The Dusty Owl Reading Series was first launched in 1994 by Steve Zytveld, then president of the English Literature Society at Carleton University.[1] The event was hosted monthly at Café Wim on Sussex Drive in downtown Ottawa[1] until 1999.
In 2004, the Dusty Owl Reading Series was revived with many of its original participants as the organizational force. Steve Zytveld and his wife Catherine MacDonald-Zytveld (an Ottawa-area mixed-media artist and photographer) co-host the event on the third Sunday of every month at Swizzles Bar and Grill in downtown Ottawa.[1]
The reading series has hosted poets and authors from across Canada and the United States; featured readers have included George Elliot Clarke,[1] Hal Niedzviecki, Rob McLennan, John Akpata, Suzanne Buffam, William Hawkins, and Sean Moreland.
The Dusty Owl Small Press publishes a quarterly chapbook literary magazine, The Dusty Owl Quarterly, as well as a biannual zine[1] featuring horror and dark science fiction literary genres. The press publishes short collections of poetry and prose, largely by Canadian writers and artists.
