rob mclennan at the ottawa international writers festival

SUNDAY, April 15 @ 8:00 PM
Poetry Cabaret #1

Featuring George Murray, rob mclennan and George Bowering
Reading and in conversation with Stephen Brockwell

The Spring Edition's feast of poetry begins with readings by Newfoundland's George Murray, whose fourth collection, The Rush to Here, combines what he calls "thought-rhyme with the structured sonnet form"; Ottawa's rob mclennan, described in the Danforth Review as a poet who "doesn't so much push against boundaries, as deny boundaries," launches his most recent collection: The Ottawa City Project; and Canada's first Poet Laureate, George Bowering, arrives from British Columbia with Vermeer's Light, a work that, in the words of the Quill & Quire, "walks the tightrope of sentiment without falling into sentimentality." After the readings, all three poets will join poet Stephen Brockwell for a conversation on the craft, with plenty of opportunity for audience questions.

George Murray "has the poet's instinct, the knack for turning a good phrase and the verbal grit and suppleness to keep the reader engaged. ... An important talent." -- National Post

In rob mclennan, "a whole tradition that has been underground in Canada for almost half a century has found a new champion." -- Arc magazine

"Bowering is both highly skilled in the formal aspects of poetry and perfectly accessible to the average reader." -- Booklist

For further writers fest information, check out their website.