By Irene Moreno-Jimenez
Ottawa poets are showcasing their new work in the latest issue of ottawater, an annual online poetry anthology edited and published by local poet rob mclennan.
The publication was created with the desire to promote poetry by local Ottawa poets to a wide range of Internet users and literature lovers. The first issue was released last year to coincide with the City of Ottawa’s 150th anniversary.
“(It’s) a large community that can connect through the Internet,” mclennan says. “So (putting the issue out) is almost like being part of a conversation and if you do not say anything you can not really be part of it.”
The anthology gives local creative writers a special place in the artistic community by providing them with a space to share their work.
“There has always been stuff happening here — we just need to pay more attention to it,” mclennan says.
Local poet Sandra Ridley has been writing for three years and her work is featured in the latest issue of ottawater. She says she’s happy to have a place to exhibit her work.
“It is really a good project. I like the fact that it is available online and it is for free and anyone anywhere around the world can access it,” Ridley says. “It just really opens up what we are doing in Ottawa.”
According to mclennan, local poetry is difficult to widely promote, which is why ottawater has taken advantage of technology in order to reach a worldwide audience.
Graphic designer Tanya Sprowl volunteers to put the online publication together.
“The first issue was obviously a little bit more difficult because it was the first time. You know, figuring out a format and figuring how you are to present it. And we realized right then and there that no one is going to read 120 pages on their computer, so we had to have a printable version,” says Sprowl.
The design is a key feature of the publication. Sprowl says she is careful when choosing the colours and images to avoid misinterpreting the poetry.
Certain pages in the second issue feature detailed backgrounds, bordering and local artwork alongside the text to create a visual appeal.
Although the anthology is non-profit, mclennan says he plans to continue with ottawater because of the positive feedback he has received and the enjoyment he gains from it.
“No one’s getting any money out of this, the designer is doing the work for free, the web host is providing us free space,” he says. “So I am just going to keep doing it until it is no longer fun.”
The second issue of ottawater kept the same format as the first, which included two interviews with local poets, two book reviews and a selection of poetry.
Read it at ottawater.com