New In: The Travel Almanac #5

We just received the brand-new issue of this highly refined Berlin-and-New-York-based magazine: "the first publication of its kind to speak to this sophisticated generation of travelers." Features interviews with actor Willem Dafoe, artist Carsten Holler, Green Gartside of cult band Scritti Politti, photographer Alec Soth, and fast-rising New York-via-Toronto artist Hugh Scott-Douglas, along with a feature on Borsalino hats and a fashion spread on super-expensive hand luggage styled on scenic sand dunes. Très, très chic.

New In: Neil Farber and Michael Dumontier's Animals With Sharpies

Since the demise of the much-beloved and now mythic Royal Art Lodge -- the Winnipeg Art Collective founded in 1996 by Michael Dumontier, Marcel Dzama, Neil Farber, Drue Langlois, Jonathan Pylypchuk, and Adrian Williams -- Dumontier and Farber have continued as a team. Their witty, conceptual-flavoured paintings have the same mixture of dark humour and naive, childlike imagery that endeared the Lodge to so many.

Drawn & Quarterly is delighted to be publishing their new book, Animals with Sharpies, which renders their trademark subject matter in vivid colours, with lots of references to pop culture and folklore and a dash of the absurd. The book also follows the gallery exhibit "After the Royal Art Lodge," which was staged at Montreal's Division Gallery from March 16th to May 11th this year. You can read the Montreal Gazette's review of that show here.

You can also see more Animals With Sharpies on the Royal Art Lodge's website, and more of Farber & Dumontier's paintings on their blog.

Tickets on Sale NOW! Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Presents An Evening with Neil Gaiman!

Join us on Wednesday, August 7 at 7 p.m. at the Ukrainian Federation for an evening with celebrated author Neil Gaiman! The evening will feature a reading from his newest bestseller The Ocean at the End of the Lane followed by a Q&A and book signing.

Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, Anansi Boys, The Graveyard Book, and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett); the Sandman series of graphic novels; and the story collections Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things. He is the winner of numerous literary honors, including the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards, and the Newbery Medal. Originally from England, he now lives in America. 

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral...

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.

We are excited and honored to be hosting one of the most important, legendary authors writing today. Join us for what is sure to be a wonderful evening!

Tickets are $10 ON SALE NOW! (good for $5 off The Ocean at the End of the Lane), available at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly, 211 Bernard Ouest, 514-279-2224
Limit: 4 tickets per customer

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

We have finally gotten ourselves a copy of Imogen Binnie's first novel, Nevada, which has been somewhat difficult to obtain since its publication earlier this spring. Very exciting! Binnie did an event at Cagibi last month as part of her book tour, and gave possibly the best reading I have ever experienced - a rich verbal onslaught of sass, anger, and difficult feelings, delivered so powerfully that the room's collective breath was suspended for minutes on end.

Nevada is narrated by Maria, a young trans woman living in New York City, struggling to reconcile her punk values with her retail job, and, increasingly, to relate to her girlfriend. When things hit the fan, Maria sets off on an impromptu road trip, during the course of which she meets and becomes a mostly-unwanted mentor to James, a teenaged Wal Mart clerk stuck in Star City Nevada who may be in the process of realizing he is trans.

Here's Maria:
"That's what it's like to be a trans woman: never being sure who knows you're trans or what the knowledge would even mean to them. Being on unsure, weird social footing. And it's not even like it matters if someone knows you're trans. Who cares. You just don't want your hilarious, charming, complicated weirdo self to be erased by ideas people have in their heads that were made up by, like, hack TV writers, or even hackier Internet porn writers. It just sucks having to educate people. Sound familiar? Trans women have the exact same shit that everybody else in the world has who isn't white, het, male, able-bodied or otherwise privileged. It's not glamorous or mysterious. It's boring.

Maria is totally exhausted by it and bored of it, and if you're not, she is sorry. Terribly, appallingly, sarcastically, uselessly and pointlessly sorry."  (p. 6)

Michelle Tea, Ali Liebegott and Rhiannon Argo have lavished Nevada with well-deserved praise.

Come get your hands on a copy!

An Evening of Poetry: Recap and pictures!

Last Thursday June 6, Librarie D+Q hosted an evening of poetry. Poets Laura Broadbent, Emma Healey, Donato Mancini and Michael Nardone read from their respective works. A good time was had by all!

First up was Laura Broadbent, who took the audience on a mystical journey, lulling everyone into trance-like state as she read from a poem based on an interview with the deceased poet W. G. Sebald. 

Next, Michael Nardone took the stage. 

He treated the crowd to his first public reading from O. Cyrus and the Bardo. This was published not in book format, but as a giant scroll, beautifully illustrated by Jude Griebel. A stunning piece of work! 

Following Michael was Emma Healey, who read a series of very entertaining “letters” received from Canada Student Loans. Her poetic rendering of kafkaesque bureaucracy was thoroughly amusing. 

Donato Mancini was the closer for the evening. He read an “autobiographical” text from his Buffet World, evoking plenty of memories of processed-foods past. 

Afterwards, the crowd lingered, socializing with the authors over wine and cigarettes. An appropriate end to an evening of poetry if ever there was one. 

New to the Store: Little Brother Magazine!

We've just received issue 2 of Little Brother Magazine, a Toronto-based publication that collects works of fiction, essays and photography. This second edition features Montreal's own Guillaume Morissette!

Residual Reading Series Recap and Response

On June 4th, we were pleased to host an installment of the Residual Reading series organized by Wanda O'Connor.

Wanda opened the night with some introductions.

 Vancouver's Margeurite Pigeon read from her new book, Open Pit (Arsenal Press, 2013), an unconventional thriller about mining, landscapes, and civil rights struggle in South America.

And then Nathalee Caple read from In Calamity's Wake (Harper Collins, 2013), her poetic and experimental retelling of the story of Calamity Jane (on whom she wrote her PhD!).

 

After the reading, there were questions from the audience, and the two authors had some thoughtful questions for each other! Signings and wine followed.

Since the event, Heather Leighton blogged about it at Rover Book Review (with interviews with the authors!) and Marguerite also wrote about it on her own blog. Thanks again to everyone who came out!

Father's Day - Fête des Pères

Just in time for Father's Day - new cards in store! Show Dad you love him with one of these beauties.

Juste à temps pour la Fête des Pères - nouvelles cartes dans le magasin! Montrez à papa que vous l'aimez avec une de ces belles cartes.

TONIGHT! Books About Looks: Worn Fashion Journal Presents A Close Reading of Clothes

Join us TONIGHT!  Friday, June 14th at 7 p.m. for an event with Worn Fashion Journal!

Virginia Woolf said: "clothes have more important offices than merely to keep us warm; they change our view of the world and the world's view of us." Anne with an 'e' needed a dress with puffed sleeves. Daisy saw the beauty in Gatsby's shirts. Sasha Jansen just wanted a new hat. On Friday, June 14th, join WORN Fashion Journal for a close reading of clothes in literature. Bring a passage of your favorite description of clothing in any book, hang with the Wornettes, and pick up a copy of the brand new issue! 

WORN Fashion Journal is a completely different kind of fashion magazine - instead of focusing on trends or commerce, we focus on the histories, personal stories, cultures, and subcultures of fashion.  

Tonight, 7pm, 211 Bernard Ouest!!

Les livres d'Aisha Franz en français

Deux titres de l'auteure berlinoise Aisha Franz sont disponible à la librairie : Petite terrienne et Brigitte et la perle cachée, tous les deux publiés par les éditions Ça & Là.

Le plus récent, Brigitte et la perle cachée, raconte l'histoire jamesbondesque de l'agent secret Brigitte, chienne de son statut racial, qui est aussi forte au combat qu'elle ne devient tendre lorsqu'elle est au contact de femmes enceintes. La tragédie de sa vie est d'avoir été, comme une bonne petite chienne, stérilisée dans son enfance. Elle prend d'ailleurs régulièrement des anti-love pills pour éviter de tomber dans les affres de l'amour. Brigitte est un livre étonnant qui mêle humour, action et tendresse.

Recap: John & Jana's Kid's Day!

Last weekend, we were pleased to have John Seven and Jana Christy come all the way from Massachusetts to give a reading, hosted by Robin Fisher of The Onomatopoeia Show. They dropped in with A Rule Is To Break: A Child's Guide to Anarchy and Happy Punks 1-2-3, some awesome colouring sheets, crayons, balloons, and a whole bunch of art to trade for donations to Multicaf.

  

Robin got the ball rolling up from up on the stage...

Audience participation was highly encouraged.

But John and Jana preferred to do their reading from right in the thick of things, starting off with Happy Punks.

My favourite Happy Punk is Wanda.

Everyone got caught up in the book's colourfully eccentric illustrations, while also getting to yell out numbers. Counting books are the best!

"Your parents will want to have a talk about this, I'm sure." John!

Next up: A Rule Is To Break. Naturally, our young guests ate it up—and learned a thing or two about creativity and activism.

Fun new party game: Spot the D&Q'er! (Hint: it's Tom!)

The signing table was swarmed—even after everyone had already had their fill of cookies and juice! Festivities continued into the afternoon—John, Jana, several excellent colourers, and a couple certifiable balloon-animal experts made sure everyone had loads of free-spirited fun. Thanks, guys!

 

A Rule Is To Break and Happy Punks are refreshingly real children's lit, most definitely worth a gander next time you drop in.

FBDM Recap

From May 31st to June 2nd, Librairie D&Q was at the second edition of the Festival BD de Montréal, in the heart of Parc Lafontaine. This year Guy Delisle, Pascal Girard and Julie Delporte were signing at our table!

 Guy Delisle was the Festival's special guest. His hilarious new book, A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting, was just published by D&Q! 

 

Fans were happy to wait in line on this hot day to meet Guy.

Pascal Girard, Joe Ollmann and Jimmy Beaulieu (from right to left).

And Pascal signed some books and talked to fans, too!

Our lovely co-worker Julie signed her new book, Journal.

Diane Obomsawin's dog Mimi stopped by for a surprise visit. What a magnificent beast!

This was our amazing co-worker Julien's last weekend with the store. We'll miss you so much, Julien!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the festival! It was a blast!

July Silkscreening Workshop

Tuesdays July 2, July 9 and July 16 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm

This course with instructor Leyla Majeri will go over the basics of silk screening from start to finish. Participants (ages 15 and up) will go home with a completed project.

The workshop costs $125 for the whole session - this fee covers all supplies needed. Workshop participants obtain a 20% discount on all books at the store for the duration of the workshop. As always, we encourage you to come reserve your spot at the store with a deposit of $65 as soon as you can, the number of participants is limited!

***

Les mardis 2, 9 et 16 juillet
De 18h30 à 20h30

Ce cours donné par Leyla Majeri couvre toutes les bases de la sérigraphie. À la fin de l'atelier, les participants (15 ans et plus) repartent avec leur propre projet.

125$ pour toute la session, l'achat du matériel nécessaire est couvert par ce coût. Les participants de l'atelier ont droit à un rabais de 20% valide sur tout les livres du magasin pendant la durée de l'atelier. Pour vous inscrire, il suffit de passer par le magasin et de payer un dépôt de 65$. Venez vite, les places sont en nombre limité!

Now at D&Q: Carousel Magazine!

Carousel is a hybrid literary mag coming out of Guelph, Ontario. It's crammed with super great poetry, fiction and visual art, with a section of four-panel comics that's particularly rad. Check out their website here, and come in to get your hands on the brand new thirty-first issue!

Goliath de Tom Gauld en version francophone

Alors que You're all just jealous of my jetpack, le recueil de strips de l'auteur anglais Tom Gauld vient de paraître chez Drawn & Quarterly, la version francophone de Goliath, son précédent livre, est maintenant disponible à la librairie, publiée par l'Association.

Tom Gauld revisite le mythe de David et Goliath dans un livre aussi mélancolique que ses strips de You're Just Jealous sont drôles. Le personnage du géant Goliath est tendre, attachant et poétique...

Sophie Goldstein's House of Women!

Local comics artist (and D&Q intern) Sophie Goldstein just brought in her new comic, "House of Women, Part I".  Fifty-six pages of Victorian/Sci-Fi/Psycho-Sexual mayhem! With a handmade die-cut cover! Read more about it on her blog.

TODAY! 1:30pm...Kid's Day with John and Jana!!

You are invited to a special Kid's Day event with John and Jana, who will read their books A Rule Is To Break: A Child's Guide To Anarchy, Happy Punks 123: A Counting Story, and A Year With Friends, and host a Give Stuff Away For Free Party that will take donations for the Multi Caf food bank in exchange for free signed prints and mini comics. There will also be coloring pages, snacks, and a book signing. The event will be hosted by CJLO's Robin Fisher.

John Seven and Jana Christy are a husband and wife creative team living in North Adams, Massachusetts. They’ve collaborated on several children’s books together, including the award-winning Ocean Story, as well as A Rule Is To Break: A Child’s Guide To Anarchy, Happy Punks 1-2-3, and A Year With Friends. Jana has illustrated books for Disney, Little Golden Books, Candlewick, Simon and Schuster, and many others, including the New York Times bestseller, In A Blink. John’s chapter book series from Capstone Young Readers, The Time Tripping Faradays, premieres this summer. They got their start working together in the 1990s on the comic book Very Vicky.

SATURDAY, JUNE 8th, 211 BERNARD OUEST!! 1:30pm

CultMTL: Montreal's Best Bookstore and Best Comics Store 2013!

Thanks, Montreal, we love you too!!

Mono.kultur No.33: Kim Gordon!

Y'all know about mono.kultur, the awesome interview mag outta Berlin, right? If not, you better check it. Following up their wonderful Michaël Borremans, Martino Gamper and Chris Ware issues (there are a few of the Ware's still in stock, btw) it's their newest...this time featuring the glorious Kim Gordon!

Interviews, drawings, photos,  memorabilia, and musings all on and/or about the great Free Kitten herself. Get here, grab a copy and then make the nature scene (read it at a park). We bring in the best so your days get better!

Antonin Buisson

Antonin Buisson est un jeune auteur de Montréal qui fait des bandes dessinées minimalistes et inventives, principalement muettes. Il est venu nous les déposer à la librairie cette semaine !

Son dernier titre est Gardez le rhytme, mais il a aussi autopublié Tranquillement pas vite et Chercher le trouble.