As soon as they arrive in the nascent capital, Francophones establish a tradition of reading and writing. They grant themselves institutions to support the tradition, which quickly spread throughout French Canada. This is the way Ottawa quickly attracts poets, novelists, storytellers, playwrights. Their words become important vehicles for affirming French presence in the region, for rallying Francophones when conflicts break out in the early twentieth century with the Anglophone majority.
As much as it is singular and committed, the culture shaped by Ottawa artisans is also current. In the 1970s and 1980s Francophone literature starts to explore uncharted worlds. Francophone theatre in Ottawa is daring. The voices of its singers, the lyrics and the music of its writers and composers resonate well beyond regional boundaries. They are performed on more and more stages, to increasingly diverse audiences.
Liaison magazine – a quarterly publication of information and opinion regarding cultural creation – was founded in 1978 at the initiative of Théâtre Action. With time it has become the cultural magazine of French Ontario, Ottawa, 1984.
Source : University of Ottawa, CRCCF, Fonds Les Éditions L’Interligne (C86), Ph167-3483.