Ottawa's Festival of Ideas Since 1997

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Thank you for an amazing Virtual Season!

It's been a strange year, hasn't it? We hope you are staying safe and look forward to the day we can gather again in-person to celebrate creativity and community. 
 
While we can't yet gather safely, we do want to stay connected and are looking forward to continuing our virtual programming this Spring, and hopefully beginning to celebrate in person by the time Fall rolls around.
 
We'll be back with some One Page programming early in the new year and will be rolling out a virtual Spring Season that will run in March, April and May of 2021.
 
In the mean time, we invite you to check out our virtual events from 2020:
 
The Podcast can be found here.
Archived Live Events, are here.
Sunday Interviews are available here.
 

Huge thanks to our community for supporting the Festival in these difficult times. We are eternally grateful. 

 

Play the Newest

Thu Dec 10 • 7:00pm
One Page: Wow No Thank You
Samantha Irby
Show all

Watch Now

Live Online Event
Non-Fiction
Thu Dec 10 • 7:00pm
One Page: Wow No Thank You
Samantha Irby
Live Online Event
Memoir
Thu Dec 3 • 7:00pm
One Page: Close to the Bone
with Lisa Ray and Deepa Mehta
Live Online Event
Fiction
Youth
Mon Nov 30 • 7:30pm
Creative Writing For Teens: Using Texts and Social Media for Inspiration
with Lindsay Wong
Live Online Event
Fiction
Thu Nov 26 • 9:00pm
One Page: There There
With Tommy Orange and Waubgeshig Rice
Live Online Event
Fiction
Thu Nov 26 • 12:00pm
One Page: The Kingdom
Jo Nesbo
Live Online Event
Fiction
Youth
Mon Nov 23 • 7:30pm
The Black Kids
with Christina Hammonds Reed
Pre-Recorded Event
Fiction
Youth
Sun Nov 22
Republic of Childhood: The Casket of Time
With Andri Snaer Magnason
Live Online Event
Fiction
Thu Nov 19 • 7:00pm
One Page: Deacon King Kong
with James McBride and Omar El Akkad
Live Online Event
Fiction
Youth
Mon Nov 16 • 7:30pm
Masterclass: Connecting Plot and Character
with Kenneth Oppel
Pre-Recorded Event
Non-Fiction
Music
Sun Nov 15
She Come By It Natural
with Sarah Smarsh
Live Online Event
Poetry
Tue Nov 10 • 7:30pm
VerseFest Presents:
with Angye Gaona, Irfan Ali and stephanie roberts
Pre-Recorded Event
Poetry
Sun Nov 8
As Far As You Know
with A.F. Moritz
Live Online Event
Fiction
Youth
Mon Nov 2 • 7:30pm
Masterclass: Discovering your Voice
with Kagiso Lesego Molope
Pre-Recorded Event
Non-Fiction
Science
Sun Nov 1
Entangled Life
with Merlin Sheldrake
Live Online Event
Music
Poetry
Mon Oct 26 • 7:30pm
Bywords 2020 John Newlove Poetry Award
with David Groulx
Pre-Recorded Event
Politics
Non-Fiction
History
Memoir
Sun Oct 25
The Education of an Idealist
with Samantha Power
Pre-Recorded Event
Non-Fiction
Science
Poetry
Sun Oct 25
The Lost Spells
with Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris
Live Online Event
Fiction
Thu Oct 22 • 7:30pm
National Book Launch: Love After the End
With Joshua Whitehead, jaye simpson, Nazbah Tom and Adam Garnet Jones
Live Online Event
Fiction
Mon Oct 19 • 7:30pm
Healing
with Jesse Thistle and David A. Robertson
Live Online Event
Fiction
Music
Poetry
Memoir
Sun Oct 18 • 8:00pm
Musical Language
with Martha Baillie, Stuart Ross, and Maria Reva
Pre-Recorded Event
Politics
Non-Fiction
History
Sun Oct 18
War: How Conflict Shaped Us
with Margaret MacMillan
Live Online Event
Fiction
Thu Oct 15 • 12:00pm
One Page: Actress
With Anne Enright
Live Online Event
Politics
Non-Fiction
History
Tue Oct 13 • 7:30pm
Ending Inequality
with Thomas Philippon
Pre-Recorded Event
Non-Fiction
Memoir
Sun Oct 11
One on One
With Pico Iyer
Pre-Recorded Event
Fiction
Sun Oct 11
Jack
with Marilynne Robinson
Live Online Event
Music
Memoir
Sat Oct 10 • 12:00pm
One Good Reason to Celebrate Mental Health Day
With Séan McCann and Andrea Aragon
Live Online Event
Poetry
Thu Oct 8 • 12:00pm
One Page: How to Fly
with Barbara Kingsolver
Pre-Recorded Event
Youth
Memoir
Tue Oct 6
High School
with Tegan and Sara
Live Online Event
Politics
Non-Fiction
History
Mon Oct 5 • 7:30pm
Missing from the Village
with Justin Ling
Pre-Recorded Event
Fiction
Sun Oct 4
A Song for the Dark Times
with Ian Rankin
Live Online Event
Non-Fiction
History
Memoir
Mon Sep 28 • 7:30pm
Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos
with Steven Heighton
Pre-Recorded Event
Politics
Non-Fiction
Science
Sun Sep 27
Commanding Hope
with Thomas Homer-Dixon
Live Online Event
Poetry
Tue Sep 22 • 7:30pm
National Launch for Burning Sugar
with Cicely Belle Blain
Live Online Event
Fiction
Mon Sep 21 • 7:30pm
Inheritance
with Kaie Kellough and Ian Williams
Pre-Recorded Event
Fiction
History
Sun Sep 20
Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies
with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Live Online Event
Fiction
Mon Sep 14 • 7:30pm
The World as We Know It
with Catherine Hernandez and Saleema Nawaz
Pre-Recorded Event
Non-Fiction
History
Sun Sep 13
Magdalena: River of Dreams
with Wade Davis
Live Online Event
Non-Fiction
Science
Tue Sep 8 • 7:30pm
Nerve
with Eva Holland
Pre-Recorded Event
Politics
Non-Fiction
History
Sun Sep 6
Twilight of Democracy
with Anne Applebaum
Pre-Recorded Event
Fiction
Sun Sep 6
The Glass Hotel
with Emily St. John Mandel

Podcast

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Listen Now

Podcast
Non-Fiction
Youth
Episode 29 • Fri Dec 4
Breathing Life into Art and Art into Life, The Art of Is
with Stephen Nachmanovitch
Podcast • Episode 28 • Tue Dec 1
The Challenges Facing Canada in Protecting the Well Being of Children
Featuring Kim Hellemans and Jane Bertrand
Podcast • Episode 27 • Fri Nov 27
Student Activism and the Climate Crisis
Featuring Vidya Shah and Alexis Benns
Podcast • Episode 26 • Fri Nov 27
War At The Snow White Motel
with Tim Wynne-Jones
Podcast • Episode 15 • Tue Nov 24
Education and Social Mobility
with Andy Hargreaves
Podcast • Episode 24 • Fri Nov 20
Writing for Young Readers
Featuring Kenneth Oppel and Deborah Ellis
Podcast • Episode 23 • Tue Nov 17
Yes, It's Systemic
Featuring Eternity Martis and Tessa McWatt
Podcast • Episode 22 • Fri Nov 13
The Ever-Present Past
featuring Maggie O’Farrell and Sarah Xerar Murphy
Podcast • Episode 21 • Wed Nov 11
Fighting for Peace
Featuring Tim Cook and Scott Anderson
Podcast • Episode 20 • Fri Nov 6
A Life with Books, Writers and Virago:
Emma Donoghue in conversation with Lennie Goodings
Podcast • Episode 19 • Fri Oct 30
Spotlight on Arsenal Pulp Press
Featuring Sachiko Murakami and Jillian Christmas
Show all

Thanks to Our Sponsors

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