News / GTA

Scorn in Toronto, acclaim in Hamilton

Mayor Bob Bratina knows who Margaret Atwood is. To underscore the point, he's invited her to drop by his city's sparkling new library.

Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina has invited Margaret Atwood to spend a few hours meeting fans at the city's newly renovated central library.

John Rennison / The Spectator

Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina has invited Margaret Atwood to spend a few hours meeting fans at the city's newly renovated central library.

It’s poised to become a battle worthy of a novel.

Literary icon Margaret Atwood has accepted an invitation from Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina to tour the city’s newly renovated central library. The invitation is a tongue-in-cheek jab at the Rob Ford administration’s refusal to take closing libraries off Toronto’s list of potential cost-cutters.

Atwood, a vocal critic of Councillor Doug Ford’s contention that libraries, festival funding and arts grants are fair game for the budget axe, suggested last week that “contempt for creative people” could drive activity to cities like Hamilton.

“No one in Canada could possibly have missed your recent encounter in Toronto,” Bratina writes in his letter to Atwood, a copy of which was obtained by the Star. “It inspired us here in Hamilton to express to you our support for Canadian literature and culture, and our concern that someone of your stature as a Canadian cultural icon would be confronted with even the vaguest notion of obscurity or anonymity.”

Bratina’s comments are a not-so-subtle dig at Doug Ford’s now-infamous claim that if Atwood walked by, “I wouldn’t have a clue who she is” — a comment he later retracted.

Bratina said he was “taken aback” by the notion that one of Canada’s biggest literary stars “didn’t seem to matter that much” in Canada’s biggest city.

“We’re very proud of our Canadian cultural icons and regret that there was any question that Margaret Atwood’s stature might be dismissed in any way,” he said. “There’s a regrettable backwoods feeling to all this and it’s not right, it’s not true.”

Ford’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

In his letter, Bratina — whose son recently completed a master’s degree in library science — expressed the city’s “profound respect” for Atwood’s contributions to the Canadian identity, and invited her to spend a few hours at the central library and meet some “great admirers of yours from our cultural community.”

After seeing a story online at thestar.com, Atwood responded on Twitter. “I will come!” she tweeted Thursday night, thanking the city of Hamilton for the invitation.

In an interview with the Star last week, the Man Booker Prize and two-time Governor General’s Literary Award winner said threats to arts funding and contemptuous attitudes could affect the city’s bottom line.

“You start with tossing off latte drinkers, gay pride and bicycle riders and me, what’s the message? The message is: ‘We don’t want you people here,’” Atwood said. “I’m sure Hamilton or Burlington or Oshawa would be very happy if some of those festivals and conventions moved there.”

And that’s just fine with Bratina, who stressed that Hamilton, despite its working-class image, is already known for its artistic credentials. The town of 600,000 has spawned some of the world’s most successful musicians and performers, including U2 producer Daniel Lanois, Rush drummer Neil Pert, folk singer Stan Rogers and comedian Martin Short.

When asked if he believed cutting arts funding was an effective way to save money, Bratina said he couldn’t speak to Toronto but noted Hamilton is doing the opposite.

“We’re funding more cultural events.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/08/08/scorn_in_toronto_acclaim_in_hamilton.html
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