november is literary month in waterloo (part 1)

november 3: come out to uptown 21 for a "schmecks inspired" tapas dinner to fete ann walmsley, winner of this year's edna staebler award for creative non-fiction. $100 gets you a ticket that includes dinner and a cocktail with the author (and many past recipients of the award) and a ticket to a discussion with past winners at the princess cinema afterward. 

ann's book, "the prison book club", recounts ann's 18 months participating in a book club for prisoners of collins bay and the stories of 6 of the inmates in the book club. she writes that "the books changed the men and the men changed [her]". read more about the book here.  and buy tickets to the celebration on november 3 here. 

holy smokes!

both events sold out in less than twenty four hours. that's almost 100 book sales for two deserving authors and for our wonderful indie book store, wordsworth. not to mention a few cocktails and dinners for two of our favourite restaurants in the city: public kitchen and uptown 21. 

well done everybody! and thanks so much for your continuing support of the book club. as always, if you didn't get a ticket this time, let us know. we keep a wait list. and watch for news about more fun and interesting literary events in the region in november. 

 

and another date in november

Wonder.jpg

on wednesday november 9 emma donoghue, acclaimed author of "room" and giller prize nominee will be joining us for an evening of cocktails, tapas dinner and conversation about her new book, "the wonder". in a bit of a change from usual, we will gather at nick and nat's in uptown waterloo. 

An Irish village is mystified by what appears to be a miracle but may actually be murder in the next masterpiece from New York Times—bestselling author Emma Donoghue.

A village in 1850s Ireland is baffled by Anna O’Donnell’s fast. A little girl appears to be thriving after months without food, and the story of this 'wonder' has reached fever pitch.

Tourists flock in droves to the O'Donnell family's modest cabin, and an international journalist is sent to cover the sensational story. Enter Lib, an English nurse trained by Florence Nightingale, who is hired to keep watch for two weeks and determine whether or not Anna is a fraud.

As Anna deteriorates, Lib finds herself responsible not just for the care of a child, but for getting to the root of why the child may actually be the victim of murder in slow motion.

A magnetic novel written with all the spare and propulsive tension that made ROOM a huge bestseller, THE WONDER works beautifully on many levels—as a simple tale of two strangers who will transform each other’s lives, a powerful psychological thriller, and a story of love pitted against evil in its many masks.

an answer to the demand

demand for tickets to appetite events has been, quite simply, overwhelming. past years we have hosted two evenings back to back with the same author but this has proven to be awfully demanding on our authors. so we have returned to a "one night; one author" model for book club. 

that has lead to other challenges: there simply aren't enough spots to satisfy all the demand for tickets. but we love the small intimate venue that public kitchen offers. and, of course, we love the food and cocktails there. so we don't want to move to a bigger venue.

then along came a solution: nick and nat's uptown 21 is re-imagining itself as an event space and they are digging our concept of cocktails, tapas dinner and conversation. at the same time, there seem to be lots of authors who are interested in coming to chat with us over dinner. so we are in the happy position of being able to run two events close together with two different authors at two different venues. 

november is the first month to try this new model. check it out and prepare yourself for a difficult choice!

and for november option 1

“Like a song of mourning, the work is not only sorrowful and commemorative – it attempts to reconcile us to his loss, to all loss, as part of the “sway of things beyond fighting.””
— The Globe and Mail
“Seductive, supple and haunting . . . Sweetland is a wistful eulogy for a dying way of life.”
— The Toronto Star

On November 7th we welcome Michael Crummey, acclaimed Newfoundland poet and author of "Sweetland".

Michael's depiction of harsh lives in Newfoundland has been described as "illumined by compassion and rich language". his poetry described as "generous, genuine, rich and warm with some form of grace always present to receive whatever hardships his characters endure. 

For twelve generations, when the fish were plentiful and when they all-but disappeared, the inhabitants of this remote island in Newfoundland have lived and died together. Now, in the second decade of the 21st century, they are facing resettlement, and each has been offered a generous compensation package to leave. But the money is offered with a proviso: everyone has to go; the government won't be responsible for one crazy coot who chooses to stay alone on an island.

That coot is Moses Sweetland. Motivated in part by a sense of history and belonging, haunted by memories of the short and lonely time he spent away from his home as a younger man, and concerned that his somewhat eccentric great-nephew will wilt on the mainland, Moses refuses to leave. But in the face of determined, sometimes violent, opposition from his family and his friends, Sweetland is eventually swayed to sign on to the government's plan. Then a tragic accident prompts him to fake his own death and stay on the deserted island. As he manages a desperately diminishing food supply, and battles against the ravages of weather, Sweetland finds himself in the company of the vibrant ghosts of the former islanders, whose porch lights still seem to turn on at night.

Wow. that was quick

tickets for the event with zoe whittall sold out quickly. maybe it was that excerpt in the globe and mail last saturday.

we wont be running a second night but be sure to let us know if you want to be added to the wait list. we are happy to keep that list and reach out when tickets unexpectedly become available. 

in the meantime, keep watching the site for news of upcoming events. spoiler alert: we have a busy and super exciting november planned!

our september guest

“The cockiest, brashest, funniest, toughest, most life-affirming, elegant, scruffy, no-holds-barred writer to emerge from Montreal since Mordecai Richler.”

”
— The Globe and Mail
““Heartbreaking and complex, The Best Kind of People offers no easy answers. This is a masterly exploration of the damage an entire community incurs when the secret at the heart of its most perfect family detonates.””
— Lynn Coady author of The Antagonist

Zoe Whittal will join us on Monday September 26 to talk about her upcoming (to be published august 27) book, "The Best Kind of People". 

Zoe is a poet with three books of poetry and two novels already published to great acclaim. Whittall has received numerous literary awards and her first novel, "bottle rocket hearts", was named one of the top ten essential Canadian novels of the decade by CBC's Canada Reads.

What if someone you trusted was accused of the unthinkable?

George Woodbury, an affable teacher and beloved husband and father, is arrested for sexual impropriety at a prestigious prep school. His wife, Joan, vaults between denial and rage as the community she loved turns on her. Their daughter, Sadie, a popular over-achieving high school senior, becomes a social pariah. Their son, Andrew, assists in his father’s defense, while wrestling with his own unhappy memories of his teen years. A local author tries to exploit their story, while an unlikely men’s rights activist attempts to get Sadie onside their cause. With George locked up, how do the members of his family pick up the pieces and keep living their lives? How do they defend someone they love while wrestling with the possibility of his guilt?

With exquisite emotional precision, award-winning author Zoe Whittall explores issues of loyalty, truth, and the meaning of happiness through the lens of an all-American family on the brink of collapse.

summer isn't over yet

even though summer is just at the halfway mark and even though tickets won't be on sale until the end of august, we thought you might like to hear a little about what we have cooked up for fall. so far, there are two dates to choose from.

the deal is the same as it always has been: buy your ticket online, pick up your book at wordsworth, read the book and join us at public kitchen for tapas, drinks and great conversation with an author and other book lovers.

we will send out more information about each event in coming weeks and tickets will be on sale in late august. we'll let you know by email if you have joined our mailing list. see you in september; in the meantime, enjoy the rest of this hot glorious summer!

on monday september 26 zoe whittal will join us to talk about her soon to be published book, "the best kind of people". 

 

 

on monday november 7, michael crummy will join us to talk about his book, "sweetland". 

 

 

 

and a second night in the spring

Edward Riche
Edward Riche, an award-winning writer for page, stage, and screen, was born in Botwood on the Bay of Exploits on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. His first novel, Rare Birds, was adapted into a major motion picture starring William Hurt and Molly Parker, and his second novel,The Nine Planets, was a Globe and Mail Best Book and won the Thomas Raddall Head Award. Edward Riche lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

“hilarious, hugely satisfying reading. Riche possesses a wonderful affection for his characters and casts a fresh eye on Newfoundlanders and their foibles. You’re in his fabulous, crazy world from page one. ”
— Noah Richler, author of 'This is my country, what's yours?: a literary atlas of canada'

another night. another author. another book. 

pencil in may 16th for dinner with ed riche talking about his new book, "today i learned it was you". tickets will go on sale very soon. join our email list to be sure you are among the first to find out about tickets. 

and read on for a bit about ed's latest book. 

“When a retired actor who frequents a city park is purported to be transitioning from man to deer, municipal authorities in St. John’s, Newfoundland, find themselves confronted by an exasperatingly difficult problem.

Complications mount as advocates, bureaucrats, police, and local politicians try to corral the situation, which escalates into an even bigger problem after the story blows up on Facebook. Leading the charge is the mayor himself. A former professional hockey player and local hero, Mayor Matt Olford is juggling a number of personal challenges on top of his city’s man-deer problem: his wife has become a born-again Christian and he’s found himself attracted to one of his colleagues at City Hall. When the Prime Minister’s office calls to ask if he’ll run as a Conservative in the next federal election, Mayor Olford finds himself at a crossroads: Surrender his political values or remain as the sole voice of reason on the increasingly ineffective city council?

Hilariously sending up the drama and dysfunction of local politics, overzealous rights activists, and perils of contemporary social media, Today I Learned It Was You is another bitingly brilliant comic novel from one of Canada’s funniest and most astute literary talents.”