Octopus Books

So inspired by our comrades in Minneapolis, generations of multi-racial resistance to anti-Black carceral warfare on full display.

Statement on Ford Plant Visit from VP Laura Dickerson, Ford Department Director

🧵 The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union—the UAW. He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.

A sign reading "Warm up; roast chestnuts - 10% everything in store" out side of Octopus Books at dusk on a snowy evening, December 11 2025

Tonight until 8pm - warm up with a toasty snack of roasted chestnuts at Octopus Books in the Glebe. Plus enjoy 10% off everything in store! #shoplocal #shopindependent #intheglebe #ottawa

Thank you so much for leading this conversation, Adrian!

Breaking Free of Neoliberalism by Alex Himelfarb | Octopus Books Neoliberalism – free market capitalism and the view that “freedom” is society’s highest value – has become embedded in the fabric of Canadian government and society.

Pick up signed copies of Breaking Free of Neoliberalism at 🐙📚 octopusbooks.ca/item/ifabLUc...

Alex Himelfarb standing at a lectern speaking into a microphone.

View from the back of the audience at a discussion between Alex Himelfarb and Kevin Skerrett. Several rows of seated audience members are seen from behind, watching Kevin asking Alex a question.

Photo of the book Breaking Free of Neoliberalism by Alex Himelfarb.

Last week we hosted a talk with @alexhim.bsky.social, whose latest book Breaking Free of Neoliberalism points a way forward from the stale policies of austerity, deregulation, & corporate control which have gutted social supports & protections in Canada.

Thanks to host @kevinskerrett.bsky.social!

The audiobook cover of Upon the Midnight Queer, Tales Retold by 'Nathan Burgoine; read by Giancarlo Herrera & Hannah Schooner

The audiobook cover of Handmade Holidays, by 'Nathan Burgoine; read by Giancarlo Herrera

If you’re an #Audiobook listener, you can pick up my audiobooks via @libro.fm and *still* support local brick and mortar (all my audiobook purchases support @octopusbooks.ca)!

I have two queer holiday titles available in audio on Libro, "Handmade Holidays" and "Upon the Midnight Queer."

(2/2)

The cover of Dogs Don’t Break Hearts by 'Nathan Burgoine; a queer hi-lo (high-interest, low-complexity) queer romance novel.

The cover of Stuck With You by 'Nathan Burgoine, a hi-lo (high interest, low complexity) Queer YA Rom-Com.

Local #Ottawa Folk, if you’re looking for my titles in print for the holidays, especially "Dogs Don’t Break Hearts" or "Stuck With You" (hi-lo queer YA books for queerlings in your life), @octopusbooks.ca will order them for you. They rock, and supporting indie bookstore = joy.

Also… (1/2) #BookSky

Had a great conversation w/ @uh.edu scholar #DavidMcNally about his new book, “#Slavery & #Capitalism” @octopusbooks.ca event in Ottawa. Echoing CLR James, W.E.B. DuBois & Sylvia Wynter, McNally argues that the enslaved who worked the plantations of the Americas constituted a modern working class.

Opinion: The inconvenient truth: Thomas King’s admission he isn’t Cherokee hits hard

Latest @winnipegfreepress.com column

www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/colu...

Bluesky, what are the best independent books stores in Ontario? GO.

Screenshot of a post by Ayesha A. Siddiqi from September 2, 2015, which reads: "every border implies the violence of its maintenance"

@ayeshaasiddiqi.bsky.social

Karl Marx’s writings on enslavement & labour have fallen out of favour among historians, but David McNally injects new life into them with a systematic Marxist account of the capitalist character of Atlantic slavery, using colonial travel literature, planter records & diaries, and slave narratives.

A poster advertising a book launch event for David McNally's Slavery and Capitalism: A New Marxist History, December 6 at 7pm at the Social Innovation Atelier, 95 Clegg St. Ottawa. Details as per post.

Join socialist activist & scholar @redprof.bsky.social for the launch of Slavery and Capitalism: A New Marxist History, in conversation with @caradrianh.bsky.social.

Sat Dec 6, 7pm-8pm. Doors open 6:30pm.
Social Innovation Atelier, 95 Clegg St., Ottawa
RSVP: octopusbooks.ca/mcnally

In Breaking Free of Neoliberalism, Alex Himelfarb traces how these ideas became entrenched in Canadian governance & explores how we can chart a new course, calling for a renewed understanding of the public good & the crucial role government must play in shaping a just and sustainable future.

For 40 years, neoliberalism has dominated political thinking in Canada. But as inequality grows, the climate emergency worsens, & global power shifts, it’s clear that privatization, public service cuts, tax breaks for big business, & corporate deregulation have failed to meet today’s challenges.

Poster promoting an event with Alex Himelfarb discussing his book, Breaking Free of Neoliberalism, at Dominion-Chalmers Centre in Ottawa on December 2nd at 7pm. Details as in post.

Join us for a vital discussion with @alexhim.bsky.social about his book Breaking Free of Neoliberalism: Canada's Challenge, in conversation with @kevinskerrett.bsky.social.

Tues Dec 2, 7pm - 8pm. Doors open 6:30pm.
Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper St., Ottawa
RSVP: octopusbooks.ca/himelfarb

Ottawa really Manned Up last night! humbled & honored by the space- as a preacher’s kid, felt right at home in the architecture, the rows of audience pews.
Grateful to @carleton.ca @fesonline.bsky.social @octopusbooks.ca
& @monkeysvsrobots.bsky.social for bringing my ideas to life visually!

a packed house at Ottawa’s Octopus Books for Regina writer Ken Wilson and Kingston writer Sadiqa de Meijer, // @octopusbooks.ca @palimpsestpress.bsky.social @sadiqademeijer.bsky.social

In a world fractured by violence, what does it really mean to protect human rights?

Author and human rights lawyer @alexneve.bsky.social reflects on the power of memory, witnessing, and collective action: thewalrus.ca/why-i-still-beli...

A poster advertising Fall 2025 book signings at Octopus Books in Ottawa. Details as in post.

Meet the author & discover a new great read at one of our Fall 2025 book signings, outside our shop at 116 Third Ave!

🗓️ Sun Oct 26, 2pm-4pm: Amélie B., "the things we left unsaid"
🗓️ Sat Nov 1, 1pm-3pm: Maïlie Dumas, "Coincés À Newark"
🗓️ Sun Nov 2, 1pm-3pm: Sue Davidson, "Dread Comes at Daybreak"

A poster advertising an author talk with Cynthia Miller-Idriss about her book Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism on October 30th, 6pm-8pm, at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper St., Ottawa.

Join Carleton University’s Department of History for a talk by @milleridriss.bsky.social as she discusses her latest book Man Up: The New Misogyny & the Rise of Violent Extremism.
Thrs Oct 30, 6PM at CDCC, 355 Copper St., Ottawa
RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/man-up-the...
@princetonupress.bsky.social

Join us at The Happy Goat on Laurel for this great book launch on Thurs Oct 28!

Poster advertising the launch of We're Coming for You and Your Rotten System with author Jonathan Rosenblum at Octopus Books, 116 Third Ave, Ottawa, on October 27 at 7pm.

The Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education welcomes @jonathan4212.bsky.social to Octopus Books for the launch of his new book, We’re Coming for You & Your Rotten System: How Socialists Beat Amazon & Upended Big-City Politics.
Oct 27, 7pm. RSVP: www.tickettailor.com/events/panit...

Poster advertising the book launch of Lordship and Liberation in Palestine-Israel by Muhannad Ayyash at the University of Ottawa on October 24 at 12pm.

Book launch: Lordship & Liberation in Palestine-Israel: The Promise of Decolonial Sovereignties, a groundbreaking new book by Dr. Muhannad Ayyash.
Fri Oct 24, 12pm at the University of Ottawa
Free registration: www.eventbrite.ca/e/decolonial...

Poster for the book launch of Lawless by Martha Paynter at Octopus Books in Ottawa on October 24, 2025.

Join us for the Ottawa launch of Lawless: Abortion under Complete Decriminalization, featuring author Martha Paynter in convo with Sabrina Lee, OBGYN, & frederique chabot of Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights.
Fri Oct 24 @7pm RSVP: octopusbooks.ca/events/37463...
@fernpub.bsky.social

Ottawa friends, attend an expert panel discussion on challenging Canada’s perpetuation of settler-colonial violence in North America and the Middle East on October 23.
More info: https://bit.ly/46StnNu

@jeremywildeman.bsky.social @@cjpme.org @ijvcanada.bsky.social @octopusbooks.ca

A hand holds up four issues of Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy in front of Octopus Books in Ottawa. The covers are in blue and pink, with the bookstore’s round hanging sign blurred in the background.

📚 Perspectives Journal has just arrived at @octopusbooks.ca in Ottawa!

Issues No. 2 and 3 are in stock—featuring bold progressive ideas, sharp analysis on political economy, and fresh visions for Canadian social democracy.

Stop by Octopus Books in the Glebe (116 Third Ave) to grab your copy.

Are you coming? Just over a month away! @atbaypress.bsky.social @octopusbooks.ca

“Violet’s Song” has now officially been released! Visit @octopusbooks.ca to grab your copy today, or order online.