Comments (0) Another sale coming up on the 10th of April. 7,000 books and not a single one priced over $1.00!
Hawthorne United Church Book Bonanza
Saturday April 10th, 9am-2pm
2244 Russell Rd (between Walkley and St. Laurent)
The 1970 Booker was never awarded due to a change in criteria that would see books published in the current year receive nomination rather than the books from the previous years, thus leaving a gap in the timeline (1970). The award is being put to a vote, with six novels in the running, and the results announced May 19th. You can cast your vote for your favourite on the Man Booker website here. It will be interesting to see how the results turn out with 40 years behind each books rather than the few short months of life in the public’s hands most books are judged upon for awards.
The spring edition of the Ottawa Writers Festival is just a few weeks away (April 22-27th) and looks to have a host of great speakers such as Jane Goodall, Jeff Rubin, Adrienne Clarkson, Douglas Coupland, just to name a few, as well as a slew of excellent Canadian poets and writers from across the country to create a very full event schedule. With the main venue for the talks now at the Mayfair Theatre (which also means a number of great film viewings will be worked into the festival), I’m greatly looking forward to taking in as much of the festival as possible.
Tis’ the season when the sun peeks from behind the clouds, the snow finally recedes from view and boxes of long forgotten books wind their way to your local school, library or church to once again see the light of day and find a new homes. Here is the first batch of sales coming up this spring:
Rockcliffe Annual Public Library Book Sale
380 Springfield Road, Ottawa
Saturday April 10th, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday April 11th, 12:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Bayview Public School Garage and Book Sale
Bayview School, 185 Owl Drive, South Ottawa
Saturday April 17, 9 am-12 pm
Deep River Public Library Book Sale
55 Ridge Road, Deep River, ON
Friday April 23, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday April 24, 10:00 a.m. to noon
First Avenue School 27th Annual Book Sale
73 First Ave, Ottawa (@ O’Connor)
April 22-25th:
4:00 PM – 9:00 PM Thursday
10:00 AM – 9:00 PM Friday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM Sunday
Another great resource to find what Ottawa Valley book sales may be on the horizon is the Biblio-Events page of the Ottawa Book Collectors website. Also, if you know of an upcoming book sale in the area be sure to send us an e-mail so we can highlight in on our site.
France and I popped in on Von Allan’s book launch for The road to god knows… last Sunday to grab a few copies for the store and to get one for ourselves. We ended up staying longer than anticipated and had a wonderful chat with the author himself on a number of subjects including, one of my perennial favourites, the publishing and distribution side of his book. Having self published the book, Von Allan has done a great job of tapping into the right channels for its distribution and has masterfully supported it all through self promotion via tools such as a dedicated website, online social networking and a number of TV & radio interviews. Very much the model that we are seeing more and more from new writers and a topic of heavy discussion among the panels I attended at WorldCon last summer.
On to the book itself. Last night I finally had some time to sit and relax with a good book. I picked up The road to god knows… and was drawn in immediately to the story of a wrestling addicted teenager Marie as she tries to cope with her mother’s mental illness and its cascading effect on the various aspects of her life. The story is well crafted and makes excellent use of the graphic novel medium to draw the reader into Marie’s life as she experiences the frustrating mercurial nature of living with a mentally ill loved one. I also enjoyed very much the way in which Von Allan deals with such a serious issue with a mixture of brutal honesty and compassion. At times as the reader you want to jump in and help this poor girl in any way possible then with the turn of the page feel warmed by the small, yet so significantly touching gestures, by her friend to help her weather the storm. For me at least, The road to god knows… is another shining example of how the graphic novel can be used to tell a very human story with care and precision.
As noted above, we have picked up a few copies for our booth at the Antique Market and are very much looking forward to Von Allan’s next project Stargazer.
A very creative video that Penguin put together as part of an internal presentation.
Called Double Falsehood or the Distressed Lovers, the play has been known for over 300yrs as a work Shakespeare had collaborated on with John Fletcher, but recent efforts by scholar Brean Hammond have determined that the majority of the play was penned by the Bard and will therefore be (tentatively) added to his canon of work. A full article by the CBC can be found here.
Our friends at the Frog Hollow Press in Victoria, BC have just released their latest title in the Contemporary Canadian Poets series, The Book of Widows. This collection of poems by M. Travis Lane also contains some wonderful wood engravings by George Walker. Details on the book below:
The Book of Widows
by M.Travis Lane
Wood engravings by George A.Walker
“Travis Lane has crafted a book comprised of grief: the first half is devoted to grieving myths, taking famous widows and their kicking sorrows; the second half is visceral grief, the poet’s own, focusing on the death of her husband and its aftermath. This is a morbid collection in the best sense: funereal and felt, a resigned protest against what can’t be fought, the inevitability of all things returning to poetry.” – Shane Neilson
Offered in two bindings, both of which are printed on acid-free, archival 80 lb. Mohawk Eggshell paper. Covers are printed on bookcloth and mould-made papers using an Epson printer with K3 pigment inks.
Deluxe Edition: An edition of 30 case-bound books, unbleached cotton Japanese bookcloth-over-board with batik endpapers, flyleafs, headbands. $60.00
Regular Edition: An edition of 70 Smyth-sewn books with covers of mould-made Saint-Armand ‘white cotton’ Paper; batik flyleaf. $35.00
Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner!
The dark horse book championed by Michel Vezina weathered the final vote yesterday to become the Canada Reads book of choice for 2010. I’ve been listening to the podcasts of the program all week and the debates each day were well structured and delivered. I have to admit, I have not yet read Nikolski but am now immensely intrigued and will be off to find a copy this weekend. Already looking forward to Canada Reads 2011!
The Ottawa Chapter of the CBBAG has a great line-up of three new workshops this coming April for both members and general public. If any of the workshops catch your fancy, I would highly recommend attending as these are an excellent hands-on way of learning various facets of the book binding and books arts trade.
The Nag Hammadi Codex
Instructor: Christine McNair
Saturday, April 3, 2010
9:00 AM – 4 PM
The Nag Hammadi codices take their name from the Egyptian village where in 1945 a clay pot containing thirteen ancient books was discovered. These books are the earliest extant codex bindings ever found – 1800 years old – and were uncovered in remarkably good condition. Students will construct a sympathetic facsimile of the Nag Hammadi codex, and experience the structure and form of ancient bookbinding. The textblock will be bound together with knotted leather tackets on a leather spine piece and covered in boards stiffened by laminates. The book is held closed with leather ties and wrapping bands which are integrated to the cover using a delicate slotting and lacing technique.
Workshop fee: CBBAG members $85, non-members $100 Materials fee: $30
An introduction to inlay/onlay work
Instructor: Christine McNair
Sunday, April 4, 2010
12:00pm – 4:30pm
An introduction to techniques in onlay/inlay work for binding. Students will create sample boards using a variety of different techniques from traditional and design binding. The discussion for the day will include the importance of good technique and sharp tools.
Pre-req: preferably some experience with leather paring, please indicate.
Workshop fee: CBBAG members $40; non-members $50 Materials fee: $5
A Storybook in Mixed Media
Instructor: Holly Dean
April 30, May 1 & 2, 2010
Friday: 6:30 – 10 pm, Saturday: 9 am to 4 pm, Sunday: 12 pm to 4 pm
Mixed media artist Holly Dean will lead you on a journey to the land of “Once Upon a Time” where you will explore the enjoyable process of layering paint, imagery and text to create an enchanting, if short, storybook.
Friday evening we will play with words and images to come up with our story theme. There will be ideas and images on hand, although participants are encouraged to come up with their own.
Saturday we will learn how, when and why to use particular acrylic paints and mediums. The magic of collage, how to put text on the page and how to put it all together will be revealed with lots of demonstrations! We will prepare our book structures and decorate each page, artfully and imaginatively telling our stories.
Sunday afternoon we will make final embellishments to our storybooks and take time to see what each of us has created.
Materials to bring include images from magazines, laser or inkjet prints of photos, story ideas and scissors. Book structures will be available or you can bring your own – no more than 8 pages plus cover is about right and heavy paper or board is best for the page weight. If you have any art supplies or tools that you would like to use, feel free to bring them along, but it is not a requirement. The materials fee will cover other essentials.
Workshop Fee: CBBAG members $160; non-members $200 Materials Fee: $35 ($25 if participant provides own book structure)
Registrations for these courses can be mailed to:
Larry Thompson
Box 574, Merrickville, Ontario
K0G 1N0
Email: studio@greyweathers.com
Phone: (613) 269-3714
Please make cheques payable to “CBBAG-Ottawa Valley”
Materials fees to be paid to workshop instructor on day of workshop
Panorama theme by Themocracy
