Blog Out Loud Ottawa (BOLO) is the brainchild of my friend, web designer, and fellow writer and blogger Lynn Jatania. For the past three years she’s invited me to sit on the judging panel for this event, which showcases the best of Ottawa’s blog posts and bloggers.
The first time I attended BOLO, about five years ago, I had just begun to write a blog and went out to see what I could learn about that new (to me) world. What I learned was that the best blog posts are like the very best of magazine feature articles: topics explored with a clear beginning, middle and end; a theme; and tight, evocative writing. There are as many topics as there are bloggers: parenting, mental health, travel, food and wine… if there’s an issue, there’s somebody blogging about it. And Ottawa has some of the most respected voices in the country.
This year, BOLO premiers as part of The Ottawa International Writers Festival. It’s a natural fit, with the Festival being a forward-thinking showcase of great writing and big ideas in all possible genres.
We had 61 entries for BOLO this year! Some agonizing choices had to be made to pare this down to 11 featured posts. Come out and hear them – for free! – on Tuesday, April 29, 6:30 p.m. at Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street (at Elgin.)
Thanks so much for spreading the world about BOLO, Lee Ann! I’ll see you there (I’ll be the totally frazzled one running around like a spaz 🙂 ).
Ha ha ha! I’ve seen you at BOLO and you are the host with the most! Can’t wait to show off the event to the Festival!