Power in Her Blood: The Buffy Sainte-Marie Interview Part 1

 Photos supplied by TD Ottawa Jazz Festival and artist. Buffy Sainte-Marie doesn’t believe in burning out. It’s been 50 years blazing down the road and there’s still a fiery power rushing in her blood. It courses through her veins as a drive to create, to change and to challenge. “I'm paying attention,

Ottawa Writers Festival: One on One with Jian Ghomeshi

 Jian Ghomeshi, the host of CBC Radio Q (a national arts magazine show), was in town on October 27 to discuss his 1982 memoir. 1982 is the story of Ghomeshi's life in grade nine while living in Thornhill, a Toronto suburb. Ghomeshi tells stories of girls, concerts, school, parents and

Minky Worden Discusses the Unfinished Revolution: The Global Fight for Women’s Rights

 More needs to be done to reduce global gender discrimination and to bring women closer to equality with men. So said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, a leading NGO, as she recently addressed a large crowd at the Ottawa Writers Festival. Worden spoke at length

John Ralston Saul’s Dark Return to Fiction

 On October 28, Canadian author, essayist and public intellectual John Ralston Saul spoke to a full crowd at the Knox Presbyterian Church as part of the 2012 Ottawa Writers Festival fall line-up. Saul, who is known for his celebrated novels and essays, being twice elected as the President of PEN International, and

Lynn Miles – Songs of Love and Truth

 I was fortunate enough to attend a Lynn Miles show at Irene's Pub on Bank Street a few weeks ago. Irene’s Pub is an amazing live music venue. Alex Golota, the owner, recently finished some major renovations to the bar's performance area, and let me tell you, the sound and

Are you ready for Canada’s largest independent literary celebration?

 By Clayton Andres When his father Neil first came up with the idea of a writing festival in Ottawa, Sean Wilson thought his dad was insane. “At the time, I had been noticing that just about everyone I knew in the creative community had the sense that they had to