 |
||
|
CURRENT EVENTS
274 Garry St. OPEN EMAIL
What people are saying: I can't say enough about how much I love this store and restaurant. They have a great selection in a beautiful building with such an open and organic environment. Oh and the food at EAT Bistro is amazingly good. Thanks Kelly for all your work in the community. - Mellaina, Winnipeg
|
EVENTSAqua Books is Western Canada's second-busiest arts and cultural venue (Banff is #1), seeing an audience of over ten thousand people at three hundred and fifty 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 Kelly Hughes at kelly@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 WorkshopsBook SaleJanuary 31 - February 5/12 11am-9pmThe Big Book Sell-off
MusicFriday, February 3/12 7pm $10 ($5 students)Too Much Info Tour 2012 Tim Elias solo in concert at Aqua Books, at 7pm so you can get to your Friday night gig. Tim is bringing all his instruments. See the banjo played in ways unimaginable. Lap steel that defies description. Mandolin tunes so odd your head will split open. The green Nicaraguan guitar with its own soul. Hi string piped through vintage Fenders. Its all unstable..... Tim'll laugh, you'll cry...
TheatreSunday, February 5/12 7:30pm $10ShawFest presents
Featuring Cory Wojcik as the Roastmaster, Ron Robinson as George Bernard Shaw and surprise guest appearances from luminaries of the Winnipeg theatre scene – including participants from this year's ShawFest shows. ShawPass or suggested donation: $10.00. As befits the roast of a man of GBS’s strong social conscience, all proceeds from this event will benefit the Actors’ Fund of Canada. CAEA, MAP, PGC Members: Pay What You Can MusicMonday, February 6/12 8pm $10 ($5 students)Balkan Folk Tales CD Launch
MusicWednesday, February 8/12 8pm $8 ($5 students)Beautiful Lies An evening of original songs from singer-storytellers Bean, Eagle Lake Owls and Kate Ferris. The intimate setting of the Aqua Books theatre is a perfect place to hear these musical stories play out. Each song is individual, personal, and equal part truth and lie.
DiscussionThursday, February 9/12 7:30pmWinnipeg Marx Reading Group
Electronic versions of many Marxist texts are available here. MusicThursday, February 9/12 8pm $6JohNNy SiZZle/Lloyd & Selleck Present A CKUW radio personality double whammy, featuring the legendary JohNNy SiZZle, of Winnipeg Arena IS on FIRE!, and Judith Light's nephews Lloyd & Selleck Light of Lloyd & Selleck's Local Lockdown. It's going to be funny and obscene and witty and beautiful...it's a guarantee! If you enjoy listening to CKUW, you should come out and support this. Proceeds of this pre-FunDrive will go to CKUW.
MusicSaturday, February 11/12 8pm $10 ($5 students)Kristopher Ulrich Band, with guests Eli Matas and Zack Kinahan
Spoken WordSunday, February 12/12 7pmAqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry Series Go to the Lansdowne page for details for this event. RootsWednesday, February 15/12 8pm $10 ($5 students)The Sweet Alibi, with Ben Wytinck and Marcel Desilets
IdeasThursday, February 16/12 7:30pmFeeling Canadian: Television, Nationalism, and Affect Book Launch
With Canadian culture currently at the mercy of various election platforms and funding cuts, this timely and highly readable book asks us to take a closer look at some of our most dearly-held nationalist assumptions, and to imagine a Canadian television screen that embraces irony, hybridity and diversity. The proliferation of screens, the rise of social media and the ways in which audiences now move across platforms, open up, the author argues, opportunities for connection empathy, and activism, and the creation of new post-national narratives on and off the TV screen.
JazzThursday, February 16/12 8pm $10 ($5 students)Quincy Davis & Promise
RootsFriday, February 17/12 8pm $10 ($5 students)Kayla Luky, with Tailwind
MusicWednesday, February 22/12 8pm $8 ($5 students)Primrose, with Demetra
JazzThursday, February 23/12 8pm $10 ($5 students)Jazz Machine IV
MusicFriday, February 24/12 8pm $5Shasta, with guests Wind The night will be warmed up by the sultry and sly croonings of Wind, a gorgeous three-piece folk outfit who are so angelic about their sass and brutal honesty you won't know what hit you. Unconventional instruments, radical lyrics, and radiant harmonies? Ohhhhh yes.
JazzThursday, March 1/12 7pmU of M Jazz Program Student Ensembles Craft SaleSaturday, March 3/12 11am-5pmCrafty Minions
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. Admission is free. SongwritingTuesday, March 6/12 7pmManitoba 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! WorkshopSaturday, April 21/12 11am-3:30pm $75From the Ground Up: Planning and Writing a Publishable Story WRITE THAT BOOK! Jake MacDonald's Fall/Winter writing workshop is a small group of busy beavers who will meet once a month to plan, brainstorm, and get to work on book-length writing projects - both nonfiction and fiction. Jake helps out with suggestions on story structure and creative brainstorming, and participants help each other with support, motivation and feedback. Classes are $75 each and it's okay to miss a class now and then. First meeting is on Saturday, October 1st, from 11am - 3:30. Roll up your sleeves and have a rough draft of your book finished by spring.
|
Get the Flash Player to see this player. 
|
As part of our major restructuring, we're liquidating almost all of our 40,000 books.
Tim Elias is co-founder of legendary '80s act Elias, Schritt and Bell, with John Schritt and Steve Bell. With over a hundred soundtracks, countless jingles and corporate theme songs under his belt, he has also shared the stage with The Pointer Sisters, Juice Newton, Leon Redbone, James Cotton, Valdy and Graham Shaw.
Come hear some of the most entertaining – and otherwise fascinating – excerpts from critical reviews, personal correspondence and essays by Shaw himself, as well as criticism written about Shaw by his contemporaries, all served up Celebrity Roast-style!
Dejan Rafajlovic Trio step into the Canadian jazz spotlight with their debut album Balkan Folk Tales. A former guitarist with Montreal’s Juno-nominated Les Gitans de Sarajevo, Rafajlovic teams up with his long time university colleagues Julian Bradford and Curtis Nowosad, arguably Winnipeg’s finest and most versatile rhythm section, to finally document his musical ideas and voice that is as much part of his Balkan roots as it is of the Canadian cultural milieu he finds himself in today.
Songwriter/storyteller/insomniac Kate Ferris is – whether she likes it or not – becoming one of the elders of the Manitoba music community. She’s played at concerts and festivals across Canada, sung on lanais in Hawai`i, pubs in the UK, and for an appreciative crowd in Puerto Rico. She’s performed with groups as diverse as the Blarney Band, Critter Family, Rodeo Riders, Canadian Content Theatre and Small Rooms, and has opened for Ritchie Havens. A long-time member of the Artists in the Schools program, she’s conducted workshops in over 200 schools, has appeared on television, CBC Radio and as a guest artist on various recordings. She is presently in the studio, finally getting around to recording the album she quit teaching 25 years ago to make.
Eagle Lake Owls is the work of songwriter/singer Andy Cole, blending indie rock with the raw plaintive spirit of folk and country. Channeling icy prairie Winters and the slow thaw of the northern Spring, Eagle Lake Owls' music is a product of years spent on a winding trail through Canada with little time to grow roots: Memories of small towns experienced through dusty car windows; cold winter drives to unfamiliar cities; the desolate edges of urban sprawl, and the deep isolation of northern Winters.
Dana Bean grew up in small town Manitoba, starting music at a young age. She showed an immediate interest in the piano, often teaching herself her favorite melodies by ear. She started songwriting at age 11 and has been honing her craft since. Bean began to experiment with her live show, introducing backup tracks and live looping, giving her an interesting edge. Recent accomplishments include writing, performing and recording the music for the documentary Waging Peace airing on over 130 ABC-TV stations in the U.S., with planned airings in Canada in early 2012. Dana Bean’s first released single Secret Holiday was chosen as one of CBC Scene’s top 10 songs for 2011. Look for Bean’s first CD release in 2012.
This ain't Oprah's Book Club, comrade. Book clubs dedicated to the works of Karl Marx, Fredrick Engels and Marxism started springing up all over the world a few years ago, and now Winnipeg has its very own. Each week, the discussion is invigorating as the group tackles another facet of Marxist thought. The summer schedule is 
JohNNy SiZZle is an underground folk-punk pioneer who has also been a busboy, a drag queen and a cable access host. His indie hit I'm a Nerd was used as the theme for the shortlived Tech TV series Nerd Nation.
Lloyd & Selleck Light like electronics, science, music and art. ALL electronics, ALL science, ALL music and ALL art. They also like the paranormal and extraordinary. They play in a band together called Ghostbabies. Selleck is a really good drummer and Lloyd sings the songs. This show is dedicated to their older brother Buddy who was kidnapped (missing since 1958). He is missed.
Guitarist and songwriter Kristopher Ulrich has been making music since he was a child, and is now entering his second year in the Jazz Studies program at the University of Manitoba. When he’s not at school or performing in various Winnipeg venues with one of several bands, Ulrich can be found teaching and playing with inner city youth, helping them develop instrumental and song-writing skills. This past summer, he was one of a handful of musicians in the Manitoba Artists in Health Care program, which takes music to patients and staff at the Health Science Centre. Ulrich grew up in Lac du Bonnet and lives now in Winnipeg.
Since their debut in the spring of 2009, The Sweet Alibi has been captivating audiences with their alluring blend of soulful melody and folk/roots tradition. A playful sense of lyricism and powerful vocal harmony set the stage for a performance which is up front and personal and instinctively compelling. The Sweet Alibi is Jessica Rae Ayre, Amber Neilson, and Michelle Anderson.
The author tracks the rise of nationalist content on Canadian television after the 1995 Quebec referendum, looking at how Canadian television works overtime to resolve the messy contradictions of nationhood. She closely examines the coverage of and aftermath to 9/11, when racial profiling became embedded in Canadian news.
Marusya Bociurkiw is an author, filmmaker, food blogger and professor. She is the author of five books, including Comfort Food for Breakups: The Memoir of a Hungry Girl, which received positive reviews in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Quill and Quire, Xtra! and many other publications and blogs. Her films have screened at festivals and cinemas on four continents. She is a professor of media theory at Ryerson University and lectures and publishes frequently on such topics as affect theory, feminist and queer media history, the archive, Canadian television and nationlism. Her latest book, Feeling Canadian: Television Nationalism and Affect, was published by Laurier Press in Spring 2011.
Acclaimed drummer and educator Quincy Davis believes that "hearing the execution of very intricate and challenging music, coupled with seeing myself play with the group could have a very strong and positive
impact on all who hear the band, particularly students." His new project is called Promise, and the band is made up entirely of University of Manitoba Jazz Studies program students. He calls it Promise because he believes in the promise of all of his U of M students, and all young, aspiring students in the city. The U of M Jazz Studies program is unique in Canada, for its combination of intensive study and ongoing public practicum. The opportunity to perform alongside world-class teacher-musicians is critical. Come see these young talents put their promise where their mouths (and hands) are.
Quincy Davis is a jazz drummer who has recorded with Tom Harrell, Vincent Gardner, Randy Napoleon, and others. Davis has played throughout the world in such prominent clubs as The Village Vanguard and The Blue Note in New York City; The Jazz Showcase in Chicago; New Morning Jazz Club in Paris; and The Jazz Bakery, Yoshi's, and Catalina Bar and Grill in California. He is currently assistant professor at U of M's Jazz Studies program.
Tailwind is a young group of roots rockers from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Singer/songwriter Kevin Kratsch has joined with multi-instrumentalist Kyle Bridges, bassist Brooks Waitt, and percussionist Daniel Bertnick to create a collection of tunes that range in style from soul-driven folk, to gritty Americana-esque country. Although a new project, this quartet is no stranger to writing, recording, and performing music, notably, Kratsch and Bridges are founding members of folk-country group, the Marquis. This new arrangement of young charismatic musicians is sure to please the crowds they play for. Kratsch’s raw songwriting ability is supported by a solid rhythmic foundation and cheesy, albeit golden, tasty electric guitar and banjo leads.
Kayla Luky's unique location gives her country sound absolute authenticity. Chock-full of well-crafted country and small-town stories, if you're hankering for some home cooking Kayla Luky's The Time It Takes will satisfy your hometown appetite. 
Hailey Primrose is still under 20, and yet has been performing publicly for over 5 years. Currently rehearsing and recording an EP, Primrose has played in the Winnipeg Folk Festival Young Performer's Program twice. She was mentored at age 14 by Winnipeg native John K. Samson (of the Weakerthans), and at 17 by West End working man hero Greg Macpherson.
Demetra Penner is inspired by the wild soul of nature. Her songs are used as tools to chip away at the exterior of existence in search of the truth. Demetra is hot off the successful CD release of Lone Migration, which was accompanied by films she shot in Churchill.
Aaron Shorr is one of Winnipeg's busiest guitar players. He has studied at Humber College in Toronto, the University of Manitoba, and has studied privately with the best musicians in the international jazz scene. In Winnipeg, Aaron has performed with Steve Kirby, Ron Paley, Papa Mambo, and Will Bonness. He can also be heard playing R and B and Soul with Sheena, and as a solo guitarist in Winnipeg Hospitals for Manitoba Artists in Healthcare.
Shasta is Latin World Jazz Fusion comin' atcha! If you haven't experienced this honeysuckle trio yet, you don't want to miss this showcase. After only two months of shoveling nylon strings, saliva-ed reeds and goatskins under their belts, you are sure to be blown away by the cultured musicality and energy of this new band! Two awe-inspiring, multi-lingual, multi-instrumental creatrixes have joined forces with a man of wicked and wise beats to pierce you with melting buttascotch icecream harmonies, eyespy impressionism and dynamic dynamite style.
One of Winnipeg's biggest indie craft sales features the city's hottest established and emerging crafty superstars including Head in the Oven,
Boomerang 360,
Papertrail Craft Co.,
Housefires,
Periwinkle Designs,
Bitchin' Kitsch 'n' Kitchen,
The Silver Agenda,
Leather and Lace,
Boomerang 1981,
Midkid,
Julrei,
Crushcraft,
Sew Dandee,
Mary and Maude,
Lady.T Tees,
Endeavours Studio and Workshop,
Just the Goods,
Blackbird Bazaar,
Blue Star Studios,
Summertime Crafts,
Inspyred Creations,
Monkeys, Monsters and More,
CJ Tennant,
Mrs. Glockenheimen, and more. 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.
Over the last twenty-five years Jake MacDonald has produced ten books of both fiction and non-fiction and hundreds of articles for many of North America’s leading newspapers and magazines. Six of his books have been optioned or developed by film producers and some were recognized with national awards. The memoir Houseboat Chronicles, for example, won three awards across Canada, including the Writers Trust of Canada prize for best non-fiction book 2002, and about twenty-five of his magazine stories have won writing awards. MacDonald divides his time between Winnipeg and Toronto and a rustic retreat in Minaki, Ontario.