Marina Kochetova

With the onset of summer, the number of options for interesting pastimes always increases. Someone is in a hurry to book a camping site, someone is preparing for a kayaking trip, someone for hiking, and someone chooses a creative trip - to see others, to show themselves... In a word, life becomes more active in June. How about a trip to Toronto?

This dynamic city with a busy life is considered the third most important center of English-speaking culture in the world after London and New York. It is here that the largest number of Canadian theaters are concentrated. The Russian-speaking community of the metropolis is, naturally, much larger than in Ottawa. There are many Russian creative groups there. In Toronto, for example, for many years now there has been a creative club ''EtCetera'', which has attracted the attention of many Russian-speaking intellectuals, a kind of analogue of the Ottawa creative literary club ''TOLK''.

This coming Saturday, June 7, ''EtCetera'' invites everyone to an evening of Canadian poetry, organized together with the club by the Toronto Seminar of Artistic Translation. This evening will be dedicated to poets from the province of Quebec. Listeners can expect songs and video clips of interesting poetic translations, for example, songs by Felix Leclerc and Remond Levesque with parallel translation by Mikhail Ovsischer.

Interesting fact: during two parts, 50 minutes each, two Russian-speaking Ottawa residents will tell the Russian-speaking public of Greater Toronto about the poets of French Canada! Felix Khushinsky will read his translations of Francophone poetry, and Mikhail Rykov will sing songs of the genius Leonard Cohen, translated into Russian, to the guitar and read his translations of this amazing writer and musician.

During the break, there will be tea and sweets, and the entrance fee is only $20. If you happen to be in Toronto that day, join us (701 Sheppard Avenue West, starts at 6 p.m.). Why not combine business with pleasure?! The participants of the event, invited from Ottawa, will definitely not let you down. Unfortunately, such a concert is not expected in Ottawa, at least not in the near future.