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FALL FESTIVAL 2010
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20
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NOON
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- BECOMING CANADA
With Ken Dryden
Hosted by the Hill Times' Tim Naumetz
National Arts Centre, Salon, 53 Elgin Street
Former NHL goalie and Member of Parliament Ken Dryden traces the ups and downs of Canadian politics and identifies the obstacles facing Canada. Join us for a celebration of our nation and a rallying cry to all Canadians to build upon our unique place in the world.
Refreshments will be served.
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6:30 PM
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- BY NIGHTFALL
With Michael Cunningham
Hosted by CBC's Sandra Abma
Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
We open the Fall Edition with one of the world’s most acclaimed storytellers. New York’s Michael Cunningham, the author of A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, and Specimen Days, makes his Festival debut with his latest, By Nightfall, which, like his legendary, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Hours, is a heart-breaking look at the way we live now.
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8:30 PM
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- 10th ANNUAL 2010 RELIT AWARDS CELEBRATION: IDEAS NOT MONEY
With music by John Lavery
Hosted by Kenneth J. Harvey
The Barley Mow, 1060 Bank St.
A Free Event
Get to know the best of the best from Canada’s independant presses! ReLit founder Kenneth J. Harvey celebrates 10 years of amazing writing with this year’s winners in the Short Fiction, Poetry and Novel categories. Enjoy snacks, free books and music by the amazing John Lavery!
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21
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9:00 AM
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- OPL'S TEEN AUTHORS WEEK:
DUST CITY with ROBERT PAUL WESTON
Ruth E. Dickinson Public Library, 100 Malvern
A free event.
Robert Paul Weston, the acclaimed author of Zorgamazoo, is back with his new YA novel, Dust City, a whoily original modern take on the world of fairytales. This event is open to all ages!
PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE: This event was originally posted at 1:30 PM. It is now taking place at 9:00 AM.
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6:30 PM
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- PAST IMPERFECT
With John Lawton, Michal Govrin, Keith Oatley and Frederick Reiken
Hosted by CBC's Adrian Harewood
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
Join us for a journey through war, peace and everything in between with four novels linked by connections to World War II and the Holocaust. John Lawton’s A Lily of the Field explores the diaspora of two Europeans from the rise of Hitler to the post-atomic age; Hold on to the Sun by Michal Govrin, winner of Israel’s Kugel Literary Prize, is a kaleidoscope of stories and essays on the search for meaning in a post-Holocaust world; Therefore Choose by Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book winner Keith Oatley follows a Berlin love triangle through war and its aftermath; and Frederick Reiken’s acclaimed Day For Night illuminates how disparate, far-flung people can be connected and how the truth of those bonds can upend entire lives.
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8:00 PM
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- THE CELLO SUITES
With Eric Siblin
and music by Winona Zelenka
Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
Join us for an unforgettable evening of words and music. Part biography, part music history, and part literary mystery, Eric Siblin’s The Cello Suites explores the history and power of Bach’s compositions for cello. Eric’s words will share the stage with music by Winona Zelenka, renowned cellist with the Toronto Symphony, whose new release is Complete Bach Suites for Solo Cello.
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8:30 PM
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- PRESENT TENSE
With Joshua Ferris, H. Nigel Thomas, AJ Somerset, and Ken Finkleman
Hosted by Carleton University's Paul Keen
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
Four gifted storytellers shine a light into urban darkness and explore the violence and uncertainty of modern life. Lives: Whole and Otherwise by H. Nigel Thomas presents a gallery of characters struggling against the odds; Combat Camera by A.J. Somerset, winner of the Metcalf-Rook Award, chronicles the relationship between a burned-out war photographer and a young stripper; Noah's Turn by writer, actor and director Ken Finkleman is a darkly humorous story about crossing the line between weakness and outright depravity; and The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris is the heartbreaking story of a life taken for granted and what happens when that life is abruptly and irrevocably taken away.
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22
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NOON
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- ONE ON ONE WITH SCOTT TUROW
Hosted by Julie Jacobson
The Black Thorn, 15 Clarence St., ByWard Market
Stephen King says, “Put this one on your don’t-miss list.” Join us for an intimate lunchtime session with international bestseller Scott Turow in conversation with Julie Jacobson on his life and work. Tickets include a tasty lunch and a hardcover copy of Innocent, the long-awaited sequel to his genre-defining landmark, Presumed Innocent.
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1:00 PM
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- JENN KELLY AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Think Ink: presented with the Ottawa Public Library
Orleans Branch (1705 Orleans)
A free event.
Help celebrate the 15th anniversay of the Orleans branch of the OPL with a reading by Jenn Kelly, author of Jackson Jones: The Tale of a Boy, an Elf, and a Very Stinky Fish. All ages welcome!
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6:30 PM
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- LET'S GET LOUD AT THE LIBRARY! / 'GROOVE' Á LA BIBLIO
Part of the OPL's Teen Authors Week
With Lesley Livingston and music by Apocalypstic, Full Tipped Sleeve and more
Main Library Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe
A free event.
Kick off the Ottawa Public Library's Teen Authors Week with a party featuring Lesley Livingston, author of Wondrous Strange and Darklight, and live music! Ages 13-19.
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6:30 PM
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- HALF EMPTY
With David Rakoff
Hosted by CBC's Alan Neal
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
Humour and pessimism are hard to avoid in Ottawa — especially during an election season! We all need a good laugh, so don’t miss Canadian ex-pat and New York Times bestseller David Rakoff, author of Don’t Get Too Comfortable, Fraud and Half Empty. The inimitably witty author and This American Life stalwart looks at the modern world and his own life in defense of the commonsensical notion that you should always assume the worst.
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8:00 PM
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- CRIMINAL MINDS
With Peter Robinson, Randall Denley and Scott Turow
Hosted by Ken Rockburn
Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
Spend an evening with three of North America’s most popular crime writers. Join Ken Rockburn for a taste of Peter Robinson’s latest Inspector Banks novel, Bad Boy; Citizen columnist Randall Denley’s third novel, One Dead Sister, and Scott Turow’s international bestseller, Innocent.
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8:30 PM
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23
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NOON
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- THE QUEST FOR MEANING WITH TARIQ RAMADAN
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
This event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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2:00 PM
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- THE JEW IS NOT MY ENEMY: THE MYTHS THAT FUEL MUSLIM ANTI-SEMITISM
With Tarek Fatah
Hosted by Lucy van Oldenbarneveld
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
CBC’s Lucy van Oldenbarneveld hosts journalist, political advocate and bestselling author Tarek Fatah. In his latest book, the founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress explores the historical, political, and theological basis for centuries of Muslim animosity towards Jews, debunking long-held myths and tracing a history of hate and its impact today.
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4:00 PM
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- ETHICAL OIL?: THE CASE FOR CANADA'S OIL SANDS
With Ezra Levant
Hosted by Evan Solomon
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
CBC’s Evan Solomon hosts the bestselling author of Shakedown. In his new book, Ezra Levant makes the provocative case that when it comes to oil, ethics matter just as much as the economy and the environment. With the oil sands at our disposal, is it ethically responsible to import our oil from the Sudan, Russia, and Mexico? How should we weigh carbon emissions with human rights violations in Saudi Arabia?
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5:00 PM
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- PLAN 99
With Ken Sparling and Sheila Heti
Hosted by David O'Meara
The Manx Pub, 370 Elgin St.
A Free Event
Ken Sparling’s challenging and rewarding Book defies easy classification or description and Sheila Heti’s How Should a Person Be? is a fictional notebook from the psychic underground. Don’t miss two of Canada’s most innovative authors presented in partnership with David O’Meara’s Plan 99 Series.
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6:30 PM
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- WHY THE WEST RULES - FOR NOW
With Ian Morris
Hosted by Adrian Harewood
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
Why does the West rule? Eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question, drawing on 50,000 years of history, archeology, and the methods of social science, to make sense of when, how, and why the paths of development differed in the East and West — and what this portends for the 21st century.
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7:00 PM
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- KENK: A MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION
Presented with the Ottawa Animation Festival
Library and Archives Canada
Tickets: $15 (available from the Ottawa Animation Festival)
Tickets included in Writers Festival Pass
www.animationfestival.ca
KENK is a groundbreaking 304-page journalistic comic book surrounding Igor Kenk, "the world's most prolific bicycle thief" (The New York Times), built from more than 30 hours of never-before-seen intimate footage taken over the year leading immediately to his arrest. Conceived by a producer, shot by a filmmaker, written by an acclaimed journalist, illustrated by a fine artist, and now in production as a fully animated film by a top director, KENK is an entirely unique hybrid of journalistic profile, documentary film and comic book. The creative team behind KENK present its many facets and discuss the unique process behind creating a new hybrid multi-platform documentary, as well as offer a first look at the ongoing animation.
(This presentation will be followed by a screening of the classic 1948 Italian neorealist film The Bicycle Thief, directed by Vittorio De Sica)
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8:00 PM
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- THE DISAPPEARING SPOON: THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD FROM THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS with Sam Kean
Hosted by Stephen Brockwell
Southminster United Church
The Periodic Table is one of man’s crowning scientific achievements. It’s also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. Sam Kean follows carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. From the Big Bang to the end of time, it’s all covered in The Disappearing Spoon.
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8:30 PM
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- THE ROLLING DARKNESS REVUE
With James Moran, Glen Hirshberg and Peter Atkins
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
Don’t miss the Canadian premiere of California’s Rolling Darkness Revue, a multi-media experience incorporating live music and ghost story readings.
 Presented with the co-sponsorship of the the Embassy of the United States of America, U.S. Mission in Canada American Studies-Community Partnership Grants.
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TuesDAY, OCTOBER 26
Click here to download today's schedule as a PDF
NOON
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- HAVING A BALL
With Dave Bidini and John Doyle
Hosted by Adrian Harewood
Ottawa Public Library Main Branch Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe
Two gifted writers share their love of soccer. Home and Away by bestselling author and musician Dave Bidini chronicles his experiences traveling with Team Canada to the Homeless World Cup in 2008, where he sees firsthand the power of sport to transform the lives of those on the edge. A Great Feast of Light by Globe and Mail columnist John Doyle offers a compelling social history of the ultimate sport and relates how the game has kept pace as “the global village” has sprung up around the playing field.
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6:30 PM
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- OUTSIDERS
With Anchee Min, Emma Donoghue, and Alexander MacLeod
Hosted by Michael Blouin
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
Michael Blouin hosts three celebrated authors whose characters inhabit the fringes of their respective cultures, spotlighting the isolation, fear, and love that define their lives. Anchee Min's Pearl of China celebrates the friendship of Willow, the only child of a destitute local family and Pearl S. Buck, the headstrong daughter of zealous Christian missionaries, during decades of great tumult, of imprisonment and exile, bloody civil war and Mao’s repressive Communist regime. Alexander MacLeod’s long-awaited first collection of short stories, Light Lifting, offers a suite of unflinching elegies for a city and community on the brink. Emma Donoghue's Booker-nominated novel Room, a celebration of the resilient bond between parent and child, introduces us to five-year-old Jack. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it's the prison where Old Nick has kept her for seven years, since she was nineteen.
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8:30 PM
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- CLOSING CELEBRATION: OLD OTTAWA SOUTH
With Phil Jenkins, Elizabeth Hay, Brian Doyle, Charles de Lint, and Tim Wynne-Jones
Hosted by Kate Jaimet
Mayfair Theatre, 1070 Bank St.
We conclude the Fall Edition with an unforgettable celebration of Old Ottawa South. Five of Canada’s most renowned and popular authors share excerpts of their work that showcase the neighbourhood with stories set in or around the Mayfair Theatre.
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wednesday, october 27
7:30 PM
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- THE LONG SONG
with Andrea Levy
Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
CBC's Adrian Harewood hosts Andrea Levy, winner of The Orange Prize for Fiction, the Whitbread Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Small Island. She returns to Ottawa with her fifth novel, The Long Song, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and tells the story of July, a slave on a Jamaican sugar plantation whose tumultuous life ends in blessed freedom.
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Friday, october 29
8:00 PM
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- AWARD PRESENTATION: OTTAWA BOOK AWARDS AND ARCHIBALD LAMPMAN PRIZE FOR POETRY
Library and Archives Canada
A free event. RSVP infoculture@ottawa.ca
The City of Ottawa and ARC Poetry Society are pleased to invite you to attend a celebration of Ottawa's vibrant literary scene, in conjunction with the Ottawa Writers Festival Fall Edition.
Award presentations will be made to the winners of the Ottawa Book Awards and the Archibald Lampman Prize for best book of poetry, with short readings by the winning authors. Join us for a reception following the award presentations and meet the talented authors who have been nominated for these prestigious prizes.
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