[ottawa-activist-events] Independents' Day at Octopus Books!
Octopus Books
DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE!
Join us for a reading with two of Ottawa's finest indie writers
Jennifer Whiteford and Colin Vincent
Independents' Day
Friday April 21st 7:00 pm
Octopus Books 116 Third Ave
Jennifer Whiteford teaches, writes, sells books, and goes to rock shows in
Ottawa, Ontario. Her first novel, Grrrl, has recently been published by
Gorsky Press. For the past several years, she's created the popular 'zine
Matilda. She also interviews bands and reviews albums for Razorcake
Magazine.
Colin Vincent mostly writes technical documents and training collateral for
the technology sector but on the side he writes poetry and plays music with
the Banditas and the F*king Machines. His first chapbook, Japan Bonus
Tracks, was
released in 2003. He is now working on a follow-up.
:-:-:-:-:What is Indpendents' Day??:-:-:-:-:
Independents Day is an initiative of the Canadian Bookseller's Association.
It is a day celebrated by indie booksellers across the country and used
primarily to highlight the importance of independence to polititicans, city
officials and decision makers everywhere.
Being an independent store of any kind is challenging and the book industry
is no exception. Though Octopus has been open since 1969, the store has, at
times, struggled to stay afloat. The book world is increasingly scary for
the little guys who face competition from giants like Chapters/Indigo,
Amazon and for some of us the American owned Follett Books (chain of
university campus bookstores). Even in the face of this struggle,
indpendent booksellers in this country consistently prove to be the biggest
supporters of local authors and local/small/independent publishers. Indie
bookstores are more likely to take a chance on the authors and publishers
who are unable to break into the mainstream. This often results in a more
unique selection of books - books that you won't find at Chapters or Amazon.
Here are some of the concerns booksellers hope to raise this year on
Independents' Day:
- The importance of independent bookstores in promoting regional/local
literature, works that might not be noticed by a chain store that buys for
the entire country at once.
- The role independent bookstores play in creating a community that favours
the arts and promotes economic success by encouraging innovators to stay
there.
- The potential for major parts of Canada's bookselling industry-a chief
disseminator of Canadian culture-to fall to foreign ownership.
- Potential problems with respect to fair competition (i.e. the special book
rate Canada Post provides exclusively for Amazon.ca)
- Keeping the playing field level and making sure the federal government, in
particular, is not favouring one company over any others.
Since 1969 Octopus Books has been a proud and active member of the Ottawa
community. Our goal has always been to provide a forum for local authors,
small presses, radical and revolutionary voices, and writers from a variety
of countries and cultures. We also feel that it is important to provide an
alternative to large corporate bookstores and to celebrate our own
independence and unconventional politics.
Thank you to everyone has supported this little shop for over 35 years. We
know that our doors have remained open because there is a community behind
us who agree that INDEPENDENTS MATTER. We hope to have the good fortune of
your continued support for years to come.
Happy Independents' Day!
read independent. shop independent. think independent.
the new octopus bookstore
613-233-2589
critical thinking for over 35 years
www.octopusbooks.ca
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