Shaw Festival Presents Wiwa, Walsh, Rushdie and Flannery in Lectures

The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, is presenting a fall celebrity lecture series: "Four Lectures in the Provocative Spirit of Bernard Shaw."

Funded by the Government of Ontario’s Celebrate Ontario Festival and Event Enhancement initiative, The Shaw will present lectures by Ken Wiwa, Mary Walsh, Sir Salman Rushdie and Tim Flannery.

Inspired by the brilliance, bravery, humanity and humour of Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival is a crucible of ideas which help illuminate today’s world.

The speaker lineup is as follows:

Ken Wiwa September 16, 2007

Using the struggle of the Ogoni people of Nigeria to retain land rights and identity in the face of international business interests, Ken Wiwa Jr. explores economically viable and ethical strategies for growth in developing nations. Wiwa’s experience as the son of one of Africa’s best-loved authors - executed for his resistance to multinational business interests in Nigeria - has spurred him to continue his father’s work.

Mary Walsh September 30, 2007

Mary Walsh survived a troubled childhood and years of battling personal demons to ultimately emerge as one of Canada’s most celebrated comedians. Her credits include extensive work in theatre as an actor, director and playwright, most notably with the famed Newfoundland troupe CODCO, as well as in film and television. She is perhaps best known as the creator of CBC Television’s satirical current events show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes." Her latest venture is the unconventional literary talk show "Mary Walsh: Open Book" on CBC TV.

Sir Salman Rushdie October 7, 2007

Sir Salman Rushdie is one of the most successful, controversial and celebrated authors of our time. He is the author of such international bestsellers as "Midnight’s Children" and "The Satanic Verses." The latter was deemed sacrilegious by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989. While under constant threat of death, Rushdie went on to produce some of his most compelling work. Without doubt, Rushdie is one of today’s most witty and provocative public intellectuals.

Tim Flannery October 21, 2007

Tim Flannery is on a mission. He believes that human activity is drastically altering the earth’s climate, and that before too long these changes will have a devastating effect on life on this planet. He wants to mobilize the social and political will to address this problem before it’s too late. His book, The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and tells the story of climate change over millions of years to help us understand the predicament we face today.

Each lecture will be held at 11 a.m. in the Festival Theatre. Tickets are $20 each or $65 for the series. Ticket buyers for the lecture series will also receive a 25% discount on tickets purchased for same-day Shaw Festival matinee productions in the Festival Theatre. Tickets are available online at www.shawfest.com or by calling the Shaw Festival Box Office at 1-800-511-7429 or 905-468-2172.