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Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Book club to survey Sinclair's essays
The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Winnipeg author (and Free Press columnist) Niigaan Sinclair for the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, June 24 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss his award-winning essay collection Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre. Published in May 2024 by McClelland & Stewart, Wînipêk compiles a year's worth of Sinclair's Free Press columns as well as other writing about how our perception of Winnipeg, and the ways in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous citizens co-exist and survive, is a window into larger questions about colonialism and reconciliation nationwide. Wînipêk was a national bestseller, landing on a number of year-end lists of best books. Sinclair's debut collection also netted him the Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction, news he was able to share with his father, Murray Sinclair, before he passed in November 2024. Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files Niigaan Sinclair In his review of Wînipêk for the Free Press, Matt Henderson says Sinclair 'takes the reader on a journey through the land, water and seasons, the underbelly and magnificence that is Winnipeg,' adding 'Sinclair identifies the overt racism as well as the legislative, calculated mindsets that have intentionally set out to destroy Indigenous Peoples and culture.' Yet Sinclair retains hope for the future of the city; 'Wînipêk is a portal into our violent past, our precarious present and the promise of tomorrow. It should be mandatory reading for all Canadians,' Henderson writes. Sinclair will join fellow Free Press columnist Jen Zoratti, McNally Robinson Booksellers co-owner Chris Hall and Free Press audience engagement manager Erin Lebar to read from Wînipêk, discuss the book and field questions from viewers and readers. Copies of Wînipêk 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. For more information and to register, visit Wînipêk
Winnipeg Free Press
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spore to love at Free Press book club with virtual meeting, forest walk
The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome back Winnipeg author (and Free Press copy editor) Ariel Gordon for the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, May 27 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss her essay collection Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest. Gordon is a poet and author whose latest collection of essays, published in 2024 by Wolsak and Wynn, follows 2019's Treed: Walking in Canada's Urban Forests. Her most recent poetry collection is 2023's Siteseeing, a collaborative work with Saskatchewan's Brenda Schmidt. For those with a curiosity about which mushrooms can be found in Manitoba and where, Fungal will lead you down the right path, as it were. But Gordon also explores broader, more complex ideas of ecosystems in nature and life, and how mushrooms can act as metaphors for — and be catalysts to — building community and testing boundaries, among other things. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Ariel Gordon MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Ariel Gordon Gordon also offers readers a personal glimpse into her life as a woman and mom of one teen (now adult) daughter; in Fungal mushrooms act as a through line, seamlessly tying the stories together like clusters of fungi that pop up on boulevards and trees throughout the city (mushrooms are an omnipresent being tying all the stories together seamlessly). From the sloppy back roads of a rain-slogged rural Manitoba and the familiar territory of Assiniboine Forest, to working at a mushroom farm and 'mudlarking' along the banks of the Red River, Fungal is an example of what treasures can be found if you just take the time to look for them. In his review of Fungal for the Free Press, Jarett Myskiw called the book 'a satisfying, invigorating read,' adding 'This is a work thoroughly located in both time and place… Gordon's enthusiasm is infectious.' Gordon will join Free Press Arts & Life editor Jill Wilson, McNally Robinson Booksellers event coordinator John Toews and Free Press audience engagement manager Erin Lebar to read from Fungal, discuss the book and field questions from viewers and readers. Fungal Fungal Copies of Fungal 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. In addition to the virtual meeting, this month the Free Press Book Club is offering a free in-person event for members on Thursday, May 29. Gordon will lead an urban forest walk with some forest bathing components, talk about foraging for mushrooms and provide information on best practices. The event is currently full; those interested in joining a waiting list or receiving more information can sign up for free at bookclub.
