Adrienne Clarkson with Denise Chong

Denise Chong in conversation with The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson at the Ottawa International Writers Festival - 28 April 2009.

"Born in Hong-Kong in 1939, Adrienne Clarkson came to Canada as a refugee with her family during the Second World War. An accomplished journalist and broadcaster, she received numerous prestigious awards during her distinguished career. Clarkson was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992, and in 1999 became the twenty-sixth Governor General of Canada. Her memoir, Heart Matters, shares Clarkson’s unique story of aspiration, triumph and turmoil. Sharing honest reflections on the heartaches that accompanied her journey, Clarkson shares her story with remarkable candidness. In her new biography of Norman Bethune, she makes fascinating sense of a complicated man by showing how every stage in his life prepared him for what followed."