Beginning on Earth Day, April 22 and wrapping up on May 2, 2009 Ottawa will be host to some of the most entertaining, controversial and influential writers, including Thomas Homer Dixon, Michael Ignatieff, Ezra Levant, Meir Shalev, Margaret MacMillan, Adrienne Clarkson, Molly Peacock, Vikas Swarup, Lorna Crozier, and a rare appearance by the legendary Ursula Le Guin.
Featuring a huge variety of interactive events including Poetry Cabarets, Big Ideas, Masterclasses, the Writing Life, the New Science Series and this Spring’s launch of Penguin’s Extraordinary Canadians series, over sixty writers will be appearing during the Writers Festival at its new home, Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts and Humanities 314 St. Patrick Street.
New this spring are collaborations with the Chamber Music Festival, BC Scene and Magnetic North, as well as Israel’s Meir Shalev marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and Israel and India’s Vikas Swarup coming to Canada in the wake of Slumdog Millionaire’s amazing run at the Academy Awards.
Some of the discussions during the Spring Edition will include parliamentary democracy Canada style, the oceans and waters of the earth, human rights and freedom of speech, the mythic imagination, lessons in leadership and much more. Prize winning poetry and fiction will reverberate through the historic Saint Brigid’s in the ByWard Market and for 11 Days the power of the written world will take centre stage in one of the preeminent celebrations of world literature.
The schedule at a glance is now online at writersfestival.org. Early Bird Festival passes – good for all 11 days – cost just $85 until April 21. Tickets and passes are available over the phone and online starting on March 6th. Tickets will also be available from Nicholas Hoare, Collected Works and Octopus Books on March 12.
Source: Ottawa Start
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was born on the 21st October 1921 in California and is an American author of novels, poetry and short stories. She has won numerous awards during her distinguished career, notably the Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master award in 2003.
