Three Short Interviews With Reading Series

Ellen Chang-Richardson & Nina Jane Drystek: Riverbed Reading Series

TALI VORON-LEIDERMAN: You are co- founders of the Riverbed Reading Series and are doing incredible work supporting Ottawa’s literary community. How did Riverbed Reading Series come to be?

BOTH: Riverbed Reading Series came to be over a few shared dinners and glasses of wine. In late 2019, Ellen moved to Ottawa from Toronto and met nina jane through fellow poet Chuqiao Yang. We quickly realized that we both wanted to start a series that focused on hybrid art forms and platformed experimental voices. We are now in our sixth season and have developed a really wonderful community in Ottawa. We have brought on like-minded individuals to bolster our collective, and started a mentorship program in partnership with the University of Ottawa’s Creative Writing department. We are driven by the belief that the artistic spheres are connected and are committed to creating an inclusive space for artistic dialogues and experimentation. This is especially important given the social and political challenges we are experiencing today.

TVL: Imagine that our readers have never attended a Riverbed Reading Series event before. Set the scene. What is it like?

BOTH: When you arrive at Riverbed, you walk through a courtyard off Nicholas Street into Club SAW. At the front table, a member of our team—sometimes our mentee, sometimes Ellen’s wonderful husband Paul—greets you and encourages you to sign up for our open mic and to pay-what-you-can by way of a donation. We also always offer people masks and hand sanitizer.
Just past the doors, Club SAW has an amazing and welcoming bar staff from whom you can purchase beverages of your choice. Walking around the back of the bar, you will find a series of high tables and benches and café-style tables where you can sit among friends or strangers—who are sure to be new friends. Whenever someone new attends, Ellen and nina jane do their best to introduce themselves and welcome the new audience member to Riverbed.
Once our crowd has assembled, your hosts, nina jane and Ellen, take to the stage to introduce the space, the land, and the evening’s curatorial theme. The performances start with a reading of a river or river-adjacent piece of writing by Ellen or nina jane, followed by a set of eight open mic readers. After that, the featured performers take to the stage—either in-person or virtually by video performance. Each event features three performers and you can expect any combination of poets, prose writers, playwrights, musicians, drag performers, DJs, and other avant-garde performances. We are also a hybrid series, so if you cannot join us in person, you can always join us online!

TVL: What is your curatorial vision for the reading series?

BOTH: Our curatorial vision is iterative—we are interested in presenting events that conceptually build upon one another—which is why we call each event an “iteration.” We believe there is a multiplicity to the futures we can create if we create a space of creativity, experimentation, and diverse audiences, that connect through dialogue and delight. We strongly believe in community collaboration and many of our events have been co-presented with other local arts and community organizations. Our curatorial approach gives artists an opportunity to try something new, space to act and create, and has inspired new artistic creations and partnerships.

TVL: Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Riverbed Reading Series blends literature, music, and performance, through livestreamed and in-person events. What role do you play in Ottawa’s literary scene, and how do you build community?

BOTH: Now in our sixth year, we are told that we hold an important space in Ottawa’s literary scene. As one of the few reading events in the region, we offer open mics at every event and provide an inclusive space for all creative types to exist and co-exist in. Community is at the heart of our series and we consistently collaborate with arts institutions, ad hoc collectives, and/or cultural groups within the National Capital Region. T hroughout the years, we have partnered with organizations like SAW, Versefest, Chamberfest, Qu’ART, the Korean Cultural Centre Canada, the University of Ottawa, Debaser, Arc Poetry Magazine, Salon du livre de l’Outaouais. We continue to dream up new ways to uplift the community while presenting experiential and experimental programming for the public. Part of this is also about ensuring our events are accessible to audiences and, while we suggest a donation of twenty dollars at the door, no one is ever turned away for lack of funds.

TVL: What is something you’re excited about right now?

ELLEN: I’m incredibly excited by the rise of hybrid voices across Canadian literature. You see it in the hybrid-genre books and novels in verse coming to market, the integration of investigative practices into creative writing projects, an increase in instances of interdisciplinary performances, new chapbook/independent presses focused on elevating such voices—and an overall hunger from the public for this type of creativity. I love it and I can’t wait to see (and be a part of) what’s next.

NINA JANE: Similarly, I am excited about the interdisciplinary directions poets and writers are heading, and how that is becoming more visible in the community. I see Riverbed’s interdisciplinary programming as playing a part in this conversation and movement. Like when local DJ Jay Function (former JFUN) got to try a new style of set alongside Britta Badour, Jay Ritchie—who also brought an experimental set—and Dessa Bayrock. Like when Tawhida Tanya Evanson transported our audience through her voice and presence, alongside Frances Boyle and local French rapper D-Track. Like this past August when we celebrated Pride, and our queerness, with sexy readings by Eva Crocker, the sweet vocals and moves of drag king Omari B Johnson, and the strange, playful and poignant poetry of MLA Chernoff. As part of our series, we also billet out-of-town performers in our homes, and this always leads to wonderful conversations and opportunities to talk more deeply about art, performance and life.

BOTH: We are a community.

ELLEN CHANG-RICHARDSON

is the author of Blood Belies (Wolsak & Wynn, 2024), shortlisted for the 2025 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, the solo author of five poetry chapbooks, and the co-author of two with the poetry collective VII. Co-founder and co-curator of Riverbed Reading Series, Ellen is also an editor for Paper Bill Press, long con magazine, and Room. Their multigenre writing has appeared in publications across Turtle Island and their second book, Through the Eyes of Another: a collection of ekphrasis, is forthcoming in 2027. Find out more at www.ehjchang.com.

NINA JANE DRYSTEK

is the author of the chapbooks missing matrilineal (above/ground, 2023), a : of : in (Gap Riot Press, 2021) and knewro suite (Simulacrum Press, 2019), and two collaborative chapbooks with the collective VII, holy disorder of being (Gap Riot, 2022) and Towers (Collusion Books, 2021). she writes and performs sound poetry and was short-listed for the 2020 Bronwen Wallace poetry award as well as the 2021 Priscila Uppal Poetry Prize. she is one of the co-curators of Riverbed Reading Series and an editorial board member for Arc Poetry Magazine. her work has also appeared in various print and online publications. you can learn more at textcurious.ca.