Editor’s Notes

Greetings Readers,

This month's issue features the poetry of recent Ottawa resident Christine McNair and Old Ottawa South long term resident and well known poet, Colin Morton. Colin's newest book The Local Cluster will be launched at Mother Tongue Books on November 16.

We had an excellent turnout for both the John Newlove Poetry Award at the Ottawa International Wrtiers Festival and the launch of the fall Bywords Quarterly Journal earlier this month with readings by Jamie Bradley, this year's Newlove Poetry Award recipient Rob Friday, Christine McNair, Colleen Pellatt and Ronald Seatter. Thanks to Chapters and to the City of Ottawa for their support of Bywords and particularly of our readings.

As many of you know, the City is considering making large scale cuts to the arts. If you have concerns about how these cuts will affect the arts and cultural activities you take part in or are interested in, I hope you do one of the following:

Contact your Councillor: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/mayor_council/wards/index_en.html

Write a letter; here's a sample letter from the Council for the Arts in Ottawa: http://arts-ottawa.on.ca/budget2009/sample-letter-en.php

Attend Draft Budget Public Consultations: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/budget/budget_2009/draft_public_consut_en.html

Book your time to speak to the Committee of the Whole: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/budget/budget_2009/cow_budgetdirections_en.html

Here are the lists of cuts: http://arts-ottawa.on.ca/budget2009/cuts-en.php

Other links: http://arts-ottawa.on.ca/budget2009/links-en.php

Finally join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56900768824&ref=share

Bywords has been fortunate to receive funding from the City for the past six years and couldn't provide the services, information and poetry without this support. We are one of many organizations which would have its funding completely obliterated should the City go through with these ridiculous cuts.

I hope to see you at many of the literary events to come. If the City doesn't become a cultural wasteland. If it does, I guess we'll use our spin off money to charter buses to Montreal and Toronto to attend readings and festivals or perhaps we'll all just move to Newfoundland.

Thanks to this month's selection committee:

Andrew Faulkner, Gwen Guth, Stéphanie Lafleur, Megan McGrath, Leigh Nash, and Pearl Pirie.

And thanks to those of you who make Bywords a part of your life, by coming to our readings, buying copies of the Bywords Quarterly Journal, submitting poems and information for the events calendar, calls for submission, contest, workshop and publishing information to the news section, links to literary websites and blogs, chapbooks for our online store and more.

If you have comments, questions or money to save the day, you can contact me at editor@bywords.ca.

Amanda Earl