Are You Quite Sure He's Literate?

I had heard about this beautiful thing last night on the ceeb, but I like the way Dop puts it so much more...

"You may be interested to know that Yann Martel, author of the love-it-or-hate-it award-winning novel Life of Pi, has decided to send Prime Minister Stephen Harper a new book every fortnight, along with a letter explaining why he has chosen each particular book. ... Apparently, this project was born of Martel's -- and other Canadian authors' -- frustration with the government's funding cuts to the arts."

Check out the CBC article here, about artist's frustrations. I like this quote from Lawrence Hill, author of Book of Negros (one of the best books I've ever read):

"Artists are not encouraged," author Lawrence Hill said. "Artists are among the most entrepreneurial of business people, but they need support."

So true! You have to be an expert in marketing, advertising, bookkeeping, budgeting, product selection, etc, on top of perfecting your craft.

Follow along on Yann's site here:
http://whatisstephenharperreading.ca/index.html

Maybe I'll read along with Satan -- I mean Stephen. Then we'll have something to talk about when we're new best friends. He's my neighbour after all.

And while we're at it, can we talk about the elitism of the access to the arts in Ottawa? Thirty to sixty dollars per ticket (so double that if you are not a hermit) for a play or a dance show is just NOT accessible to many people, including people like myself who would most appreciate it. But that's a post (rant) for another day.