People huddled over poetry, opera, and good company in Black Squirrel Books on Nov. 13 for the launch of Carleton’s In/Words Magazine and Press issue 14.1.
The launch was hosted by magazine’s co-editors, Michelle Duquette, Geoffrey Bates, Drew Douglas, and Avonlea Fotheringham. Many of the writers published in issue 14.1 read their pieces aloud along with other original work.
Writer Janna Klostermann, who has been in Ottawa for over a year, read some of her work.
“This was my second publication [in In/Words]” Klostermann said. “I’ve read at a few [In/Words events] and I often attend the Wednesday night Writer’s Circle to get some feedback and just stay connected with that community.”
The Writer’s Circle also takes place at Black Squirrel Books Sunnyside and Bank location Wednesday nights 7 p.m.
Klostermann said the Writer’s Circle provided a chance for Ottawa writers and literature enthusiasts to get together and have their work edited in an open and friendly atmosphere. It also encourages attendees to read at monthly showcases hosted at the Clocktower Brew Pub on Bank Street.
Octavian Munteanu, a regular at In/Words events, said the reading series is the most incredible experience you can have in Ottawa.
“It’s one of the better things yet. It’s honesty, passion, truth, and there’s no bullshit—it’s real.”
The hosts of the launch drew attention to the art on the bookstore’s walls and included an opera performance by Erika Wood.
Duquette said the variety of creative media works well as an artistic showcase.
“It’s an umbrella term for creativity, for passion. If you have a love for sharing, for friendship, for literature, for visual art, musical art, whatever it is—we want you to be a part of the community,” she said.
Duquette said she immersed herself in the In/Words community her first year of university. Now preparing for graduate school, she reflected on a long process of transformation.
In her second year, In/Words published one of her chapbooks, Love and Paper Cuts, and in September 2014 she became an editor for the magazine.
She said printing off 50 chapbooks, hand-sewing them, hand-stitching them all together is intensive, and demanding, yet she loves it.
“I love elevated thinking and discourse and open forums and discussing what’s really important,” she said. “I’m genuinely interested, and I think as long as I’m in this artistic scene, I’m going to be able to meet incredible people and be myself. And that’s all I want for myself—that happiness, and to share it.”
