To local writers, the bi-annual Ottawa Small Press Book fair is an important staple in the literary community. To everyone else in the city – well, you’d be hard pressed to find people who have even heard of it.
Started in 1994 by self-publishing writers Rob McLennan and friend James Spyker, the fair is an opportunity for independent local and national authors to get together and showcase their work twice a year.
Exhibitors can buy a table at the fair for $20, and sell their poetry books, novels, cookbooks, posters, t-shirts, graphic novels, comic books, magazines and more.
McLennan says he has found it hard over the years to get coverage about this event. He says newspapers are not interested in local arts groups that do not buy advertisements.
“It’s hard to get arts coverage in this town, especially for books,” says McLennan.
Because Ottawa is a government town, he says, the city gets so much national coverage that local news is often brushed aside.
Local writer and editor of Capital Xtra, Marcus McCann shares McLennan’s frustrations.
He believes that there is a divide in the literary scene between federally supported cultural institutions and the local talent.
“The truth is, people can get their fix of culture here without turning to local artists.”
McLennan emphasizes the importance of supporting literature that wouldn’t usually get put into stores, and creating opportunities for those trying to get their foot in the door of the literary scene.
“The fair is a good testing ground for people who are trying to move up in the literary world. ” says McLennan.
While a lot of people use the small press scene as a stepping stone into the more mainstream world, many authors, including McLennan, deliberately remain in the independent, self-publishing culture.
“I’ve been immersed in the small press scene since 1993, and I love it here. There’s room for a lot more play.”
Amanda Earl, managing editor of Ottawa poetry journal Bywords, elaborates.
“To me, the whole point of small press is to be independent and to do things one can’t do elsewhere," she says.
“The small press in Ottawa is made up of people who aren’t satisfied with the status quo.”
The next Ottawa Small Press Book Fair will be held November 15 at the Jack Purcell Community Centre.
For the first time, McLennan put together a mini-fair at the Ottawa International Writers Festival on Oct. 18 to help promote the larger, November fair. It showcased 20 Ottawa publishers and authors, the majority being from the Centretown area.
While the Centretown community has always been very supportive of local artists, McLennan says he hopes the promotion from the writers festival will help bring small press to the rest of Ottawa.
“There are a lot of local authors coming into their own, doing interesting things, and beginning to make names for themselves,” says McLennan.
“Although we don’t get a ton of attention, the literary scene here in Ottawa is a lot stronger than people are aware of.”