EVENTS

Aqua Books is Canada's busiest arts and cultural centre, seeing an audience of over ten thousand people at three hundred readings, book launches, meetings, workshops, concerts, plays, film screenings, lectures and shows every year. Unless noted, all events are free, take place at 274 Garry Street and are presided over by Margaret Laurence's Stone Angel (you'll know what I mean when you see it). For information on utilizing Winnipeg's Cultural City Hall (seats 93) or the Vicki Karon Francis events room (seats 30), contact events coordinator Ariel Gordon at ariel@aquabooks.ca.

For previous readings/workshops/launches, go to our Past Readings page, or click here to receive This Week at Aqua Books in your inbox, so you don't miss a thing.

Readings, Launches and Workshops

Winnipeg's Only Live Talk Show

Friday, September 3/10 7pm

Kelly Hughes Live! Into THIN AIR I
Host Kelly Hughes interviews writers Charlene Diehl, Ariel Gordon and Jordan Wheeler, with music by classical guitarist Skender Sefa

For more details go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page.

Garage Sale/BBQ

Saturday, September 4/10 11am-5pm Parking Lot/EAT! bistro

September Long BBQ/Garage Sale
Burgers, fries, and 1000s of cheap books

On Saturday, September 4, at 11am, our back lot turns into a classic Winnipeg garage sale, with thousands of books at 3/$1. (Including several hundred fresh rejects.) And once again, EAT! throws away the menu for the day and serves BBQ food, including pulled pork sandwiches, burgers, fresh coleslaw, yada, yada.

The bookstore itself, will of course also be open, and everything will shut down at 5pm, so our staff can enjoy the last long weekend of the summer.

Songwriting

Tuesday, September 7/10 7pm

Manitoba Independent Songwriters' Circle

"I haven’t had this much fun with songwriting since I was in my first original rock band back in the 70s", says performing songwriter Dan Stupich. "The sense of community and creative energy buzz generated by the circle is amazing. I recommend MISC to any songwriter of any level who’s interested in advancing their art."

The circles are open and free to all Manitoba songwriters. Got a new song that needs test-driving? Come on down!

Speaking Crow Open Mic

Tuesday, September 7/10 7pm

Featured reader Mariianne Mays

Aqua Books is pleased to be the permanent home of the venerable poetry series Speaking Crow. The Crow starts at 7pm and is followed by two open-mic sets and short breaks in between. Come take up the mic and wax poetic about life, the universe and everything!

Mariianne Mays is a writer, editor and sometime visual artist who lives in Winnipeg. Until 2006, she co-edited the arts and culture magazine Tart. Her chapbook Umbrella Suites was published by JackPine Press in fall 2005. She has worked in publishing for many years and taught creative writing at the University of Winnipeg – both things she loved – but her idea of heaven might be something like being a full-time student herself. She is currently completing a master’s degree. Other interests range from travel to nesting, and from music to art and film. She has a particular curiosity about the creative process across disciplines.

For previous Speaking Crows, go to our Dead Crows page.

Yoga

Wednesday, September 8/10 4:30pm $10

Beginners' Yoga Class
Instructor Yarden Bourlas

Join certified Ashtanga yoga instructor Yarden Bourlas for a class suitable for all skills and shapes. Bring your own mat.

Poetry

Tuesday, September 9/10 7pm

Terminal Moraine Reading
Poet Ian LeTourneau, with Sherry Coffey, Jason Booth and Jason Diaz

Ian LeTourneau's poetry has been published in many magazines and anthologies. In 2006, Gaspereau Press published Defining Range, a chapbook of poems, and in 2008, Thistledown published Terminal Moraine, his first full-length collection. He lives in Fredericton.

Sherry Coffey was born in Whitehorse. Her writing has been published in magazines, such as Qwerty and Room of One’s Own. Burnt Offerings, a play co-written with Ian LeTourneau, won the nbActs Theatre Festival’s One-Act Play Competition and was produced in 2003. Her novel in progress, A Pattern of Walking, won the Writers Federation of New Brunswick’s David Adams Richards Prize in 2006. And in 2007, she was the recipient of The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award, whose jury said the manuscript “eloquently mixes historical events with fiction to carve an imaginative landscape which draws you in.” She lives in Fredericton with her husband and son.

Jason Booth is a recent graduate of the Creative Communications program at Red River College. His poetry has been published in The Collective Consciousness, the quarterly journal of The Manitoba Writer’s Collective. He resides in Winnipeg with his wife and percolator.

Jason Diaz is a Winnipeg-based writer and stay at home dad. His poetry and prose has been published in dark leisure magazine. He is also a blogger for the THIN AIR blog, Hot Air.

Theatre

Thursday, September 9/10 7:30pm $10

Best of Fest
2010 Winnipeg Fringe hit StarBach's: The Coffee Cantata
Starring David Klassen, Naomi Forman and Darren Martens

StarBach's: The Coffee Cantata is "as fun and frothy as a triple latte with extra foam." (CBC Radio) The caffeinated version of J.S. Bach's mini-opera comes to life in a 21st century coffee house. You'll meet Schlendrian, his sister Lieschen and her secret crush - Taylor the Latte Boy. Sung in English and including additional songs glorifying our favourite morning drink, this professional production features faculty from all three of Manitoba’s music schools, and is delightful, delicious, and suitable for all ages.

Winnipeg's Only Live Talk Show

Friday, September 10/10 7pm

Kelly Hughes Live! Fall Arts Preview I
Host Kelly Hughes interviews WSO resident conductor Richard Lee, Juno winner Steve Bell and U of M Jazz Studies director Steve Kirby, with music by jazz pianist George Colligan

For more details go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page.

Storytelling

Friday, September 10/10 7:30pm

Stone Soup Storytellers
Featured teller TBA

People in all times and places have told stories. Stone Soup storytelling happens in the round, with the participants passing the talking stick around. If you want to tell a story, keep the stick. If you just want to listen, pass it along. Stone Soup has some very experienced tellers, but amateurs and listeners are always welcome.

The long-running Winnipeg storytellers' group has been around since the early '80's. Since 2005, they have been meeting September through May at Aqua Books, now normally on the second Friday of the month. All sessions start at 7:30 pm, and are open to all (including children, although it's not really for the very young and squirmy.) Admission is free.

Yoga

Saturday, September 11/10 4:30pm $10

Beginners' Yoga Class
Instructor Yarden Bourlas

Join certified Ashtanga yoga instructor Yarden Bourlas for a class suitable for all skills and shapes. Bring your own mat.

Lecture

Saturday, September 11/10 5:30pm

Humanist Association of Manitoba presents
Kepler, Science and Religion
University of Manitoba professor Dr. Rhonda Martens

Rhonda Martens is a professor specializing in the history and philosophy of science. She is the author of the book, Kepler's Philosophy and the New Astronomy.

Technology

Tuesday, September 14/10 6pm

Winnipeg Girl Geek Dinner

Aqua Books is proud to be the home of the Winnipeg Girl Geek Dinner at EAT! bistro. The action begins with dinner at 6pm in the restaurant (you order off the menu and pay for your own dinner), and then moves upstairs. RSVP here.

Girl Geek Dinners started in 2005 in London as a way for Girl Geeks (and their invited male friends) to get together, learn and talk about technology. All ages and fields (math, science, new media, graphic design, dev, tech, etc.) are encouraged to participate.

(Guy geeks are welcome to attend as well, but the rule of thumb is to be invited by a girl attending. At many technical conventions, guys outnumber girls by about 10 to 1. Using this guideline ensures that at most the ratio will be 1 to 1.)

For more information about Winnipeg Girl Geek Dinners, click here.

Aqua U. Seminar

Wednesday, September 15/10 7-9pm   $30

Aqua U. presents
How to Sell Yourself Without Selling Out
A seminar by Bookstore Owner Kelly Hughes

This is for anyone who wants to sell themselves and what they do without selling their soul. If you love what you're doing and want to build your profile out in the world, this is for you. If you believe and care about something, and want others to care too, this is for you. This two hours will give you the tools to get people with your program. This seminar is especially useful for (but not limted to) those in creative endeavours (photographers, designers, writers, musicians, artists, indie business startups, etc.).

Over the past decade, Aqua Books owner Kelly Hughes went from no retail experience to building one of Canada's most acclaimed bookstores. For the first time, he'll share how he did it. And he'll teach you how you can sell yourself, your skills and your dream, without losing your self-respect or your friends.

Bookstore Owner Kelly Hughes has worked as an actor (Pacific Theatre), a pre-teen TV star (Let's Go!), an arts administrator (Winnipeg Cultural Alliance), and an operations manager (WHERE Winnipeg). He founded Aqua Books a decade ago, and is somewhat infamous as the writer of This Week at Aqua Books and the host of Kelly Hughes Live!. He does dozens of media interviews each year, and has done hundreds of speaking/hosting engagements, from the kindergarten class at Kumsheen Elementary, to the Burnaby Correctional Centre for Women.

Workshop

Wednesdays, September 15/10 - December 1/10 7pm   $250

Aqua U. presents
Forging the Muse
A workshop series from poet Chandra Mayor

This workshop is appropriate for beginning or intermediate poets and is limited to 10 people.

Does the Muse of Poetry come to you at night, streaming with the moon through your windows, the unseen hand guiding your pen as you fill page after page with (probably rhyming) verse of unspeakable beauty and profundity, while you, the passive vehicle for this marvel, surrender yourself up to the voices of Truth and Light?

Nope, me neither. `(And if that is indeed your poetic process, you’ll probably hate my course).

“Poetry is the way we give name to the nameless so that it can be thought,” said Audre Lorde. This 12 week course will help us understand how that happens – how each of us can transform images, ideas, and emotions into words that truly communicate in our writing. We will focus on the craft of poetry and of language (image and metaphor, place and point of view, voice, form poetry, line breaks, and how to give effective readings). We’ll learn how (and why) editing and workshopping is so important. We’ll explore personal mythologies, the world(s) of publishing, performativity, and whatever else seems interesting. We’ll play, and take risks, and create a community of writers – we won’t (and shouldn’t) always agree with each other, but we’ll each understand more about what we write, why we write, and how to get closer to the poems we really want to write. The course will include lots of reading, lots of discussion, and most importantly, lots of writing (and lots of feedback).

I don’t really believe in the notion of ‘the muse.’ But I do believe in inspiration, hard work, the creative urge, and learning the skills to express it. And I do believe, absolutely, that poetry can (and does) transform the world, and ourselves. Let’s light the fires and figure out how.

Chandra Mayor’s writing has appeared in several anthologies, including Interruptions: 30 Women Tell the Truth about Motherhood, Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets, and Post-Prairie. Her first book, August Witch: poems, was short-listed for four Manitoba book awards and won the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book. She received the 2004 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Writer, and the following year her novel, Cherry, won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. The title story from her most recent book, All the Pretty Girls (conundrum, 2008), was shortlisted for a 2008 CBC Literary Award, and the collection itself won a Lambda Award for Best Lesbian Fiction. Chandra Mayor lives in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg's Only Live Talk Show

Friday, September 17/10 7pm

Kelly Hughes Live! Into THIN AIR II
Host Kelly Hughes interviews Writers Festival performers Ismaila Alfa, Ignatius Mabasa and Dominique Rey, with music by Naomi Guilbert and Hiroshi Koshiyama of Fubuki Daiko

For more details go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page.

Open Mic

Tuesday, September 21/10 7pm

Soapbox Open Mic
Aqua Books Writer-in-Residence Kerry Ryan

Every third Tuesday of the month, Aqua Books presents our open mic series, Soapbox, hosted by Bookstore Owner Kelly Hughes. Soapbox starts at 7pm and consists of two open-mic sets and a short break in between. This is Winnipeg's only cross-genre open mic series. Bring your fiction, memoirs, fragments, poetry, songs, and anything you've written, for your 4 minutes of fame.

Kerry Ryan lives and writes in Winnipeg. Her first collection of poetry, The Sleeping Life, was published by The Muses’ Company in 2008 and nominated for the Aqua Lansdowne Prize for Poetry in 2009. She has had poetry published in a number of journals, including Prairie Fire, Grain, Room, CV2 and Carousel. Her second collection, Vs., is forthcoming from Anvil Press in fall 2010. Kerry is Aqua Books Writer-in-Residence for September-December 2010.

Theatre

Wednesday, September 22/10 7:30pm $10

Best of Fest
2010 Winnipeg Fringe hit One Good Marriage
Starring Matthew TenBruggencate and Mel Marginet

One Good Marriage is the powerful story of a young married couple’s extreme isolation. Making a link between loneliness and the institution of marriage, the play underscores our profound human need for a broader community. At the same time, the story reveals the ways in which a community may limit our perceptions of self and who we can be in the world. With wit and insight, playwright Sean Reycraft shows us that facing ourselves fully, though frightening, can lead us towards what is best about us: our capacity to love. Through the experience of a tremendous loss, Steph and Stewart are forced to re-examine themselves, and they come to find new meaning in their marriage and a reinforced sense of the importance of genuine connection. Underneath the absurdity of their nightmare and the hilarity of their emblematic dynamic, Reycraft sends us a somber and complex message, highlighting the difference between security and stagnancy, intimacy and co-dependency.

Winnipeg's Only Live Talk Show

Friday, September 24/10 7pm

Kelly Hughes Live! Pop Star
Host Kelly Hughes interviews music writer John Kendle and super-producer Chris Burke-Gaffney, with music by Arun Chaturvedi

For more details go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page.

Workshop

Sept 28, Oct 13, 26, and Nov 3, 16 and 24/10 7pm   $20

Aqua U. presents
Writers’ Support Group
Facilitated by Aqua Books Writer-in-Residence Kerry Ryan

Ready to share your writing, but not sure where to start? Looking for an extra set of eyes but can’t commit to a writing group?

Writers working in all genres are invited to take part in a series of drop-in,workshop-style sessions hosted by Aqua Books Writer-in-Residence Kerry Ryan. Participants will be expected to both share work and give feedback to others.

Six sessions will take place over the fall. Participants can sign up in advance for workshop slots (everyone will be guaranteed three slots, but they’ll be assigned first come, first served), and are welcome to attend any/all sessions to comment on others’ work.

All participants who wish can take part in a public, wind-up reading at Aqua Books on December 1. The workshop is limited to 16 people.

Kerry Ryan lives and writes in Winnipeg. Her first collection of poetry, The Sleeping Life, was published by The Muses’ Company in 2008 and nominated for the Aqua Lansdowne Prize for Poetry in 2009. She has had poetry published in a number of journals, including Prairie Fire, Grain, Room, CV2 and Carousel. Her second collection, Vs., is forthcoming from Anvil Press in fall 2010. Kerry is Aqua Books Writer-in-Residence for September-December 2010.

Theatre

Wednesday, September 29/10 7:30pm $10

Best of Fest
2010 Winnipeg Fringe hit Unequal Harvest
Starring Kami Desilets and Brent Hirose

Playwright Geoff Hughes wrote Unequal Harvest to draw attention to the global food crisis. In the style of Eve Ensler’s acclaimed Vagina Monologues, local artists Kami Desilets and Brent Hirose bring eight of literally a billion stories of hunger across the globe and how it affects people in your own back yard or as far as the grasslands of Kenya. While their characters may not offer you a Band-Aid solution, they will provoke the little activist in all of us to do a little something to make a change.

"Gripping and heartbreaking in equal measure, an urgent and compassionate call to understand the real lives and people behind the appalling statistic of a billion people going hungry."

-Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved

Workshop

Thursdays, September 30/10 - December 2/10 7pm   $225 ($200 before Sept. 1)

Aqua U. presents
Through the Looking Glass
A YA fiction writing intensive with Anita Daher

Tickle your muse and develop skills as Anita Daher leads you on a journey into the world of writing picture books, children’s periodicals, middle grade and teen novels, with a primary focus on YA. Take your vitamins and prepare to absorb in-depth information on the genre, and the children’s writing and publishing industry in Canada. There will be exercises, assignments, dynamic interaction, and at the end—a party!

The workshop is limited to 12 people. There will be no class on Remembrance Day.

Anita Daher has been entrenched in the book publishing industry for more than fifteen years. She feels “place” infuses her writing, and is grateful to have lived in communities like Summerside, PEI, Moose Jaw, SK, Churchill, MB, Baker Lake, NU, and Yellowknife, NT. Her short stories have appeared in Prairie Fire Magazine, and she is author of seven youth novels, including Arthur Ellis and Manitoba Book Award finalist Spider’s Song (2006), and Arthur Ellis, Hackmatack and Diamond Willow finalist Racing for Diamonds (2006). She has led workshops across the country, and has been a popular presenter at conferences and festivals. When not teaching, presenting, or working on her own stories, Anita edits teen novels for Great Plains Publications. Anita was Aqua Books' inaugural writer-in-residence in 2008.

Winnipeg's Only Live Talk Show

Friday, October 1/10 7pm

Kelly Hughes Live! Fall Arts Preview II
Host Kelly Hughes interviews Larry Desrochers (Manitoba Opera), Columpa Bobb (MTYP), Casimiro Nhussi (NAfro Dance) and Steven Schipper (MTC), with music by Prairie Jewel

For more details go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page.

Theatre

Wednesday, October 6/10 7:30pm $10

Best of Fest
2010 Winnipeg Fringe hit When The Killer Mutant Lizards Attack
Starring Brent Hirose

Eventually the inevitable happened: the Killer Mutant Lizards attacked, decimated the city and mysteriously disappeared. The survivors resume their lives, but must ask: Why? How? And will they return?

Poetry

Thursday, October 7/10 7pm

The Secret Signature of Things Launch
Poet Eve Joseph, with Patrick Friesen

Eve Joseph was born in 1953 and grew up in North Vancouver. Her first book of poetry The Startled Heart was published by Oolichan Press in 2004 and nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Award. Her second book The Secret Signature of Things came out with Brick in the spring of 2010. Her work has been published in a wide number of Canadian and American journals and anthologies. Eve was awarded second place in the Great Blue Heron Contest sponsored by The Antigonish Review in 2007 and 2009. She was recently awarded the 2010 P.K. Page Founder’s Award for the best poem of the year in the Malahat Review and was shortlisted for the 2009 CBC Literary Awards in the creative nonfiction category.

Patrick Friesen, a resident of Winnipeg for 30 years, now lives in Vancouver. He has published numerous books of poetry and has written several stage and radio plays. Friesen has also collaborated with choreographers, dancers, musicians and composers. He tours on a regular basis, giving readings and workshops all over the country. His book, A Broken Bowl, was a finalist for the 1997 Governor-General's Award.

Theatre

Saturday, October 16/10 8pm $10

Best of Fest
2010 Winnipeg Fringe hit unADULTeRATED me
Starring Rachelle Fordyce

Peel back the layers with Fizzy Tiff as she strips down to her unADULTeRATED self!

Exposing: Fantasies! Desires! Em(bareASS)ments! And more!

A Solo Clown Striptease with a Twist of Song.
...Sweet Dreams are Made of This.

"Standing ovation well deserved!"
4 stars ~ Beat Magazine, London

"Rachelle Fordyce reveals much more than her skin in this touching, expertly delivered show." 4 stars ~ EYE Weekly, Toronto

"Hilarity, poignancy, and finally triumph." A+ (5 stars) ~ UPTOWN, Winnipeg

"Rachelle Fordyce drops jaws with her one-woman show unADULTeRATED me. (...) Powerful, naked, honest humanity." 5 stars ~ The StarPhoenix, Saskatoon

"This is one of the best Fringe shows I’ve ever seen." 5 stars ~ SEE Magazine, Edmonton

Winnipeg's Only Live Talk Show

Friday, October 29/10 7pm

Kelly Hughes Live! Halloween
Host Kelly Hughes interviews illusionist Brian Glow and SF writer Nick DiChario, with music by Absent Sound

For more details go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page.

Storytelling

Wednesday, November 4/10 7pm

TELL: Tales from the 204

TELL is a new storytelling series happening at Aqua Books. TELL will feature people telling personal stories, without notes, to a live audience. These stories will usually centre around a theme.

Interested in telling a story? Stories should be no longer than 7-10 minutes. A rough draft/outline of your story will need to be submitted prior to the event. About a week prior to the event, all the story tellers will gather for a casual rehearsal. The event will be recorded and will probably be played on UMFM. The idea is to have fun and share what is to be from the 204 with others from the same area code. Are you interested in telling a story or helping out behind the scenes? Send an email to TELL204@gmail.com today!

Winnipeg's Only Live Talk Show

Friday, November 26/10 7pm

Kelly Hughes Live! 42
Host Kelly Hughes interviews CFL legend Troy Westwood and greyhound rescuer Michaela Lamoureux, with music by Newfie rocker Elton Adams

For more details go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page.

Craft Sale

Saturday, December 4/10 11am-5pm

Crafty Minions
The Handmade and Vintage Sale

Featuring Winnipeg's hottest established and emerging crafty superstars such as Dizzy Dame, Marathon 1981, Echo Creations, Just the Goods, Head in the Oven Creations, and more, all peddling their wares, this is a sale not to be missed. Banish all thoughts of rows and rows of crocheted slippers or washcloths or ponybead keychains...think, instead, vintage-inspired handmade dresses, leather and ribbon wrist corsets, funky jewelery made of vintage silverware, tiny ceramic apartment buildings and octopus tentacles, retro aprons hand-embroidered with sassy 80s pop lyrics, handmade natural skincare luxuries, wall-art created from bass strings and recycled children's books, silk-screened courier bags and babywear, weird and wonderful stuffed animal-ish creations of all sorts, and much more. This is the new world of gorgeous guerilla DIY craft, right here at Aqua Books.

It's never too early to begin your holiday shopping, it's never the wrong time to pick up something completely unique and beautiful for yourself, and it's always the right time to support local artisans and crafters, and maybe even become inspired yourself.

Admission is free.

Winnipeg's BookWalk

Aqua Books produces Winnipeg's BookWalk, the self-guided walking tour of bookstores in Winnipeg's Book District. Winner of an Exchange BIZ Award of Excellence for bringing people to the Exchange District, the guidemap has had over forty thousand copies distributed since its creation by Aqua in 2001. For a printable copy, click on the link above.

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