This website from CanLit rock star Yann Martel caught our attention. Here's an excerpt from Arts News Canada that provides a good synopsis of a fantastic arts action project taken on by one of the country's top artists:

Many of you would have seen Yann Martel's article in the print edition of the Globe and Mail over the weekend. Martel, one of the 50 artists selected by the Canada Council to represent the work of the Council over its 50 years of being, complained that the recognition of Canada's artists last month went mostly unnoticed by the powers that be in Ottawa during the celebration.

A Saskatoon StarPhoenix article, cited in our Literary Arts section today, quotes Martel in the Globe piece: "I saw with my own eyes that the prime minister not only did not speak, I don't think he even looked up." Yesterday a group of artists gathered on Parliament Hill for an "Awakening" to get the attention of Stephen Harper and his ministers.

And Martel has gone one step further, he has pledged to send Harper one book every two weeks as long as the Conservatives are in power. Artists across Canada are worried about where the arts fit into the Conservative Party's agenda.

"They don't see their return on their investments and it seems kind of airy-fairy," says Martel, "whereas investing in a Honda factory somewhere seems more concrete."

Martel is documenting his project on a website www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca and has invited Harper to share his opinions on the books he receives.

Great advocacy, and probably a great reading list, too!