Spotted at 274 Garry Street (Sept. 29-Oct. 3/09)

Spotted this past week at 274 Garry Street: The Venerable Lama Losang Samten, taking a break from making his sacred sand mandala at the Millennium Library, and EAT!ing with visual artist Dennis Evans. Pre-teen icon Fred Penner (plus 94 of his closest friends, including big U of W cheese Neil Besner), checking out Turnstone’s Comedy MennoNight, featuring Rollin Penner, Bush Wiebe, Douglas Reimer, John Weier and Maurice Mierau (Armin Wiebe was unable to attend at the last minute). Bloggers Brother Maynard and Dan Kern, brainstorming at EAT!. Poets Méira Cook, Colin Smith, Lori Cayer and Clarise Foster at Montreal poet Brian Campbell’s launch. U of W profs Chris Adams and Shannon Sampert, EAT!ing, and booking a launch for Mediating Canadian Politics. Jan Andrews, telling stories to kids (and everyone else in the small room), while the Manitoba Editors’ Association AGM and Editors’ Association of Canada 30th Anniversary were going on (in the big room).

Spotted at 274 Garry Street (September 1-5/09)

Spotted this past week at 274 Garry Street: Writers Neil Besner, Barb Schott, Marj Poor and Colin Smith at Dennis Cooley’s Speaking Crow. THIN AIR GM Perry Grosshans, dropping off the new programs (available right here for $0). Writer Brenda Hasiuk, lunching with work pals. Newly-minted W-i-R Carolyn Gray, moving into Studio 3. The roadie for Franz Ferdinand, buying the band take-out before their show at the Burt. Weakerthan John K. Samson, EAT!ing. CMU prof Sue Sorensen, THIN AIR chief Charlene Diehl, actor Melanie Wight, and Costume Museum of Canada director Laura Neufeld, watching me spar with Catherine Hunter, Michael Van Rooy and Bush Wiebe.

Spotted at 274 Garry Street (July 7-11/09)

Spotted this past week at 274 Garry Street: A-list writer Susie Moloney with B-list actor Rob Slade, EAT!ing. (Just kidding Rob. Just kidding. Put the prop sword down, my friend.) Artist Lorri Millan, buying books for summer vacation. The ideaExchange planning committee, planning the 2009/10 season at Aqua. (We’re working on a sequel of sorts to January’s Bonhoeffer thing with Chris Holmes that was the best-attended iE in its nearly five-year history.) And….well there were way more people in, but I was busy getting ready for our Fringe Festival shows, so that’s all you get this week.

Spotted at 274 Garry Street (July 1-4/09)

Spotted this past week at 274 Garry Street: All sorts of people at the Canada Day BBQ/Garage Sale, including Nanabosho writer Joe McLellan, former Aqua W-i-R Amy Karlinsky with photographer Faye Vickar-Lazer, writers (and spouses) Lori Cayer and Todd Besant, playwright Carolyn Gray and actor Graham Ashmore (no longer spouses), and yet another actor, Gord Tanner. A cabal of librarians from the Millennium Library, EAT!ing (is cabal the collective noun, or is it a shush of librarians?). Girl-drummer Kori Heppner of the Fred Eaglesmith band, buying a book for the busride to Dauphin’s Country Fest. And ex-pat ‘peg poet Glen Downie, purchasing some pretty poetry.

Spotted at 274 Garry Street (June 16-20/09)

Spotted this past week at 274 Garry Street: Writers Trust winner Jake MacDonald, EAT!ing with writer Shel Zolkewich. (Looks like Jake will be doing some workshops here come fall.) Songwriter-in-Residence Jaylene Johnson, coaching and performing/yakking at Soapbox. West coast poet (and Pooka Press micro-publisher) Warren Dean Fulton (sounds like a great name for an old-time gospel hour man), doing a workshop. Shakepeare in the Ruins star Michelle Boulet, EAT!ing with friends. And finally, a very nice woman (lost the name) who works at Penelope’s Books, Victoria’s best used bookstore in my opinion: http://www.penelopesbookstop.com/

Spotted at 274 Garry Street (May 19-23)

Spotted this past week at 274 Garry Street: Artists Wanda Koop and William Eakin, EAT!ing and talking very old photos (again). Filmmaker Paula Kelly, checking out WCCH as a venue for interviewing Susie Moloney (for this: http://blogwinnipeg.com/). Former MLA John Loewen, getting soup (takeout). Outgoing (and outgoing) Writer-in-Residence Tim Higgins, along with actor/wife Liz Higgins and actor/not-wife Marion Martin, at a performance of Tim’s play, Nice Women Do. FreckledNest.com’s Leigh-Ann Keffer, doing a DIY bookmaking workshop. (Another is scheduled for June.) Storytellers Beverley Grace and John Buchanan, and the musicians of Sing Anishinaabe, at Friday night’s storytelling concert. And former Writer-in-Residence Michael Van Rooy, chatting with the much smaller Jon Paul Fiorentino. (Ageing hipster Fiorentino was hot off of his Winnipeg book launch, which featured special guest Guy Maddin. JPF’s new novel/graphic novel, Stripmalling, was ripped by the Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Lost+spoof/1503190/story.html)

Spotted at 274 Garry Street (May 12-16)

Artists Wanda Koop and William Eakin, EAT!ing. (Bill also bought some vintage photos.)  Poet Jeanette Lynes, checking out WCCH for her reading next week. (It looks like it’ll include a live interview done by me.) Writers Sarah Klassen, Faith Johnston, Brenda Hasiuk, Chandra Mayor, Struan Sinclair, Duncan Thornton, Armin Wiebe, Kate Bitney, Charlene Diehl, John Toone, Anita Daher, Rob Keough, Bruce McManus, Christina Penner, Barbara Romanik, David Annandale, Tim Higgins, Annette LaPointe, and Mike McIntyre, at Three Days in May: Kelly Hughes Live!. Also in attendance were artists Greg Chomichuk, Linda Drosdowech, and Matt Bernard; with musicians Lyle E Style, the Manitoba Classical Guitar Duo, and Handsome Todd Hunter; plus a publisher whose favourite expression is, “Do you know who I am?”. (The answer is, Yes, but we don’t care.) Oh, and my Mom was there, theatre director Chickie (yeah, that’s right) Hughes. A sneak preview of Margaret Sweatman’s fall release The Players, brought in writers Neil Besner and Barb Schott, composer (and Sweatman’s hubby) Glenn Buhr, plus the Red Hat Ladies. Ciao! publisher Laurie Hughes ate at EAT!, as did former Ciao! editor from back in the day Alison Kirkland. United Church of Canada residential schools point-man David MacDonald, bought books. Former AB W-i-R Michael Van Rooy and his CMU School of Writing boss Sue Sorensen, ate and did a post-mortem of this year’s program. Storytellers Beverley Grace and John Buchanan met at EAT! to discuss this week’s storytelling concert at Aqua. And fimmaker Caelum Vatnsdal met with Weakerthans frontman John K Samson at EAT!, possibly to discuss the new Weakerthans doc. (John K showed up in green rubber boots, a gift from his father-in-law, Christine Fellows’s dad.)

“Your “Spotted this week…” segment was incredible. Can I live at Aqua Books? And meet all of those people?”, Kayla (regular reader of This Week at Aqua Books)