This year’s Ottawa International Writers Festival (OIWF) is set to run along the theme of community, fitting its overarching goal of bringing people together through their love of writing.
The 22nd year of the fall edition of the OIWF is set to begin on Oct. 25, running until Oct. 30.
Sean Wilson, the artistic director of the festival, said he wants festival goers to “bask in the brilliance of all these people that are coming through, who have worked so hard to make language transcend its limitations.”
The festival began in 1997, featuring 16 writers from Ireland, sharing the stage with 35 Canadian writers from across the country.
Emma Bossé-Marion, a first-year Carleton criminology student, said she’s looking forward to Criminal Minds, a festival panel event featuring acclaimed mystery writers.
“[The panel] is something really interesting and it falls within my studies at Carleton,” Bossé-Marion said.
Natania Olusanya, another Carleton student, said, “I’m glad that the festival partners with our school so that we can attend events like these for free.”
“Carleton has been an amazing partner over the years,” Wilson said. “We are always extremely aware of all the great things that are happening on campus with student work and work of faculty.”
The festival kicks off with a luncheon featuring serial mystery author Ian Rankin, who is best known for his Inspector Rebus novels and recipient of various crime novel awards. CBC’s Alan Neal will moderate the luncheon, and attendees will be given copies of Rankin’s latest novel, In A House of Lies.
Carleton’s small press In/Words will also attend the event. Dis(s)ent and Refuge(e) are two publications from In/Words that will be discussed, both about truth in a post-truth era.
Between The Pages is an investigation of the creative lives of the five writers who shortlisted for the Giller Prize, hosted by CBC’s Carol Off.
Carleton students can attend OIWF events throughout the week for no cost, as long as they show valid student ID.
