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CURRENT EVENTS
274 Garry St. OPEN EMAIL
What people are saying: Thank you for putting on such an imaginative and daring series of programmes, for honoring Purdy, and for inviting my little buddy, Neil Besner, and me to participate. We both thought it was the right thing and better still a hoot. This was a wild and wonderful scheme! A fabulous act of imagination and daring. - Poet Dennis Cooley (on Mondo!Purdy 2009)
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EVENTSAqua Books is Winnipeg's premiere spoken word venue, seeing an audience of over ten thousand people at two hundred and fifty readings, book launches, meetings, workshops, concerts, plays, film screenings and lectures 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. (Please note: Events denoted by VKF take place in the smaller room.) 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 WorkshopsWorkshopMarch 10, 11 and 13 $199Aqua U. presents Conjuring up the Story
Winnipeg's Only Live Talk ShowFriday, March 12/10 7pmKelly Hughes Live! Chasing Illusions Go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page for details for this event. StorytellingFriday, March 12/10 7:30pm VKFStone Soup Storytellers
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. Open MicTuesday, March 16/10 7pmSoapbox Open Mic 
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.
Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry SeriesWednesday, March 17/10 7pmAqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry Series Go to the Aqua Books Lansdowne page for details for this event. StorytellingThursday, March 18/10 7pmHow Many Jewish Mothers?
Winnipeg's Only Live Talk ShowFriday, March 19/10 7pmKelly Hughes Live! 40 Go to the Kelly Hughes Live! page for details for this event. StorytellingSaturday, March 20/10 7pmManitoba Storytelling Guild and Cabbages and Kings Radio present
Telling Tales Spoken Lit Concert SeriesFriday, March 26/10 7pm $10Whale Tales to Balaam's Ass: Bringing Out the Animal in the Old Testament
AnthologySaturday, March 27/10 7pmAnthology Reading Series Go to the Anthology reading series page for details for this event. Aqua U. Spring Break for TeensMarch 30 - April 1/10 10am-4pm $150 (inc. lunch from EAT!)Aqua U. presents 
Statistics show that teenagers account for a healthy portion of horror film audiences, much to the chagrin of parents who want their kids to steer clear of the genre. Often critically disdained, the horror genre is associated in many people’s minds with misogyny, superfluous violence, poor writing, and worse acting. But there is a lot more to horror films than meets the eye - and at such an impressionable and media-saturated age, it’s important for teens to be given the tools with which they can become responsible viewers. Aqua Books Film Writer-in-Residence and longtime horror writer/film programmer Kier-La Janisse leads a three-day course on horror film criticism for teens aged 14-18. The course will focus on developing an aptitude for critical interpretation, with five screenings and open discussion in class, as well as individual review assignments. Various historical schools of writing and interpretation will be discussed alongside topics such as feminism and paedophobia, applications of folklore, consumerism, anti-establishmentism, environmentalism, and homophobia. Aside from in-class screenings, each participant will be given a film to take home and review using the tools and insider tips discussed in class. At the end of the course, the reviews will be sent to esteemed Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue, who will select the top three reviews to be published on the Rue Morgue website.
Day One:
Aqua U. SeminarTuesday, March 30/10 7-9pm $30Aqua U. presents
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.
Speaking Crow Open MicTuesday, April 6/10 7pmFeatured poet Brenda Sciberras 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!
For previous Speaking Crows, go to our Dead Crows page. ideaExchange Lecture SeriesSaturday, April 10/10 7:30pmEvil By Design Go to the ideaExchange page for details for this event. TechnologyTuesday, April 13/10 6pm EAT!Winnipeg Girl Geek Dinner
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. LaunchTuesday, May 11/10 7pmThrough the Window of a Train: A Railway Anthology
TheatreJuly 14-24/102010 Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival 
Psycho Bitch is a comedic tale of a mood disordered, medicated, sweetheart of a mess. Tamara Lynn Robert will take you on bipolaresque journey through attacking brains, wacky therapists, and what we all really need to cope.
TheatreJuly 14-24/102010 Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival 
Fringe favourite TJ Dawe’s first hit comedy returns! What at first seems to be a scattering of unrelated thoughts – about graveyard shifts, traffic lights, and how gracefully cats vomit – soon becomes a story about a young man working the nightshift who gets caught up in a bizarre chain-reaction of events. Dawe’s hilarious script weaves jokes and stories into a multi-character whirlwind that all ties together in a way you’d never expect. Performer Alex Eddington marries TJ’s unique storytelling style with high-energy physical theatre, toy instruments, absurd prop comedy, and sleight-of-hand magic... “FANTASTIC!” - Indyish.com (Montréal) “PHENOMENAL!” - SEE Magazine (Edmonton) “MAGICAL!” - Now Magazine (Toronto)
Winnipeg's BookWalkAqua 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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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.
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.
Joe Wapemoose was born on Cowessess Indian Reserve as a ward of the Canadian government. Joe has been paid as a schoolteacher, a Vietnam War-era missile maker, trucker, taxi driver, rock picker and unordained Gospel preacher. He also ran for MLA in downtown Winnipeg and helped deliver a baby in a Minneapolis hospital. His writing comes from a place of personal experience.
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 
Alix Sobler is a writer and performer, originally from New York who is living out every little girl's dream to grow up and move to Winnipeg to try and make it big. Her Jewish humour can often be heard on CBC One’s Definitely Not The Opera. She recently returned from the Minneapolis Jewish Humor Festival where she performed her solo show Jason Neufeld is Impotent. In April, her new comedy Some Things You Keep will premiere at the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. She is definitely Jewish, and apparently funny, and happy to be in such good company.
Murray "Moish" Goldenberg is a native Winnipegger. He attended Winnipeg Hebrew School and Garden City Collegiate and studied English, Sociology and Better Living thru Chemistry at the University of Manitoba in the fabled late '60s and early '70s. After that he wandered around the world for a number of years, and burnt down his own caboose on his property at Roseisle, Manitoba along the way. He has taught English, Geography, and ESL in Seven Oaks School Division for the past 25 years. He has published poetry, short stories and humour in various collections. He is fond of really questionable Jewish jokes on many subjects, most of them involving Mothers, God, Money, Guilt, Mohels, and Marriage, not necessarily in that order. He lives in darkest Elmwood with his wife Josee, who is a music teacher and vocalist, and his daughter Shoshana, who is far too talented at everything and looks askance at her dad.
Libby Simon first career was as a Social Worker where she was employed with the Child Guidance Clinic of Winnipeg in the public education system for 20 years. Shortly before she retired, she took up writing as an avocation and now identifies more as a freelance writer. Libby has been published a number of times in the Winnipeg Free Press, Homemakers, Canadian Living and Geist, as well as in several Canadian academic journals.
Nurit (Nora) Drory lives in Winnipeg and writes humour and poetry. She has a varied background including nursing, teaching, writing, radio, singing, and talking. Any topic is fair game. 
Sam Knacker began playing harmonica in his native Romania in the 1930s. He was captured by the Russians in 1944 and spent four years as a POW. He returned to Romania, then lived in Israel for a short time, and
finally landed in Winnipeg. He worked for years in the local schmatta industry, and is now know as Winnipeg's Jewish harmonica king.
World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. It is celebrated every year on the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, the first day of autumn equinox in the southern. On World Storytelling Day, as many people as possible tell and listen to stories in as many languages and at as many places as possible, during the same day and night. Participants tell each other about their events in order to share stories and inspiration, to learn from each other and create international contacts.
Ron Robinson is the host of Pages and the Saturday Morning Show on CKUW FM. He learned storytelling at family gatherings where the tales were wild and windy.
Rebecca Hiebert is a member of Stone Soup Storytellers of Winnipeg. Rebecca is a lively and energetic teller who knows how to connect with an audience.
Wayne Drury is a charter member of Stone Soup Storytellers and has told stories at the Winnipeg International Storytelling Festival, the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, the Sundog Storytelling Festival, and the Magic Of One Story Concerts. He plays mandolin with the Flatland Ceili Band.
Telling Tales is the new spoken word performance series from Aqua Books, and features the city's best (resident and visiting) storytellers, taking on folklore and literature's best stories. Some shows feature music by outstanding performers that complement the spoken word, and
most shows are geared towards adults (but non-squirmy kids can come).
Anne Morton is a native Winnipegger, born on the banks of the Assiniboine. She worked in the Hudson's Bay Company Archives for 25 years. She started
telling stories before she retired, and one of the reasons she retired was
to have more time for storytelling. Anne is now a Theology student at the U
of W. This summer she is going to Jerusalem to study Torah.
Bush Wiebe plays a style of blues that slides, stomps and thumps. From playing slide on his resonator guitar and pounding on his homemade stompbox stage he creates a sound that is exciting and unique. Digging into his Mennonite roots, he references a culture that is often misunderstood and puts it on display in all its strange glory. It’s an electrifying mix of a conservative culture and sweaty blues. Bush Wiebe’s first ever live performance was at his father’s funeral. From that auspicious beginning he now plays at all kinds of festivals, coffeehouses and parties.
Kier-La Janisse is a writer and film programmer who hosts music-related and cult film screenings under the moniker Big Smash! Productions. She was head programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas from 2003-2007, founded the CineMuerte Horror Film Festival and the Big Smash! Music-on-Film Festival (both in Vancouver). She's curated programs at the Blinding Light!! Cinema and the Criminal Cinema in Vancouver, as well as the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. She has written for Filmmaker, Rue Morgue and Fangoria magazines, has contributed to The Scarecrow Movie Guide (Sasquatch Books, 2004) and Destroy All Movies!! (forthcoming from Fantagraphics), and is the author of A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi, published by FAB Press in 2007. She is the Administrative Coordinator for Winnipeg's send + receive: a festival of sound and Special Events Coordinator for independent record store Into the Music. Currently, Ms. Janisse is co-producing a feature documentary called Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films that Ruled the 70s and working on a new book about female neurosis in horror and exploitation films entitled House of Psychotic Women.
Brenda Sciberras earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Manitoba and is an alumni of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild Sheldon Oberman Emerging Writers’ Program, the Sage Hill Writing Experience in Saskatchewan, as well as the Banff Wired Writing Studio in Alberta. Her poetry has appeared in The Collective Consciousness, Room of One’s Own, Contemporary Verse 2, Rhubarb and in the anthology A Cross Sections: New Manitoba Writing. Brenda was raised in rural Manitoba, and now lives in Winnipeg with her husband writer David Elias.
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 to the Live! Lounge (the bar will be open). Ruth Morton from Microsoft Canada will be in attendance (and she's bringing prizes).
Through the Window of a Train: A Railway Anthology
Tamara Lynn Robert is a writer-performer who once called Winnipeg her home. She appeared in U of W's V-day (2007), co-directing and performing in their production of The Vagina Monologues. Also in 2007, Tamara produced her critically acclaimed show Strange Bedfellows. Tamara has since moved to Toronto where she quickly became a favourite at the Porn Room Comedy Nights and has also appeared at the Mary Janes of Comedy and the Dragons of Comedy. She returned to Winnipeg in 2009 to perform her one-night only cabaret Love and Other Delusions. Tamara is thrilled to bring her newest solo show, Psycho Bitch to Aqua Books for the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival 2010.