Monday, April 16, 2007

Poet Hijinks

**NEW ** PLEASE UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS TO blog.johnwmacdonald.com

L to R: George Murray of Bookninja.com, rob 'bunny' mclennan of Ottawa, George 'bunny-maker' Bowering, and host Stephen Brockwell.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Ross


My brother, Ross, came down for an Easter visit last week.


My wee son, Matthew, happily sits with his Uncle Ross.

Kurt Vonnegut in Photos

Ottawa Writers Festival Spring 2007

Time to break some spines. Book bindings that is. The Ottawa Writers Festival starts this weekend. So, get your page-turning-thumbs down to the Library and Archives building to meet and listen to some of Canada's and the world's best literary figures. More info at the newly launched and rebranded webpage of the organizers: http://www.writersfestival.org/events.html

I've got my camera batteries charged and four gigs of memory cards ready for action. Hope to get some photos for all of my blog reading fans who want to see the faces of their favourite authors in the flesh.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Man Booker International Prize 2

15 authors have made it on to the Judges’ List of Contenders for the second Man Booker International Prize. The writers come from 10 countries and four are writers in translation.

The Judges’ List was announced by the chair of judges, Professor Elaine Showalter, at a press conference held at Massey College, Toronto today (Thursday 12 April).

The 15 authors on the list are:
Chinua Achebe
Margaret Atwood
John Banville
Peter Carey
Don DeLillo
Carlos Fuentes
Doris Lessing
Ian McEwan
Harry Mulisch
Alice Munro
Michael Ondaatje
Amos Oz
Philip Roth
Salman Rushdie
Michel Tournier


The judging panel for the 2007 Man Booker International Prize is: Professor Elaine Showalter, academic and author; Nadine Gordimer, writer and novelist; and writer and academic, Colm Tóibin.

In announcing their list, the judges commented:
"With this list, we offer a gift to readers all over the world, an opportunity to join a conversation on 15 writers, diverse in nationality, language, themes and techniques, but united in their dedication to the power of the word."

101 Years of Samuel Beckett

Samuel Barclay Beckett would have turned 101 this Friday the 13th of April 2007.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Vimy Ridge Anniversary


Ottawa's National War Memorial just after midnight 9 April 2007 captured with a 30 second exposure.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Tim Flannery - Australian of the Year


Environmentalist and scientist, Tim Flannery has been recently named Australian of the Year for 2007. Flannery was in Ottawa last year at the invitation of the Ottawa International Writers Festival. You may read more about the award and view a video of the recipient online here.

The upcoming writers festival will have a spotlight on the environment again this year by presenting such authors as David Suzuki, William H. Kemp, Thomas F. Pawlick, and Bridget Stutchbury.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Perez Hilton

Perez Hilton's appearance in Ottawa April 4, 2007 marked a limited number of Canadian cities he visited since he covered the Juno Awards on his gossip blog this past week in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.


The fabulous and infamous celebrity-gossip-blogger Perez Hilton (aka Mario Lavandeira) entertained a throng of mostly young ladies tonight at Algonquin College in Ottawa.


Perez Hilton's f-bomb filled talk was not for the faint of heart as he 'dissed' all the Hollywood celebs as expected but announced that he loves Canada's Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette.

perezhilton.com: "Hollywood's Most-Hated Web Site" "Celebrity Juice, Not from Concentrate"

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Chinese Communist Party Protest


Some of the Ottawa Chinese community protested on Parliament Hill on Friday, March 30 2007, against the tyranny of Chinese Communist Party.
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