Two upcoming events

The Aqua Books / Writers' Collective
Free Your Mind Reading Series

FYM: Thriller
February 21 / Aqua Books / 7:30 pm

Featured readers: Susie Moloney, David Annandale, Kyle Martin

Susie Moloney is an award-winning humourist and the author of three novels, The Dwelling, Bastion Falls, and A Dry Spell. Her books have been published all over the world. She lives in Winnipeg.

David Annandale did his MA on the Marquis de Sade at the University of Manitoba, and his PhD on horror fiction and film at the University of Alberta. His novels are the thrillers Crown Fire and Kornukopia, and he is working on the third entry in the Jen Blaylock series: The Valedictorians. His short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies of horror fiction. His Fringe plays include The Switchblade Oratorio, Phantom Limb and The Smiling Crematorium. He teaches literature and film at the University of Manitoba.

Kyle Martin earned his Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English, from the University of Winnipeg, and is currently enrolled in Red River College, as an Advertising major in the Creative Communications program. The thriller Comfort Food is his first novella, undertaken as the major creative Independent Professional Project that is requisite in order to complete the Creative Communications program.

* * *

FYM: Young Adult
March 21 / Aqua Books / 7:30 pm

Featured readers: Martha Brooks, Anita Daher, Perry Grosshans

Critically acclaimed playwright, novelist and short fiction writer Martha Brooks was born and raised in a medical family on the grounds of the now defunct Manitoba Sanatorium at Ninette, Manitoba and resides with her husband, Brian, in Winnipeg. Her books are published in Canada and the US, as well as Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany, Denmark, England and Australia. Her travels as an author have taken her not only throughout her own country, but to international festivals in Australia, Iceland and Germany. She is a self-taught writer who learned her craft through isolation, hard work and the guidance of superb mentors. Her young adult books are multi-generational meditations on love, loss and the miracle of unexpected connections. Brooks is also a jazz singer and lyricist. Her debut CD Change of Heart won the 2002 Prairie Music Award for outstanding jazz album. Martha’s latest YA novel, Mistik Lake, will be released by Groundwood Books here in Canada in May, and by Farrar Straus and Giroux in the States in September.

Anita Daher draws writing inspiration from the many places in Canada she feels fortunate to have spent time, which include Summerside, PEI, Yellowknife, NT, Churchill, MB, Baker Lake, NU, and Sault Ste. Marie, ON. She's been entrenched in the book publishing industry for several years writing books, articles and reviews, leading workshops and presentations, and has worked on the publishing end of things as a marketing director and editor. Earlier books are Flight From Big Tangle and Flight from Bear Canyon (Orca, ages 7 to 12). In April she will launch two new books, Racing For Diamonds (Orca, ages 7 to 12), and Spider’s Song (Penguin, young adult psychological thriller). Anita lives in Winnipeg with her husband, two daughters, a basset hound and a Westfalia camper van named Mae.

Perry Grosshans is a Winnipeg writer and game designer with degrees in History, Classics and Anthropology. He is the General Manager of the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, and has served on the board of Prairie Fire Press for the last five years. He has published articles in the Icelandic newspaper Logberg-Heimskringla and Prairie Books NOW. In 2005, Grimm Magazine published the short story Sagebrush, written with financial support from the Winnipeg Arts Council.

* * *

The Free Your Mind Reading Series Mandate
The Free Your Mind Reading Series is a new monthly multi-genre reading series. Hosted by Aqua Books, a bright and cheery second-hand bookstore in Winnipeg’s Exchange District, each event will feature meaty readings from two established and one emerging writer.

The Writers’ Collective Mandate
The Writers’ Collective is a grassroots organization for writers, housed in the library archives of the University of Winnipeg. It formed in the summer of 2000, following the demise of the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Authors Association. Today the organization has grown to roughly 200 members, and works to offer services and programs for writers of all skill levels, with an emphasis on emerging writers.

Contact FYM Coordinator Ariel Gordon for more information.