I first heard the amazing #NitaProse discuss The Maid in Iceland, but she’ll be here, in #Ottawa, tomorrow, @writersfest.bsky.social. Highly recommended!

Café Wim was one of my favourite places when I first moved to Ottawa, so I was delighted to find references in works by Colin McAdam and Andre Alexis. Join me next weekend @janeswalk.bsky.social #Ottawa to find out more #WriteOttwa

Can anyone help me track down a full copy of Michael Fraser’s poem « Things to do around Ottawa when tou’re black »? www.cbc.ca/books/litera...

Here, Cameron Anstee reflects on some of his early work, on and about Frank Street: “the building’s foundation, slowly / giving way to one hundred years and more / I will never be older than this room / large enough to hold our books…” #WriteOttawa @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social

Writer and #Ottawa Poet Laureate David O’Meara on Elgin St. yesterday: “sub-zero, / overnight, a brocade of frost / on storefront glass. He died in / a doorway, his home a thin / sleeping bag in a city of rooms.” Thank you David for this. @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social #WriteOttawa

elegy for a friend, by @amandaearl.bsky.social: ~ how do we reflect on that which we hold dear, and grief, and loss. Thank you Amanda for sharing this on what turned out to be such a timely day. @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social #WriteOttawa

Jean Van Loon took us into the mind of JR Booth via her book #BuildingOnRiver (@cormorantbooks.bsky.social) while we stood on Parliament Hill, imagined it before there were buildings, and dreaming big dreams. Thanks to @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social and everyone who joined us today! #WriteOttawa

Next, Sneha Madhavan-Reese read from #ElementaryParticles and shared her very moving piece, Nathan Cirillo. We paused, stood in silence. @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social #WriteOttawa

From today’s adventure —“there are some in every crowd” (Natalie Hanna, in lisan al’asfour, ARP Books 2022) - thank you to @battleaxepress.bsky.social for joining us today to explore #Ottawa in Verse, with many thanks also to @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social; #AwesomeOttawa; #WriteOttawa

So excited to do this! We’re capping registration so we can avoid poetry through a megaphone. Ottawa has such great talent, and it’s fascinating to see how poets reflect on place in their work.

I’d rather it look like spring outside, and be eating tacos in St. Luke’s Park, but we can dream — here’s an excerpt from #Ottawa poet laureate David O’Meara’s The Tennis Courts in Winter #WriteOttawa

Vivian Vavassis’ Friday Poem (after @robmclennan.bsky.social) (in @arcpoetry.bsky.social) “so, you see, i have to believe there are saints in #ottawa walking along #elgin or bank among the guitar players & bums & busy entrepreneurs; their heads down and hurried hoping not to be outed….” #writeottawa

elegy for a friend by @amandaearl.bsky.social “I’d been wandering the Farm Boy at Metcalfe and Lisgar holding a bunch of golden beets by the stems, conjuring up recipes with sweet potatoes and red onions, thinking of the salads I could make…” #writeottawa

BREAKING & BIG: Today in PARIS, citizens voted in a referendum to PEDESTRIANIZE 500 MORE of the city's streets, giving fresh momentum to efforts by city leaders to create people-places, curb car usage, and improve air quality. 66% of Parisians voted in favour of the measure, official results showed!

Also, I’m looking for a full copy of Michael #Fraser’s #poem Things to Do around #Ottawa when you're Black. It made the #CBC Poetry longlist; the first lines (see here: www.cbc.ca/books/litera...) are magic and I really want to read the whole thing so wonder if folks might help me source?

Hello #Ottawa #writer friends - I have a poem by Raymond #Souster (“Farewell to Teaching” — references Dunton Tower at #Carleton and Dow’s Lake) and am trying to figure out whether it was included in one of his manuscripts. So far no luck. Any advice? #WriteOttawa

I wish I could time travel to visit (among other things) gathering spots of #Ottawa past. Murray’s at the #LordElgin served up gossip and intrigue before my time. Here’s some spice from #HughHood in The Motor Boys in Ottawa. #WriteOttawa

Thinking back to the construction of the #Chinatown arch and the vibrancy it offers the neighbourhood. Appreciating @jcyliew.bsky.social’s visceral characterizations of it, and some of my favourite hangouts in #Dandelion @arsenalpulp.bsky.social. #WriteOttawa.

Misty-eyed in the Library of Parliament with #TerryFallis in The Best Laid Plans… #WriteOttawa

Around the #RideauCanal locks near Parliament Hill with #AlanCumyn in Burridge Unbound #WriteOttawa.

Going for a ride on the #RideauCanal with author #JoanneProulx… can’t wait for spring! #WriteOttawa

Druids! And druids running around downtown Ottawa. J. McCurdy’s #fantasy The Serpent’s Egg features some great chase scenes #WriteOttawa.

Colin McAdam’s Fall makes reference to boarding school kids drinking at the former Earl of Sussex pub #WriteOttawa.

There’s a small #spoileralert here, in this second of two pieces about the Alexandra Bridge from #TerryFallis’ The High Road. #WriteOttawa.

Next up, two pieces of spice about the Alexandria Bridge, starting with Mary Jane Maffini’s mystery around #Bluesfest. #WriteOttawa

Gwen Tuinman takes us back to when the #RideauCanal was brand new in her 2024 novel Unrest… #WriteOttawa

I’ll never know if I took a cab that William Hawkins was driving, but glad to finally work through his poems. Here’s a take on the canal #WriteOttawa

Anita Lahey’s work references many #Ottawa settings… here’s a piece about what later became the William Commanda bridge #WriteOttawa. Looking forward to biking across it again soon.

Here’s a piece from #KatieTallo’s Poison Lillies, partially set at the Ambassador Court in the #Glebe. #WriteOttawa.

Starting off today’s #WriteOttawa collection with some romantic action at the #LordElginHotel, with thanks to the late Elisabeth Harvor.

“Someone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.” #CityMakingMath 50 reasons to want more walkable streets.

OUR FESTIVAL SCHEDULE IS NOW FULLY ONLINE: March 25-29, 2025: Check out the schedule for the fifteenth annual VERSeFest: Ottawa's International Poetry Festival! tickets, evening passes + festival passes! and of course, donations are always welcome (we even issue tax receipts). www.verseottawa.ca

Next up here on #CKCU, @ayelettsabari.bsky.social talks about her magical new novel, Songs for the Brokenhearted, about song, love, and uncovering (our) family stories.

Starting off my morning with some Humanhood @theweatherstation.bsky.social; lovely new work #NowPlaying #CKCU

save the date(s): VERSeFest: Ottawa's International Poetry Festival! March 25-29, 2025 : Eileen Myles! Chelene Knight! Pamela Mosher! Oana Avasilichioaei! etc (with more information to come) @versefest-ottawa.bsky.social ; www.verseottawa.ca/en/versefest

Adding in some #WriteOttawa pieces that I’d missed sharing here before. First up: Nina Berkhout’s reference to Maman at @nationalgallerycan.bsky.social

Last one for tonight. Several folks recommended walking through the Glebe as seen in Charles de Lint’s books. Here’s a piece from #Moonheart. #WriteOttawa.

Cold War action at the Chateau Laurier in Joyce Wayne’s Last Night of the World. #WriteOttawa.

Here’s a unique view of the Experimental Farm, courtesy of @jrrrremy.bsky.social’s Death and the Intern. #WriteOttawa.

One of the most fun places to start is probably with Ian Fleming. Here’s the moment when #JamesBond visited the Parliament Buildings. #WriteOttawa.

I’ve had good luck collecting quotes from fiction and poetry set in Ottawa. I’m starting to share quotes, in no particular order, and have a bit of a backlog to share here. #WriteOttawa.

Thanks @michaelblouin.bsky.social for joining Micah and I at #CKCU to talk about #HardElectric, and doing the interview in the middle of a power failure — it was awesome to watch you turn on your flashlight and just. keep. reading! Interview is now posted and available via ckcufm.com.

Congratulations Audrey! #nowplaying #CKCU

“After leaving the safe house, I walked along the #canal all the way to the lift-iron bridge, the one I’d crossed with Zabotin a few days ago, before he’d told me about the atomic diagrams and how he’d concealed them from the Director. I continued on to #Elgin Street.” #JoyceWayne #WriteOttawa

Love this collection of articles on sidewalks from the Social Life Project! @ethankent.bsky.social #walkability www.sociallifeproject.org/sidewalk_res...

I was sure someone had told me that #HughHood had set some of his #CanLit fiction in #Ottawa, but I’m not finding it here. Can anyone suggest particular works? #WriteOttawa

The first piece of #Ottawa fiction I’ve come across that references National Defence HQ. Thank you @alastairluft.bsky.social for your service and for your writing. #WriteOttawa

No project mapping #Ottawa #literary settings would be complete without the indefatigable @robmclennan.bsky.social and in particular The Ottawa City Project — his elegy to the former #2 #OCTranspo bus almost makes me miss riding it - aaaand he has a piece about the Duke of Somerset. #DareWeDream

Ottawa's climate targets rely on 20-30% of all trips in the city to be taken on OC Transpo. Currently it's 8.5%. How do they plan to get there? I'd recommend nurturing young riders - something I spoke about at transit commission today and wrote about here: www.envirocentre.ca/the-future-o...

Cabin weekend and exploring more #Ottawa settings — this time going back to Katie Tallo’s first novel. I knew there’d be lots of Hintonburg and Wellington West, but wasn’t expecting Bruce Pit.