Ottawa International Writers Festival’s growing rep lands it a prize catch
The simple and powerful idea that fuels good writing is that language is more than the uncomplicated vehicle by which information is delivered. Words act in concordance with each other to actually shape meaning, to give it structure. Words are formative things. They don’t simply communicate but actually constitute ideas, which also means that they constitute you. Nothing exists without expression; nothing exists before language describes it. And when someone expresses something to you, that experience transforms and shapes you as well.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival has been quietly preaching this epiphany for 11 years. Working slowly but surely like missionaries from some new world, they’re finally starting to reap the rewards: larger audiences that fill their room at the National Archives and spill out into the lobby, a growing staff of dedicated workers, and the resources and prestige that have started to attract some of the world’s biggest talents. I asked artistic director Sean Wilson to walk me through a sampling of what you can find in the second week of the festival.
Local poet David O’Meara hosts Poetry Cabaret (Thursday at 8:30 p.m.), an evening with three powerful voices. Stephen Brockwell is a veteran of the Ottawa literary scene, a former winner of the Archibald Lampman Award and “one of the most interesting voices in Ottawa,” according to Wilson. “Rob Winger is another. His work is really unique. Almost nobody writes long-form narrative poetry, so it really came as a breath of fresh air,” he adds. John Pass arrives at the festival fresh from winning the 2006 Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, an incredible achievement that has garnered him the praise his work deserves.
On Saturday (8 p.m.), Wilson himself takes the stage to host Writing Life 3, a conversation with three celebrated novelists. “This year we decided to pare down our roster in order to make the events tighter,” says Wilson. “To select a smaller number of writers was a really daunting task, but we really believe we invited the right people.” Helen Oyeyemi, Gil Adamson and Ottawa resident Frances Itani share between them a huge quantity of glowing reviews. They are at the very forefront of Canadian talent, and a panel with all three in discussion is not to be missed.
The Relit Awards (Sunday at 8 p.m.) are “a stellar concept. It’s all about being excited and engaged about literature, as their slogan states: being driven by ideas and not money,” Wilson explains. Partnering with the festival, the Relit Awards have found a permanent home for independent work of superior quality. Every fall, this award presents the finest in independent press created in this country. This year it celebrates Bill Gaston, Daniel Scott Tysdal and Ivan E. Coyote.
And now comes the prize – Jasper Fforde himself (Sunday at 6 p.m.). Beloved by millions, his hugely popular books are universally praised. A vastly original thinker and writer, Fforde whips the world of literature into beautiful candied foam and presents it to us with all the joy and fun of confection, but with all the complexity and subtlety of a beautiful book. “This was a wonderful coup. We started to read his works and decided he would be an incredible personality to hear in person. We contacted his publisher and, having heard favourable things about the festival, he agreed.” Not since José Saramago has a literary personality of this calibre read at the festival, and it really emphasizes how prestigious this Ottawa institution has become.
As appeared in the Ottawa XPress – Oct. 18, 2007
http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/books/books.aspx?iIDArticle=13250
