Aqua Books was a Canadian

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...

opened in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Kelly Hughes Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

in 1999. It was acknowledged for helping revitalize downtown Winnipeg and creating an eclectic mix of programs and events for the

Winnipeg arts and culture Winnipeg is well known across the prairies for its arts and culture. Architecture After the railways came to Winnipeg, the Exchange District area was developed with many fine warehouses, offices and banks and became the original site of commer ...

community. Aqua Books closed in early 2012, and after a failed attempt to reopen in a new location, closed permanently later that year.

Overview

Aqua Books consisted of a bookstore, a restaurant called Eat Bistro, writers' studios and an events theatre. Aqua sponsored the

Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry Manitoba Books Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba is the premiere annual book awards for Manitoba, Canada. Originating in 1988, an award gala is usually held in April in Winnipeg, Manitoba, celebrating the best of Manitoba writing and publishing ...

and hosts numerous literary and cultural events. Writers who have launched books or read at Aqua Books include

Paul Quarrington Paul Lewis Quarrington (July 22, 1953 – January 21, 2010) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician and educator. Background Born in Toronto as the middle of three sons in the family of four of Bruce Quarrington,

Susie Moloney Susie Moloney (born February 27, 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian author of horror fiction. The film rights to her book, ''A Dry Spell'', were purchased by Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1997, for a reported seven figures. Moloney was the ...

Shane Koyczan Shane L. Koyczan , born 22 May 1976, is a Canadian spoken word poet, writer, and member of the group Tons of Fun University. He is known for writing about issues like bullying, cancer, death, and eating disorders. He is most famous for the an ...

Sarah Klassen Sarah Klassen (born 1932) is an award-winning Canadian writer living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Klassen's first volume of poetry, ''Journey to Yalta'', was awarded the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award in 1989. Klassen is the recipient of Canadian Author ...

, George Murray,

Miriam Toews Miriam Toews (; born 1964) is a Canadian writer and author of nine books, including ''A Complicated Kindness'' (2004), '' All My Puny Sorrows'' (2014), and '' Women Talking'' (2018). She has won a number of literary prizes including the Governor ...

David Bergen David Bergen (born January 14, 1957) is a Canadian novelist. He has published nine novels and two collections of short stories since 1993 and is currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His 2005 novel ''The Time in Between'' won the Scotiab ...

Joan Thomas Joan Thomas (born 1949) is a Canadian novelist and book reviewer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thomas grew up in Carberry, Manitoba and later worked as a freelance journalist and book reviewer for ''The Globe and Mail'', the ''Winnipeg Free Press' ...

, Andrew Davidson, Catherine Hunter, and

Margaret Christakos Margaret Christakos (born 1962 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Canadian poet who lives in Toronto. Life Christakos was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario. She is a Canadian poet, fiction author, literary essayist and creative writing instructor. Sinc ...

. Lecturers have included politician Tim Sale, musician Steve Bell and activist

David Northcott David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. Owner Kelly Hughes hosted a live in-store talk show called

Kelly Hughes Live! Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

, which has seen visits by writer

Margaret Sweatman Margaret Sweatman (born 1953) is a Canadian writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Sweatman was educated at the University of Winnipeg, Concordia University and Simon Fraser University. Her 2001 novel ''When Alice Lay Down With Peter'' was a winner of ...

, comedian

Kevin McDonald Kevin Hamilton McDonald (born May 16, 1961) is a Canadian actor, voice actor and comedian. He is a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of stage, television and film productions, most notably th ...

, children's entertainer

Fred Penner Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner (born November 6, 1946) is a Canadian children's entertainer and musician known for the song "The Cat Came Back" and his television series, '' Fred Penner's Place'', which aired on CBC in Canada from 1985 to 199 ...

and actor/politician

Tina Keeper Tina Keeper, OM (born March 20, 1962) is a Cree actress, film producer and former politician from Canada.

. The store was visited by journalist

Noah Richler Noah Richler is a Canadians, Canadian author, journalist, and broadcaster who was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and London, England. He is the son of Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler. Richler worked for many years as a radio documentary p ...

in 2009, who called it "one of the craziest, most amusing and well-ordered second-hand bookstores I have ever frequented".

Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry

Aqua Books sponsors the

, which is awarded annually to the best full length adult book of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

in either French or English by a resident of

, Canada. The Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry Reading Series, hosted in conjunction with

The Writers' Collective ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, is based around this award.

Winners

*2007 —

Laurie Block Laurie Block (1949–2018) was a Canadian poet and educator. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he studied at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. Bibliography *''Governing Bodies'' - poetry, 1988 *''Foreign Graces/Bendiciones Aj ...

, ''Time out of Mind'' *2008 —

Alison Calder Alison Calder (born 21 December 1969 in London) is a Canadian poet, literary critic and educator. Biography Calder was born in London, England on 21 December 1969 and grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She studied at the University of S ...

, ''Wolf Tree'' *2009 —

Rosanna Deerchild Rosanna Deerchild is a Canadian Cree writer, poet and radio host. She is best known as host of the radio program ''Unreserved'' on CBC Radio One, a show that shares the music, cultures, and stories from indigenous people across Canada, from 2014 ...

, ''this is a small northern town''

Writer-in-residence Program

Aqua Books was one of only two bookstores in Canada to feature a writer-in-residence program, the other being the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

bookstore. This program includes workshops, readings and manuscript evaluation. Writers-in-residence have included young adult writer Anita Daher, the late crime writer Michael Van Rooy, playwright

Carolyn Gray Carolyn Gray is a Canadian playwright. Biography Her full-length play ''The Elmwood Visitation'' (Scirocco Drama) was produced by Theatre Projects Manitoba in 2007 and won the Manitoba Day Award for excellence in archival research. ''The Confess ...

and arts writer Amy Karlinsky. The first film writer-in-residence was former

Alamo Drafthouse The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...

programmer

Kier-La Janisse Kier-La Janisse (born October 3, 1972) is a Canadian film writer, programmer, producer, and founder of The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies. Her best-known work as a writer is ''House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Fe ...

References

External links

Manitoba Writers' Guild Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize
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Aqua Books official website
Independent bookstores of Canada Defunct companies based in Winnipeg