sneak away to a noon hour event, especially one featuring Miriam Toews (whom I had never previously considered a comic or “funny” writer) and Christian McPherson on a chilly yet brisk Monday afternoon.

]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:14:48 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/lunch-laughs-with-miriam-toews-and-christian-mcpherson Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Johanna Skibsrud's This Will Be Difficult to Explain http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/this-will-be-difficult-to-explain-johanna-skibsrud

 

“This will be difficult to explain,” a father told his children on the revelation that their road accident was somewhat shockingly not what it first appeared.  The statement is embedded in a story about a fa

]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:42:30 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/this-will-be-difficult-to-explain-johanna-skibsrud Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Hell is Other People http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/hell-is-other-people Johanna Skibsrud, Helen Oyeyemi, Miriam Toews, Hosted by Michael Blouin

Sunday, October 23, 2011

 

The crowd was near capacity in the church’s main hall—an ominous sign given the title of the evening’s event.  Helen Oyeyemi didn’t help matters by begi

]]> Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:28:37 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/hell-is-other-people Daniel Bezalel Richardsen The Business of Invention http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/the-business-of-invention Poetry Cabaret with Dionne Brand and Patrick Lane, Hosted by Stephen Brockwell

Saturday, October 22 nd , 4 pm

 

Even at this stage in the careers of accomplished Canadian poets Dionne Brand and Patrick Lane, invention is no bare fiat.

]]> Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:18:18 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/the-business-of-invention Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Air Farce with Don Ferguson http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/air-farce-with-don-ferguson Imagine you had a friend for most of your life-some 50 years and for 40 of those years you worked closely with the same friend. Your careers were largely on radio, television and stage.

]]> Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:06:30 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/air-farce-with-don-ferguson Daniel Bezalel Richardsen In A World Gone Mad: Writing the Canadian film http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/in-a-world-gone-mad-writing-the-canadian-film This past Friday afternoon at the Knox Presbyterian Church, a hungry lunchtime audience gathered, paper bags and sandwiches in hand, as Tony Burgess , http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/in-a-world-gone-mad-writing-the-canadian-film Daniel Bezalel Richardsen Saving Room with Adrienne Clarkson http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/saving-room-with-adrienne-clarkson The evening started with the recurring yet enduringly moving tribute to a dissident writer – whose photograph, mounted on a frame lay still and intact on an otherwise empty chair – by Andrew Cohen on behalf of PEN Canada.

]]> Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:15:01 -0700 http://www.writersfestival.org/blog/saving-room-with-adrienne-clarkson Daniel Bezalel Richardsen