The imagination is our most valuable renewable resource. So, twice a year we convene an international celebration of ideas to recharge our imaginations. From politics to poetry, science to music, history to thrillers, we celebrate the full diversity of the word and the gifted writers who guide us in our exploration of the world. Our year-round special events keep the ideas coming between Festivals.
We believe that a love of reading and learning should be nurtured throughout our lives and that literacy is a birthright. Whether offering writing workshops to the homeless, hosting a Nobel Laureate, organizing our biannual literary celebrations or bringing authors into area schools, our goal is the same: to create an environment that activates creativity and encourages the love of reading, learning and self-expression.
Oneness-World Communications is a charitable corporation (Charitable # 86830 7778 RR0001) whose mission is “to promote an appreciation of the cultural arts in Canada through public events; to create and manage public events that promote literacy and the cultural arts; and to provide related services. The most visible manifestation of this mission is the Ottawa International Writers Festival, Spring and Fall Editions.”
In addition to our annual literary Festivals and our Write On! literacy program for young readers, we also host year-round literary events and literacy programs for the disadvantaged.
Board Co-Chair: Beth Green is a reader with a lifetime spent with books, and brings decades of hands-on and executive-level experience in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors, with a focus on communications, marketing and philanthropy. She is a past director of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre Foundation Board, and former director and chair of the Ottawa Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.
Board Co-Chair: Lucy van Oldenbarneveld spent 20 years in journalism. First as a CBC radio host and then as the evening news anchor on CBC TV in Ottawa. Her work was recognized with a Canadian Screen Award win in 2020, numerous Gemini nominations and the Gold World Medal for Best Talk /Interview program at the New York festival. Since 2021, Lucy has been a communications strategist, offering clients a full range of services, including crisis communications. Lucy is also a filmmaker, playwright and performer. In 2022 she wrote and performed the solo show Me, Vivien Leigh and the Roller Rink.
Treasurer: Andrew Sharpe is founder and Executive Director of the Ottawa-based Centre for the Study of Living Standards. Established in 1995, CSLS is a national, independent, non-profit research organization whose main objective is to study trends and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic well-being. He is also founder and Editor of the International Productivity Monitor, co-developer (with Lars Osberg) of the composite Index of Economic Well-being, and Executive Director of the International Association for Research on Income and Wealth.
Kimberly Quiogue Andrews is an award-winning poet and literary critic. She is the author of A Brief History of Fruit, winner of the Akron Prize for Poetry from the University of Akron Press, BETWEEN, winner of the New Women’s Voices Chapbook Prize from Finishing Line Press, and The Academic Avant-Garde, a scholarly monograph from Johns Hopkins University Press. She is currently Associate Professor of English and director of the creative writing program at the University of Ottawa.
Kagiso Lesego Molope is an award winning author and educator. Born in South Africa, she is the winner of the Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award for Excellence in African Writing and the Percy Fitzpatrick Prize. Her acclaimed novel, This Book Betrays My Brother, won the City of Ottawa Book Award in 2019.
Stephen McGill is a founding partner, President and Creative Director of McGill Buckley, a boutique marketing, branding and design agency with over 30 years experience in planning and developing brands and marketing programs.
Deborah Owusu-Akyeeah is the Co-Director of Policy and Advocacy at Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. Before joining Action Canada, she was the Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity (CCGSD) and has been instrumental in advancing the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ youth and communities.
Rémi Samson is a lawyer who worked for the Supreme Court of Canada for over two decades. He served as Board Chair for MAX Ottawa Community Health, a charitable, not-for-profit organization that enhances the quality of life of queer people in Ottawa by breaking down barriers to health and wellbeing.
Mary Taggart was the Publisher and Editor in Chief of Ottawa At Home magazine. She also curates the #MarysMustRead book club and is hard at work on her debut novel.
Carly Watters is Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary and the sitting VP of PACLA, the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents.She has a BA in English Literature from Queen’s University and a MA in Publishing Studies from City University London. She is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports continuing education program class of 2024.
Renowned poets performing at the top of their game and interacting with the audience is live literature at its best. Some would argue that poetry needs to be read aloud. We would agree and add that there’s nothing like hearing the cadence and tone of poems when delivered by the authors themselves.
Audiences in Ottawa, as befitting a national capital and an international city, demand the highest level of debate and discussion. THE BIG IDEA, our town-hall style discussion with audience participation, covers the issues of the day.
This is where book-lovers come to hear their favourite stories come to life as read by the author. More than a reading, our Fiction events also feature on-stage conversations where authors engage with the audience and their peers. Often funny, occasionally moving, and always fascinating, The Writing Life is an opportunity to spend time with the greats, to meet up-and-coming authors, and to get to know the inspiration behind the works.
With climate change, clones, superbugs, genetic discoveries and life on Mars making headlines around the world, it’s not just experts at the NRC or intellects on campus who are fascinated by the latest scientific breakthroughs. Cutting-edge developments presented to general audiences in an interactive setting are the essence of ‘The New Science’.
Some of the world’s best writing is happening outside the pages of books. The Writers Festival regularly features staged play readings, feature films, documentaries, CD launches and songwriters circles. Innovative programming expands the Festival’s reach to youth, reluctant readers and the community at large.
With non-fiction topping bestseller lists, Festival programming features a growing number of acclaimed biographers and popular historians. With a special focus on Canadian events and including local as well as international authors, we offer audiences the opportunity to explore the world from many perspectives and to spend time with many of the most fascinating characters of today and yesteryear.
