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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.