The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) began in 1976 and stands today as one of the oldest and largest animation events in the world. One of the unique features of the OIAF is the inclusion of commissioned writings that provide attendees with a more in-depth background into the festival's special screenings. These writings have not only contextualized the Festival presentations, but have also contributed significantly to animation education and scholarship.
The Corners are Glowing is a selection of the best writings (many unseen for decades) culled from past OIAF catalogues. These wide ranging texts cover the spectrum of animation from the familiar (Daffy Duck, Pee Wee Herman, Bob Clampett, Joanna Quinn, Hiyao Miyazaki, Frank Tashlin) to the more esoteric (Robert Breer, Emily Pelstring, Taku Furukawa, Michael Sporn, and even the use of furniture in animation!).
The Corners of Glowing is a valuable time capsule that celebrates animation's past and present, and the styles of writing are as diverse, enlightening, and fun as the animation subjects being written about.
About the Author: Chris Robinson is a Canadian writer and author. He is also the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) and is a well-known figure in the animated film world and was recently given the 2020 award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies by the World Festival of Animation Film - Animafest Zagreb.
Robinson has been called one of the stylistically most original and most provocative experts in the history of animation. He made a name for himself with a unique and eclectic magazine column Animation Pimp, which became a book of the same name (the column was later renamed into Cheer and Loathing in Animation).
Mastering different methods and styles in critical and scholarly approaches, Robinson covers a broad range of Canadian and global subject matters in his books Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy, Unsung Heroes of Animation, Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen, Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin, Animators Unearthed, Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind and Mad Eyed Misfits: Writings on Indie Animation.
In addition to his writing on animation, Robinson also wrote the Award-winning animated short, Lipsett Diaries (2010) directed by Theodore Ushev.
Currently, Robinson is writing two books on animation and is working with German artist, Andreas Hykade on My Balls Are Killing Me, a graphic novel about his experience with cancer. He is also collaborating with Theodore Ushev on a live action feature film, Drivin'.
Tom McSorley is Executive Director of the Canadian Film Institute. He is also an Adjunct Research Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University, and the film critic for CBC Radio One's Ottawa Morning.
McSorley is the editor of Rivers of Time: The Films of Philip Hoffman (2008), Elective Identities: The Moving Images of Garine Torossian (2010) and Entre Nous: The Cinema of Denis Cote (2011); Intimacies: The Cinema of Ingrid Veninger (2012); Forms of Light: The Films of Malcolm Sutherland (2012); Time Being: The Moving Images of Daniel Cockburn (2013); Dark Mirror: The Films of Theodore Ushev (2014); and co-editor, with Andre Loiselle, of Self Portraits: The Cinemas of Canada Since Telefilm (2006); with Mike Hoolboom, Life Without Death: The Cinema of Frank Cole (2009); and, with Scott Birdwise, The Transformable Moment: The Films of Stephen Broomer (2014). He has published numerous articles and book chapters on Canadian and international cinema for various international film journals and magazines, and is the author of Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster (University of Toronto Press, 2009) a book-length critical study of Egoyan's 1991 feature film.
