| If your taste in books doesn’t line up with Oprah’s, you may come away from a visit to Chapters/Indigo feeling a titch unfulfilled. But don’t despair, noble literary rebel! There’s a new bookstore in town that will sate your appetite for writing that strays from the beaten path.
The Haymarket Collective has been around town for about four years. "It started off as a few people who threw in a couple hundred dollars of capital start-up and built from there, without ever using debit or credit or anything," says Mark Leigh, a worker-owner of Haymarket Cafe and Books. "At first, they were just in a book mobile taking books to shows, lectures and events." The collective has since developed into a proper bookstore/cafe and just moved into its new location at 1101 MacLeod Trail S.E.
"There are currently eight worker-owners," Leigh explains. "We don’t have any other job titles, but we divide the work into groups. There’s a book-ordering committee, a food committee, etc. It’s completely non-hierarchical. We run our meetings on a consensus decision-making model." Working under this non-traditional organizational structure, the Haymarket Collective doesn’t shy away from the A-word. "Anarchism has a bad rap," Leigh admits, "but we’re trying to change the slanted view of anarchist theory that pervades society by exploring the positive aspects that we believe in. We run on the principles of cooperation, mutual aid and non-hierarchical organizing."
The bookstore’s stock is varied – some of its sections include environment, queer, feminist, indigenous, the Middle East and, of course, anarchism. "We try to have a lot of the cutting-edge, radical and political literature," says Leigh. Not to be outdone, the cafe serves food and drink that’s almost exclusively organic, vegan and fair trade.
Haymarket will celebrate its grand opening from October 13 to 15, starting with live music by Andrew Wedderburn and James and Laura Leif on Friday, live DJs on Saturday and a screening of Canadian filmmaker Jonathan Culp’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich on Sunday. The festivities start at about 7:00 p.m., and there will be 10 per cent off all new book stock during the three-day opening.
WordFest is now in full swing, but it’s not the only party in town. For example, Warren Roy will be in Calgary on October 12 with his book, A Life Story in 50 Christmas Cards 1945-2003, collecting a historical archive of the Christmas cards he’s created over the past 60 years and showcasing changes in art, technology and society. This unique experience takes place at McNally Robinson at 7:00 p.m.
October 12 is a good day to be at the University of Calgary. First, there’s a visit by Annabel Lyon, acclaimed author of Oxygen and The Best Thing for You. She’s in from Vancouver for a reading that should not be missed. It’s at 1:00 p.m. in the Professional Faculties Building, room 120. If that doesn’t turn your crank, there’s another simultaneous event on campus: Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes, the artistic director of Arizona State University’s Center for Creative Writing will chat about her program which facilitates creative writing in Phoenix, Arizona. Also at 1:00 p.m., she’ll be in Social Sciences room 1015. Then, if you sprint, you can catch Alan Roughley at 2:00 p.m. in Social Sciences room 147. He’s a critical theorist from Liverpool Hope University who has published books on James Joyce and Anthony Burgess.
Jennifer Hamblin and David Finch are on a whirlwind tour of Calgary libraries this week, presenting their new biography, The Diva and the Rancher: The Story of Norma Piper and George Pocaterra, based on correspondences between a Kananaskis Country explorer and a Calgary music teacher. They’ll be at Fish Creek Library on October 12 at 10:30 a.m.; Crowfoot Library on October 13 at 2:00 p.m.; and W.R. Castell Central Library on October 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Calgary’s favourite restaurant critic, John Gilchrist, will be signing the latest edition (number six, if you’re counting) of My Favourite Restaurants: Calgary and Banff. You can meet your guide to good eating at McNally Robinson on October 13 at noon.
Daniel Brooks is in town to perform in Theatre Junction’s production of Insomnia, the dark and disorienting theatrical examination of suburban life and monogamy that he co-wrote (with Guillermo Verdecchia) and first performed in 1998. He’s the artistic director of Toronto’s celebrated Necessary Angel Theatre Company and well-known for his collaborations with Daniel MacIvor. During his stint in Calgary, he’ll perform a staged reading from the play at McNally Robinson on October 14 at 2:00 p.m.
Danielle Schaub will be at McNally Robinson at 7:00 p.m. on October 16 to present Reading Writers Reading, a collection of the thoughts of more than 160 Canadian writers, in both English and French, on the experience of reading. The book is a large, gorgeous hardcover, with each author (including Yann Martel, Aritha Van Herk, Tomson Highway, Margaret Atwood) contributing individual essays and poetry on their love and approach to reading. There’s Lynn Coady on the joys of public readings, Catherine Bush on Proust and Wayson Choy on comic books. As Alison Gordon says, "I am a writer because I was a reader first."
Rosemary Sullivan will also be reading at McNally Robinson on October 16 at 7:00 p.m. The Governor General’s Award-winner will read from Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape and a House in Marseille, a suspenseful historical account of the artistic elite in the Second World War.
This month’s edition of filling Station Magazine’s flywheel reading series is packed to the brim as the Mittens writing group takes over. Hosted by your always-humble Bookends writer, the evening will feature readings by Andrea Campbell, Alan Cho, Kyle Francis, Peter Hemminger, Ben Hoffman, Fast Forward’s own Jeff Kubik and Garth Paulson. Join us at McNally Robinson on October 17 at 7:00 p.m.
It’s a jam-packed week for McNally Robinson. On the 18th, they present Hazel Magnussen at 2:00 p.m. with a reading from A Doctor’s Calling, the story of country doctor Douglas Snider who was brutally murdered and Lawrence Scanlan at 7:00 p.m. with The Horse God Built, the story of the man behind Secretariat, a chestnut racehorse that galloped its way to fame. |
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