City’s most famous intersection the subject of next Free Press Book Club gathering
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The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Winnipeg authors and podcasters Sabrina Janke and Alex Judge to the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, May 26 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss their book Portage & Main: How an Iconic Intersection Shaped Winnipeg’s History, Politics, and Urban Life.
Supplied photo Sabrina Janke
Supplied photo Alex Judge
Published in November 2025 by Great Plains Press, just months after Portage and Main re-opened to pedestrian crossing, the book chronicles the history of Winnipeg’s most famous intersection through the city’s history — from its humble beginnings that were home to a handful of hotels and stores to the wind-swept junction of two of the city’s biggest streets where locals come to protest, celebrate and mourn.
“(S)omething about Portage and Main pulls us to it. It’s where we go to shout: in joy, in anger, in despair,” they write.
In her review of Portage & Main for the Free Press, Mary Horodyski added “crowds assembled at times as though drawn to the city’s beating heart. Whether shoulder-to-shoulder in celebration of hockey, hand-in-hand for a round dance or gathered together in mourning for the loss of Indigenous women and girls.”
Horodyski called the book “a lively and entertaining narrative enhanced with intriguing illustrations and archival photos,” adding “Janke and Judge bring their podcasting and research skills to create succinct and entertaining stories that are sure to change how we view and remember Portage and Main.”
Janke and Judge, who also co-host the One Great History podcast, will join Free Press literary editor Ben Sigurdson, McNally Robinson Booksellers co-owner Chris Hall and Free Press audience engagement manager Erin Lebar to read from Portage & Main, discuss the book and field questions from viewers and readers.
Copies of Portage & Main are available to purchase at McNally Robinson Booksellers; there’s no cost to join the book club or virtual discussion. Video of the meeting will be available for replay on the Free Press YouTube channel following the event.