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Our August Author of the Month: EMMA DONOGHUE

Monday, Jul 31, 2023 at 2:02pm

A PICTURE OF PATRICK DEWITT

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is a novelist, screenwriter and playwright. She spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and their two children. Room sold more than two million copies and won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Canada and the Caribbean), as well as being shortlisted for the Man Booker and Orange Prizes. Donoghue scripted the Canadian-Irish film adaptation, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The Wonder was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and Donoghue co-wrote the 2022 screen adaptation for Netflix. The Pull of the Stars was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Her new book is Learned by Heart, a heartbreakingly gorgeous novel based on the true story of two girls who fall secretly, deeply and dangerously in love at boarding school in nineteenth century York.

Drawing on years of investigation and Anne Lister’s five-million-word secret journal, Learned by Heart is the long-buried love story of Eliza Raine, an orphan heiress banished from India to England at age six, and Anne Lister, a brilliant, troublesome tomboy, who meet at the Manor School for Young Ladies in York in 1805 when they are both fourteen.

Emotionally intense, psychologically compelling and deeply researched, Learned by Heart is an extraordinary work of fiction by one of the world’s greatest storytellers. Full of passion and heartbreak, the tangled lives of Anne Lister and Eliza Raine form a love story for the ages.

Categories: Authors, Store News, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Event News, Author of the Month

Our July Author of the Month: PATRICK DEWITT

Friday, Jun 30, 2023 at 4:06pm

A PICTURE OF PATRICK DEWITT

Patrick deWitt is the author of the novels French Exit (a national bestseller), The Sisters Brothers (a New York Times bestseller short-listed for the Booker Prize), and the critically acclaimed Undermajordomo Minor and Ablutions. Born in British Columbia, he now resides in Portland, Oregon.

From this bestselling and award-winning author comes The Librarianist, the story of Bob Comet, a man who has lived his life through and for literature, unaware that his own experience is a poignant and affecting narrative in itself.

Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books and small comforts in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.

With his inimitable verve, skewed humour, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.

Categories: Authors, Store News, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Event News, New Releases

Ted's Run For Literacy Kit Pick Up

Tuesday, Sep 24, 2019 at 1:10pm

Ted's Run for Literacy, the litte race that could, takes place this Sunday in Kildonan Park, and McNally Robinson Booksellers is happy to host their kit pick up this Saturday, September 28th between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Kit pick up will take place in the travel alcove of our Grant Park location, the southwest corner of the store near the mall entrance. There will be limited kit pick up on race day, so please stop by the store if you have the chance, but if you do require a race-day kit pick up, please expect lineups of 10 to 15 minutes.

By the way, if you haven't already, there's still time to register for all three events — the 2km Fun Run/Walk, and the 5km and 10km Runs. 

Ted's Run for Literacy aims to stop the revolving door of childhood poverty by building confidence in children living in under resourced Winnipeg neighbourhoods. All money raised through registration is used to support Can U and Learn and Play; two non-profit organizations who hold similar values.

Categories: Site News, Winnipeg, Event News

Harry Potter Parties 2016

Thursday, Aug 04, 2016 at 1:49pm

On July 30th, 2016, McNally Robinson hosted midnight release parties for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two in both Winnipeg and Saskatoon. The parties were held to celebrate not only the release of Cursed Child but the fun and magic of the Harry Potter series as a whole. Many of our booksellers are fans of the series, and from past experiences we know there are many Potterheads in the Prairies — and at this year's parties, those fans came out in force.

Our Winnipeg celebration took place at the Lyric Theatre field in Assiniboine Park, and it's a good thing we had all of that open space. Based on previous parties and the response we had on social media, we anticipated around ten thousand guests at this year's party — but ended up with closer to 15,000. With so many Potterheads, many of whom were dressed up in their finest witch and wizard garb, the park was abuzz as guests took in the live entertainment and perused the activities and tents around the party grounds. Among the attractions were Quidditch lessons and scrimmages, a Tri-Wizard tournament, live animals in the Care of Magical Creatures station, a Diagon Alley shop tent, snacks and drinks from The Three Broomsticks, plus much more. All the while there were live performances by JP Hoe and The Mariachi Ghost from the Lyric Theatre stage. To see some photos of the party, explore #PotterPartyWPG on Twitter and Instagram.

Meanwhile, our Saskatoon location hosted a party at the bookstore and surrounding parking lot, which drew in a crowd of over 2000 fans of all ages. The event kept attendees on their toes with everything from high-spirited games of Quidditch to Dementors handing out demerits. A handful of furry (and not so furry) guests made an appearance, including live rats, snakes, and cats. Fans enjoyed frothy mugs of Butterbeer and sweet nibbles of Pumpkin Pasties in Prairie Ink, which was done up in Great Hall chic for the occasion with stars and Hogwarts letters strung from the ceiling. The more daring of the attendees tried their hand at competing in tasks such as the Tri-Wizard Tournament, complete with a series of nail-biting trivia questions. All guests were also invited to sit beneath the Sorting Hat and tremble in anticipation as it deliberated over which House they would be sorted into.

And of course at the stroke of midnight we began handing out copies of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Line-ups at both parties, as well as at our Grant Park bookstore, were filled with hundreds of eager fans, most of whom were beaming and some of whom were teary-eyed with joy, and all were on their way home with their new book in record time.

We thank all of the volunteers and organizations who helped us put our parties together, and a big thank you to all of the Potterheads who joined us for the evening. We had record turnouts at both parties, and — if we're fortunate enough to get another Harry Potter book someday — we hope to see you all at the next celebration.

Categories: Fun, Store News, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Event News

Cancellation: Tonight's event with Tara Lee Morin & Michael Kannon

Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at 9:51am

We regret to announce the cancellation of our Winnipeg International Writers Festival Spring Literary Series event with Tara Lee Morin and Michael Kannon, scheduled for TONIGHT. Due to unexpected flight complications on her Canadian tour, Tara Lee will not arrive in Winnipeg until later this evening. She will be busy for the next few days sharing her work with young adults in schools and youth centres.

As I Remember It, Tara Lee's frank memoir of foster care and its impact on her aboriginal identity, is one of the 2013 winners of the inaugural Burt Awards for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Literature. It is available now in store.

The 2014 Burt Awards Gala will take place on September 27 as part of THIN AIR 2014.

Our Spring Literary Series continues next Tuesday with poets Gillian Sze and Chimwemwe Undi. More more information on that event, please click here.

Categories: Site News, Winnipeg, Event News
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