Free Press
Book Club

Welcome to the Free Press Book Club!

This monthly book club runs completely online and is open to everyone.

Each month, we choose a novel and share it on this page, as well as in an email to those who have registered to participate. We send a couple of follow-up notes to check in on your progress and suggest a few discussion topics and questions to think about as you go.

At the end of the month, we gather to participate in a livestream book club meeting, hosted by our books editor, Ben Sigurdson, or one of our pals from McNally Robinson Booksellers, as well as the author of the book.

You can submit questions ahead of time, or drop them into one of the live chat boxes during the meeting. (And don’t worry, we provide an easy-to-access link to the stream, so all you have to do is click.)

Our focus is on local authors of varying genres and backgrounds, and we hope you’re excited to dive in.

The Book

Portage and Main: How an iconic intersection shaped Winnipeg’s history, politics, and urban life
By: Sabrina Janke and Alex Judge

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Portage and Main: How an iconic intersection shaped Winnipeg’s history, politics, and urban life explores stories of Portage and Main throughout Winnipeg’s history and the complicated relationship between the city’s oldest intersection and culture of the urban environment that grew around it.

Fifty years ago, Portage and Main was closed to pedestrians as part of a downtown renewal project. This left an intersection void of pedestrians, and the promised vision of a revitalized city never came to fruition.

In 2025, Portage and Main opened to pedestrians once again. With a city struggling to balance the demands of its sprawling suburbs with its need to invest in downtown, the future of this iconic crossroad is in flux once again.

Winnipeg historians Alex Judge and Sabrina Janke, hosts of the One Great History podcast, describe how open, closed, or somewhere strange and in-between, the intersection’s history reflects the ideas of what Winnipeg is, could be, and has been.

Whatever the case, one thing is clear: Portage and Main is far more than just an intersection.

Schedule

Wed
Apr 29

April book club pick reminder

Portage and Main: How an iconic intersection shaped Winnipeg’s history, politics, and urban life, by Sabrina Janke and Alex Judge

Mon
May 11

Check-in

Expect an email from us to check in on your progress. We offer up some discussion questions and other things to think about as you continue reading.

Mon
May 18

Livestream information email

This email provides all the information you need for our livestream book club event, including the access link, some information about your viewing options and how you can submit your questions for the author ahead of time.

Tue
May 26

Free Press Book Club meeting

Join our live chat starting at 7PM CT with special guest, authors Sabrina Janke and Alex Judge.

If you have any questions, please email us at bookclub@winnipegfreepress.com