Canadian Author Series struggling to attract audience in Port Colborne
Port Colborne city hall asked to help series with financial break
A longtime literary series is having trouble staying afloat in Port Colborne, and the city has been asked to step in and help.
“I hope this council has a passion for cultural initiatives,” said Putzy Madronich, organizer of the Canadian Author Series. “Without your support, this 25-year-old Port Colborne gem will come to an end.”
Founded by local author William Thomas, the Canadian Author Series grew to be an important stop on any Canadian author making the rounds for a book tour. Noted authors such as Margaret Atwood, David Suziki, Peter Mansbridge, Mordecai Richler and Emma Donoghue have all made appearances at the series over the years, which is hosted at the Roselawn Centre.
At its peak, the series would consistently sell out, filling Roselawn with about 250 people. Today the series is in financial trouble, and the organizer said the whole thing could be scrapped unless something changes.
“We’ve been struggling with decreased numbers,” said Madronich, who blamed an aging population and an inability to replace those older attendees with new, younger literary enthusiasts.
“People stopped coming out. We’ve not had the numbers or the financing.”
Each season the Canadian Author Series hosts seven authors for book tour stops at Roselawn. In total, the city collects about $7,500 in rental fees each season.
Madronich said renting the Roselawn Centre is “substantially more expensive” than other similar-sized venues, and she could move the series elsewhere to cut down on costs. However, she would prefer to keep the series in Port Colborne.
“Publicists like to send authors to us because it is such a nice venue,” said Madronich.
At city hall last week, council was asked by Madronich to consider waiving the rental fee in a bid to get the Canadian Author Series onto more stable financial footing. While councillors were sympathetic, there was little appetite to waive or reduce the Roselawn rental rate. While a free ride was off the table, most of council wanted to see some action taken to keep the series going.
“This is worth a good hard look, it’s an important endeavour and it shouldn’t just be cast aside,” said Ward 4 Coun. Ron Bodner.
“I want to see us do something, but I don’t know how to do it just yet.”
The city’s director of community and economic development, Ashley Grigg, said she would be sitting down with Madronich and others from the series to see what can be done to increase ticket sales and interest. Ward 2 Coun. Angie Desmarais said the city can’t afford to let the series slip away.
“We need this, it’s a major marketing tool for Port Colborne,” said Desmarais, who added that she believes the series is being held back by the fact that it’s perceived as being a bit bougie.
“We should be letting the public know that the Author Series is not just for the elites, it’s for everyone,” said Desmarais.
Council voted to direct staff to bring back a report to council, with more detailed financials and options for how the city can help the Canadian Author Series for the Oct. 15 meeting.
The series is set to kick off its latest season on Sept. 26 with author Bindu Suresh.