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Yes, your PLR cheque is in the mail!
That is so, anyway, as of Wednesday, Feb. 15.
This year, the Public Lending Right Commission is distributing $9.9 million among almost 18,000 Canadian writers for the use of their books through public libraries. I've just returned from Montreal, where UNEQ -- the Union des ecrivaines et des ecrivains Quebecois -- mounted a fabulous event to close a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of PLR (which is known in those parts as DPP / Droit de Pret Public). With the backing of the Canada Council, a variety of organizations came together at the spectacular edifice known as la Grande Bibliotheque to present what was essentially a highbrow variety show celebrating L'ecrivain dans la biliotheque. Leading writers and intellectuals joined forces with musical theatre folk to create a unique event highlighted by a revolving, three-person reading of passages and poems written by fifteen different writers. For me, it evoked l'esprit du Quebec. As chair of the PLRC, all I can say is merci . . . and BRAVO!
Before turning mainly to books about arctic exploration and Canadian history, Ken McGoogan worked for two decades as a journalist at major dailies in Toronto, Calgary, and Montreal. He teaches creative nonfiction writing through the University of Toronto and in the MFA program at King’s College in Halifax. Ken served as chair of the Public Lending Right Commission, has written recently for Canada’s History, Canadian Geographic, and Maclean’s, and sails with Adventure Canada as a resource historian. Based in Toronto, he has given talks and presentations across Canada, from Dawson City to Dartmouth, and in places as different as Edinburgh, Melbourne, and Hobart.
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