My First Literary Reading
Max Middle and I met at the Ottawa International Writers Festival.
Last year through Facebook, he invited me to the first few readings in his new AB Series. During a reading last March Max and I were hanging out and he said, "We should spotlight your writing one day." At the time, I didn't think much of it. A few weeks later we revisited the subject. After a summer of bouncing ideas back and forth, by the beginning of September I had the date for my first literary reading.
It was a good turn out. There were two of my friends from University, my mother and a number of friends I had made during the years through the Ottawa International Writers Festival.
Unfortunately, twenty minutes before I was scheduled to read, the lights in the City Hall Art Gallery went out. We waited. And waited. The lights didn't come on. So, we reverted back to the oral tradition. I plugged in my laptop and let my voice synthesizer give my reading in the dark. I couldn't see facial expressions. However, as the reading proceeded, I heard people chuckling. People came up to me after the reading, so the event was a success.
As I exited the Art Gallery after the reading, Adrian Harewood from CBC Radio was waiting to interview me. Any Canadian writer knows that getting on CBC is huge. Adrian and I met before at the Writer's Festival, so he wasn't hesitant to ask me questions. We got talking and I looked forward to hearing the interview.
Also in the hallway following the reading, a local author, Kevin Dooley approached me. He said he was enthralled by my work and gave me some tips on finding publishers.
Overall, the evening went great. There really isn't anything to worry about (well, City Hall's lighting, haha!!). I am looking forward to my next literary reading!
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