Winnipeg International Writers Festival

July is almost here, and Speaking Crow is kicking off online on the first Tuesday of the month!

Hosted by Angeline Schellenberg, this month’s event is all open mic. Polish up your new poems for your 3 minutes of fame at the open mic! We can’t wait to see you there.

Join us in-person online on July 2 at 7pm CT. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/speaking-crow-july-2024-virtual-edition-all-open-mic-tickets-916654938597

National Indigenous People's Day, Indigenous History Month & Pride Month! - https://mailchi.mp/thinairwinnipeg/national-indigenous-peoples-day-ihm-pride

WIWF NEWSLETTER: Speaking Crow, Mayor's Luncheon, & WPL Writer-in-Residence notice! - https://mailchi.mp/thinairwinnipeg/speaking-crow-mayors-luncheon-wpl-w-i-r

June is just around the corner, and Speaking Crow is kicking off in-person on the first Saturday of the month!

Hosted by Angeline Schellenberg, this month’s event features Jane Munro. Then, polish up your new poems for your 3 minutes of fame at the open mic! We can’t wait to see you there.

Join us in-person in the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Millennium Library on Saturday, June 1 at 1pm CT. Learn more here: https://thinairwinnipeg.ca/events/2024/06/01/speaking-crow-ft-jane-munro-in-person/

On Thursday, May 23, we spent the night at McNally Robinson Booksellers for An Evening with Billy-Ray Belcourt!

Thank you Billy-Ray for sharing your new collection COEXISTENCE with us, katherena vermette for hosting an extraordinary conversation, McNally’s for co-presenting these incredible events with us, Penguin Canada for publishing this beautiful book, and to the community, both in person and at home, for joining us!

Watch the replay of An Evening with Billy-Ray Belcourt here: https://m.youtube.com/live/ALCkjgOj328

On Thursday May 23 at 7pm, Billy-Ray Belcourt returns to Winnipeg to launch his new book, Coexistence: Stories, with host katherena vermette. Co-presented by the Winnipeg International Writers Festival - https://mailchi.mp/grant/billy-ray-belcourt-2024

Join us for An Evening with Billy-Ray Belcourt discussing his new collection, Coexistence: Stories (Penguin Canada). Hosted by katherena vermette and co-presented by the McNally Robinson Booksellers.

Across the prairies and Canada’s west coast, on reserves and university campuses, at literary festivals and existential crossroads, the characters in Coexistence are searching for connection. They’re learning to live with and understand one another, to see beauty and terror side by side, and to accept that the past, present, and future can inhabit a single moment.

Join us in-person at McNally’s or online via YouTube stream for An Evening with Billy-Ray Belcourt on Thursday, May 23, at 7pm CT.

More information: https://thinairwinnipeg.ca/events/2024/05/23/an-evening-with-billy-ray-belcourt/

May is here, and Speaking Crow is kicking off in person at Whodunit? Bookstore on the first Tuesday of the month!

Hosted by Angeline Schellenberg, this month’s event features Sue Sorensen. Then, polish up your new poems for your 3 minutes of fame at the open mic! We can’t wait to see you there.

Join us on May 7 at 7pm CT at Whodunit? Bookstore, 163 Lilac St. Winnipeg.

More info: https://thinairwinnipeg.ca/events/2024/05/07/speaking-crow-ft-sue-sorensen-in-person/

On April 27, Writes of Spring appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, and on Sunday, April 28, we celebrated the launch at McNally Robinson Booksellers!

Thank you to the Free Press for being one of the few papers to continue to publish poetry, editors and hosts Ariel Gordon and Julian Day for organizing the spread and event, McNally's for welcoming us into your wonderful space, Assiniboine Credit Union for sponsoring this event, and to the audience both in-person and at home for joining us!

and of course a HUGE thanks to all of the 2024 Writes of Spring poets for sharing your poems with us on the City of Winnipeg’s Winnipeg 150 theme, “Our shared stories. Our shared future”: Jody Baltessen, Joel Caples, Conni Cartlidge, Kristian Enright, Mary Horodyski, Louella Lester, K. Marie Neufeld, Laurent Poliquin, Kerry Ryan, Tamar Rubin, Kate Sjoberg, Hanako Teranishi.

Watch the Writes of Spring Poetry Reading here: https://www.youtube.com/live/pkHALpZnQcw?si=GbNsPLXS06tYg9dh

Photo credit: Mike Deal

On Friday, April 26, we spent the night at McNally Robinson Booksellers for An Evening with Katlià!

Thank you Katlià for sharing your new book FIREKEEPERS with us, Mylène Yannick Gamache for hosting an insightful conversation, McNally’s for co-presenting these wonderful events with us, Roseway Publishing for publishing this enthralling book, and to the community, both in person and at home, for joining us!

Watch the replay of An Evening with Katlià here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Dbds4h0bGRA

This Saturday, April 27, is Canadian Independent Bookstore Day!

Readers everywhere know that a great city is defined by its independent bookstores, and we're happy to give a shout-out to some of our favourites here in Winnipeg: McNally Robinson Booksellers, Whodunit? Bookstore (mysteries), Raven's End Books (horror), and À la page (français).

Many local indie bookstores are hosting their own contests, so buy a book from an independent bookstore this Saturday and enter for a chance to win prizes! You can also enter the CIBD contest, visit indiebookstores.ca/CIBD for more info!

For the ninth year in a row, Writes of Spring—a National Poetry Month project of the Winnipeg International Writers Festival and the Winnipeg Free Press—will appear in the print and online editions of the newspaper. Poems by Manitoba writers will appear in the Winnipeg Free Press on April 27 and will be launched at McNally Robinson Booksellers the next day!

With the support of the Assiniboine Credit Union, this year Writes of Spring is working with the City of Winnipeg’s Winnipeg 150 theme, “Our shared stories. Our shared future.” Winnipeg 150 marks the anniversary of the first meeting of city council in January 1874.

Hosted by editors Ariel Gordon and Julian Day, this event will feature readings by the 2024 Writes of Spring poets, including Jody Baltessen, Joel Caples, Conni Cartlidge, Kristian Enright, Mary Horodyski, Louella Lester, K. Marie Neufeld, Laurent Poliquin, Kerry Ryan, Tamar Rubin, Kate Sjoberg, Hanako Teranishi.

Join us in-person at McNally's or online via YouTube stream for the Writes of Spring Poetry Reading on Sunday, April 28, at 2PM CT.

More information here: https://thinairwinnipeg.ca/events/2024/04/28/writes-of-spring-2024-launch/

Join us for An Evening with Katlià discussing her new novel, Firekeeper (Roseway Publishing). Hosted by Mylène Yannick Gamache and co-presented by the McNally Robinson Booksellers.

Nyla has an affinity to fire. A neglected teen in a small northern town—trying to escape a mother battling her own terrors—she is kicked out and struggles through life on the streets. Desperate for love, Nyla accidentally sets fire to her ex’s building and is then incarcerated for arson. Through community-led diversion, Nyla finds herself on a reserve as their firekeeper. But when climate change–induced wildfires threaten her new home, she knows intimately how to fight back.

Join us in-person at McNally's or online via YouTube stream for An Evening with Katlià on Friday, April 26, at 7pm CT.

More information: https://thinairwinnipeg.ca/events/2024/04/26/an-evening-with-katlia/

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