Griffin Poetry Prize Shortlist Announced...

... and it turns out that, with Jeramy Dodds coming this spring, we've hosted all three of this year's Canadian shortlist, in the past year. We're pretty pleased about that!

Jeramy will be one-half, with Matthew Tierney, of an event called "Why Poetry Antimatters: Metaphor, Entanglement and Patricle Poetics" at noon on April 30th.

Apparently they'll be presenting in lab coats.

Click here for an article on Jeramy from last fall's National Post.

Electronic Ticket Agent Kiosks

This Spring we're starting a partnership with ETA Kiosks: Festival Passes and Day Passes will be available at the following locations:

Albert at Bay Hotel (435 Albert St., Ott.)
Cartier Place Hotel (180 Cooper, Ott.)
Best Western Victoria Park (377 O'Connor, Ott.)
Quality Inn Hotel (290 Rideau, Ott.)
Brittons in the Glebe (846 Bank St., Ott.)
Brittons in Westboro (352 Richmond Rd., Ott.)
Holiday Inn Plaza la Chaudière (2 Montcalm, Gatineau)
Novotel (22 Nicholas St., Ott.)
Chimo Hotel, 1199 Joseph Cyr, Ott.)
Radisson Hotel Parliament Hill, 402 Queen St., Ott.)
Lord Elgin Hotel
Épicierie Jovi, 50 Begin St. Gatineau

The Ottawa Citizen announces Le Guin

The Ottawa Citizen ran a story on the 15th announcing some of the Festival's headliners, particularly Ursula K. Le Guin. It starts out:

"American novelist Ursula K. Le Guin, who makes few personal appearances, will close the spring edition of the Ottawa International Writers Festival May 2, capping a lineup that will also include Michael Ignatieff, former governor general Adrienne Clarkson and Israeli writer Meir Shalev.

The 11-day festival will present more than 60 writers in readings and discussions, and will also include writing workshops and discussions, said festival artistic director Sean Wilson.

Acclaimed for her fantasy and science fiction for adults and children, Le Guin, 79, will read from her 2008 novel Lavinia, will take part in an onstage interview and will answer questions from the audience. The reading will be at the festival's new home, St. Brigid's Centre for the Arts and Humanities on St. Patrick Street."

The rest of the story is here.

Spring Edition Schedule

Dear Festival Friends - I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this Spring's Festival. After a banner year filled with so many of my literary heroes, I was a little worried how we'd manage to put something together even better than what we had in 2008. And I'm very happy to report that I think we've done it!

There's so much to talk about - so many great authors and so many interesting discussions - that I don't know where to start. So rather than try to say anything at all (apart from "Wow! This should be a GREAT Festival") here's a link to the schedule at a glance. And here's a link to the press release.
We'll be adding a few names and filling in a couple of TBAs over the next few days and will also be getting the speaker profiles and event descriptions onto the site, as well as details on our bigger and better children's literacy program, but until we get all our ducks in a row there's certainly lots to see and lots to get excited about!

I also wanted to take a moment to thank all our sponsors, Festival Members, Volunteers and passholders. Times are tough and we really do appreciate all your support. It's especially in times of uncertainty that the Festival is most important. It's especially in times like these that I want to hear from people in the know, want to spend time with the community, want to celebrate and learn and feel engaged the way I only do when we all get together to celebrate the power of the imagination.
Tickets and passes are on sale now, so give us a call at 613.562.1243 - I hope to see you soon!

All the best, Sean

Kicking off Spring 2009

We begin our 2009 Season tomorrow (February 19th) at 7:00 PM with book launches for Chris Cleave and Priscila Uppal at Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts and Humanities, 314 Saint Patrick Street at the corner of Cumberland.

Somerset Maugham Award-winner Chris Cleave's latest novel, Little Bee, was shortlisted for the Costa Best Novel Award. The Library Journal says: “Book clubs in search of the next Kite Runner need look no further than this astonishing, flawless novel.” Priscila Uppal's novel To Whom It May Concern is a modern, multicultural re-telling of King Lear, which explores the vulnerability and complexity of family and inheritance. we’re thrilled to be starting of the year with two such accomplished authors. It’s a free event and we hope you can join us.

UP NEXT: We celebrate Black History Month on February 20th with a double bill featuring two unforgettable artists: former child soldier Emmanuel Jal at 6:30 PM and acclaimed poet George Elliot Clarke at 8:30 PM. Tickets (good for either/both events) will be available at the door.

6:30 PM: Emmanuel Jal was seven years old when he was recruited as a child soldier in his native Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker at 13, he began recovery, and started singing to ease the pain of what had happened. He has won worldwide acclaim for his unique style of hip hop and its message of peace and reconciliation. His book War Child, released this year, tells his harrowing story of survival and raises awareness of the continuing plight of child soldiers across Africa.

8:30 PM: George Elliot Clarke returns to Ottawa! George is an award-winning poet, playwright, and screenwriter. The author of six books of poetry, George won the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 2001 for Execution Poems. A seventh-generation African-Canadian, he was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, near the Black Loyalist community of Three Mile Plains. Previously an assistant professor of English and Canadian Studies at Duke University, George also served as the Seagrams Visiting Chair in Canadian Studies at McGill University. He lives in Toronto where he is an associate professor of English at the University of Toronto. He is also proud to own land in Three Mile Plains.