*****
To celebrate Canadian Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, Apr. 29, The Ginger Press will host two authors: Dorothy Ladd, from the Saugeen First Nation, who has written Memengwaa The Monarch Butterfly, self published in both Ojibwe and English, at 2:00 p.m.; and Richard-Yves Sitoski, Owen Sound’s Poet Laureate, who has written Butterfly Tongue and Other Plays, published by The Ginger Press, at 2:30 p.m.
Autographed copies of Butterfly Park, written by local author Elly MacKay and based on a local story, will also be available.
“The butterfly themes of transformation, hope, and rebirth in all three of these books is very appropriate for these times,” says Ginger Press owner Maryann Thomas. “Showcasing these three beautiful local books is a wonderful way to honour the writers and highlight their contributions to our community.”
Established in 1978, The Ginger Press is one of the oldest owner-operated independent bookstores in Canada. Evolving from a mailorder business with books about woodworking, to its current iteration as a Main Street book retailer, The Ginger Press has faced chain store discounters, online competition, e-books, COVID lockdowns, and more during the last 45 years.
Tenaciously sidestepping these challenges, the store evolved its current focus of words-on-paper books by and about the region of Grey-Bruce, centred in Owen Sound. In 1987, The Ginger Press began publishing local books to fill in some of the gaps in the area’s written history, and, in 1998, a small cafe was added to encourage readers to stay a little longer in the bright green building.
To date, The Ginger Press has published over 150 books by and about this area. In addition to carrying GP titles, as well as many other conventionally published and self-published local titles, a wide variety of antiquarian and out-of-print local books has been added to the bookshop inventory, to create what Thomas calls, “the finest selection of new and experienced local books in the universe.”
Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (CIBD) is the annual day when readers, writers, illustrators, publishers, and other industry supporters come together to celebrate indie bookstores across Canada. According to Laura Carter, Executive Director of the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association, “By joining the celebration, you are advocating for independent businesses, supporting a flourishing bookselling community, and investing in Canadian culture.”
Everyone is welcome to attend CIBD at The Ginger Press in downtown Owen Sound on Saturday Apr. 29, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
*****
source: media release, The Ginger Press
