events past events sellingyour books books wanted magnets photos postcards media about eat bistro map this week aqua books kelly hugheslive writer in residence staff contact us current events aqua books 1999 2012 is now permanently closed . this site is for posterity only . thank you for everything . coming may 2014 thevaliant.ca 274 garry st. between portage & graham winnipeg mb canada r3c 1h3 204 943 7555 open tues sat 11am 9pm sun mon closed email kelly aquabooks.ca what people are saying hello i ve even heard of you over here in oxford england i used to live in winnipeg and my friend pamela sent me your 100 real reasons to love winnipeg . i like all these reasons but relate particularly to your reasons 51 and 52 because i m scottish and definitely think you can be generous and parsimonious all in one that s what the whole scottish nation is like thank you for your list it has made my day because i too love winnipeg . marjory szurko librarian oriel college oxford aqua books lived from 1999 until 2012 . it was wonderful and i had a great time . thank you for that . this site is for posterity only . all of the books are gone . all of the deeds are done . the store writer and famous son of a famous son noah richler anointed aqua books one of the craziest most amusing and well ordered second hand bookstores i have ever frequented in the toronto star . and truly over the last decade aqua books has become winnipeg s most beloved bookstore . sorry mcnally robinson . a fierce bastion of winnipeg culture aqua is downtown winnipeg s largest bookstore nestled in the benevolent capitalist shadow of portage and main . the former chinese restaurant at 274 garry street is now nearly 10 000 square feet of activity . red seal chef candace hughes serves up plates full of joy at the onsite eat bistro one of ciao magazine s best new restaurants of 2008 . meanwhile bookstore owner kelly hughes dishes up his brand of aggressive common sense in this week at aqua books and interviews canadian greats like tina keeper and kevin mcdonald onstage at kelly hughes live . while selling a few books on the side . the books since our modest beginning on notre dame avenue in 1999 we have strived to maintain the cleanest most organized and most affordable used bookstore in winnipeg . our sprawling location at 274 garry street features 40 000 books in a space ten times the size of our old notre dame cubbyhole . aqua books features one of the city s largest selections of literary fiction kids books and cookbooks plus 2500 titles in faith and theology and manitoba s largest selection of poetry and theatre books . but if you don t like any of those things don t despair . we have a healthy assortment of titles in many areas . just like nabob and their beans we reject thousands of books a year that don t measure up . all the books we do choose are cleaned and repaired if necessary before they are put on the shelves . we put out 500 1000 books weekly and put the most interesting and sought after titles on our new books page . the books are joined by our in store produced fridge magnets and hundreds of vintage postcards and photographs . the cultural hub aqua books is western canada s second busiest arts and cultural venue banff is 1 seeing an audience of over ten thousand people at three hundred and fifty readings book launches meetings workshops concerts plays film screenings lectures and shows every year . our regular series schedule of storytelling stone soup telling tales readings aqua books lansdowne series mondo poetry bons mots serie litteraire anthology open mic speaking crow soapbox lectures ideaexchange aqua u. and music kelly hughes live feat . is filled out by participation in larger events like the winnipeg international writers festival and the winnipeg fringe theatre festival . we also work with small theatre groups arts organizations and multicultural associations . our partners include the canadian museum for human rights u of m jazz studies the manitoba writers guild the writers collective the manitoba editors association the manitoba association of playwrights and the u of m s centre for creative writing and oral culture . aqua books is truly winnipeg s cultural city hall . in keeping with our commitment to winnipeg s creative spirit we also sponsor the aqua books lansdowne prize for poetry . le prix de po sie lansdowne de aqua books our poetry award is one of the few bilingual honours at the manitoba writing and publishing awards and carries a 1000 cash prize . aqua books is one of only two bookstores in canada with a writer in residence program u of a bookstore is the other one . we have three on site studios for the use of our artists songwriters photographers artists and writers in residence . the hype the aforementioned noah richler toronto star article plus some of the other press coverage on aqua can be found here . in 2010 the downtown winnipeg biz awarded aqua books eat bistro their award for most innovative small business . aqua books is also the winner of a 2005 exchange biz award of excellence for developing ideaexchange in conjunction with st. benedict s table and bookwalk . the award was for promoting winnipeg s exchange district national historic site through marketing and event programming . additionally aqua books has been one of winnipeg s top bookstores according to uptown magazine s readers choice awards for several years running . the bottom line come visit us . top of page get the flash player to see this player . why is there no order form on this site at aqua books we put out 500 1000 new books on our shelves every week . if we spent all of our time putting books online and taking them off again we wouldn t be able to process so many great new titles . if you re looking for something specific email us . we ll let you know if we have it or if someone else has it or we ll keep your name on file until a copy turns up . or come into the store . it s really quite pleasant . email aqua books 2011 . all rights reserved . reproduction in whole or in part is very naughty .