Cultural Icons: Carol Bishop-Gwyn on Celia Franca and Charles Foran on Mordecai Richler

Hosted by Charlotte Gray

In Person Fiction Big Ideas History Film/Stage

Admission

Free

Friday

Apr , 2012

6:30pm

Eastern

Knox Presbyterian Church

120 Lisgar Street (at Elgin) • Ottawa

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Cultural Icons: Carol Bishop-Gwyn on Celia Franca and Charles Foran on Mordecai Richler

A comprehensive, panoramic portrait that will stand as the definitive Richler biography. . . . Foran is a master storyteller. . . . Ultimately, in Mordecai, Foran reminds us of how Richler managed to make Canadian culture relevant and sexy to the world.

The Gazette

Bestselling biographer Charlotte Gray hosts a session on two Canadian Cultural Icons.

Writer and dance historian Carol Bishop-Gwyn makes her Festival debut with The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Celia Franca. Commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the National Ballet of Canada, this remarkable book tells of the battles, the heartbreaks, the successes, and the accolades Celia and the Ballet shared.

Charles Foran returns to our stage with a definitive, detailed and intimate portrait of Mordecai Richler, the lion of Canadian literature. Mordecai: The Life & Times, winner of the Governor General’s Award, is an extraordinary love story and also chronicles the turbulent, changing times that nurtured Richler’s life and work.

The Authors

Carol Bishop-Gwyn

Carol Bishop-Gwyn is a writer and dance historian. She has taught courses at York University, Ryerson University, and the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Bishop-Gwyn has worked as a broadcaster and producer for CBC National Radio and as a freelance magazine writer.

Charles Foran

Charles Foran is the author of eight previous books, including the novels Carolan's Farewell and House on Fire, and the award-winning non-fiction work The Last House of Ulster. Born and raised in Toronto, he holds degrees from the University of Toronto and University College Dublin, and has taught at universities in China, Hong Kong and Canada. A former resident of Montreal, where he was a columnist for the Montreal Gazette and reported on Quebec for Saturday Night magazine, he currently resides with his family in Peterborough, Ontario. Of his most recent book, the essay collection Join the Revolution, Comrade, one critic wrote: "Foran takes seriously his role as a writer who's alert and engaged with the world" (Quill & Quire). He has made documentaries for CBC Radio and is a contributing reviewer for the Globe and Mail.