Duo launching uplifting pair of self-help books

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Winnipeg-born, North Carolina-based bestselling author Kate Bowler and Regina-born, Calgary-based Sarah Bessey are teaming up on Thursday at 7 p.m. for a double book launch at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2024 (947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg-born, North Carolina-based bestselling author Kate Bowler and Regina-born, Calgary-based Sarah Bessey are teaming up on Thursday at 7 p.m. for a double book launch at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location.

Bowler is an author, podcast host and professor at Duke University, best known for her memoirs Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved) and No Cure For Being Human (and Other Truths I Need to Hear). Her latest, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day, offers readers a chance to examine and embrace the bad in our lives rather than exist in a world of false positivity.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

Bessey’s book Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith, meanwhile, follows her breakouts Jesus Feminist and A Rhythm of Prayer, offering ways for progressive Christians to reconnect to their faith and build community through compassion, inclusion and truth.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

The launch is free, and will be streamed on McNally Robinson’s YouTube page.

● ● ●

Artspace and CV2 Magazine have come together once again for the second iteration of The Poet Box.

The project, located at 84 Albert St. and featuring an installation by Seema Goel, features a half-dozen readings throughout February and March that last about 10-15 minutes and are viewed from outdoors. The first reading took place on Feb. 2 by Hannah Green; the next reading is on Wednesday at 7 p.m. by Azka Ahmed, and the final reading in February will be held on Thursday the 29th at 7 p.m. and will feature Ella Taylor.

March’s installments of The Poet Box will feature Cale Plett (March 7, 7 p.m.), Green and Ahmed (March 10, 7 p.m.) and Taylor and Plett (March 19, 7 p.m.). There’s no charge to watch the performances.

● ● ●

New horror bookstore Raven’s End (1859 Portage Ave.) wants you to come by and read your book on the third Thursday of every month — so long as you do so quietly.

The St. James bookstore is holding a silent book club on the third Thursday of every month starting Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m. Readers can dress cosy and bring pillows, blankets and such (and the book you’re currently reading, obviously), show up for about 20 minutes of socializing at the outset (for those who are so inclined) and then settle in for a good hour’s worth of quiet reading.

Registration for Raven’s End’s silent book club is required, and February’s session is already full; if you want to get in on the next edition (taking place March 21), check back on their website (ravensendbooks.com) for registration details in the coming weeks.

● ● ●

Carol Dahlstrom launches her first novel, a mystery, on Friday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location.

Dahlstrom joined the Manitoba literary community in the 1970s at Turnstone Press before moving to University of Manitoba Press and then the journal Mosaic. Her debut novel The Three-Legged Fox: A Willow Island Mystery, published in November 2023 by At Bay Press, follows middle-aged Jane Barken; after some bad medical news and a dissolving marriage, she retreats to Willow Island, where on a canoe trip she makes a horrifying discovery on an undiscovered section of the island.

Joining Dahlstrom at the launch will be Winnipeg International Writers Festival director Charlene Diehl.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

● ● ●

Local speaker, activist and community organizer Michael Redhead Champagne launches a picture book for children at the Manitoba Museum on Feb. 17 at 11:30 a.m. at an event co-presented by McNally Robinson Booksellers.

Champagne’s book, We Need Everyone, was illustrated by Winnipeg artist Tiff Bartel and published by Highwater Press, a division of Portage & Main Press. It explores the variety of gifts, big or small, kids have that can help change the world, overcome challenges, become empowered, achieve goals and more.

The launch will be hosted by broadcaster Kim Wheeler and musician Don Amero. The event is free, but if you plan to attend, register in advance at wfp.to/jgZ.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

books@freepress.mb.ca

Ben Sigurdson

Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer

Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.

In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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