Where to buy a copy of The Malahat? Shelf Life Books

Malahat volunteer, Stephen Leckie, asked JoAnn McCaig of Shelf Life Books, Calgary's newest and largest independent book store and a proud carrier of The Malahat Review, a few questions.

Shelf Life Books
Corner of 4th Street and 13th Avenue SW
Calgary AB

How important is the role of independent bookstores?

An independent bookstore is a meeting place for people who question the status quo, for independent thinkers who are looking for books and ideas outside the mainstream.  It’s a community hub for writers and readers.  It’s a place where conversations about ideas begin.

Shelf Life Books

If Shelf Life Books could be reviewed as a book, how would you describe it?

“This bookstore’s admixture of refinement and rebellion invites comparisons to Lady Chatterley’s Lover, but the way it places Canadian-ness at the heart of the endeavour makes Shelf Life Books The Diviners of Canadian bookstores!”

Which literary journals do you currently stock?

We stock The Malahat Review, Matrix, TCR, Quill and Quire, ARC, Open Letter, Prairie Fire, CV2, EVENT, Freefall, Other Voices, Exile, SCL, PRISM International, The Fiddlehead, Poetry is Dead, Eighteen Bridges, Filling Station, Room, Brick, Arthouse Review, Descant, The New Quarterly, The Antigonish Review, The Claremont Review, The Dalhousie Review, West Coast Line, Tin House, Granta, Dorchester Review, Lucky Peach, LRC, Canadian Notes and Queries.

What are the factors that influence your selection?

We look for journals that are well written and serious about literary culture.

Do you find there is a greater demand for local periodicals rather than out-of-province/international journals?

Slightly greater demand for local periodicals because they launch their issues here in the store and bring in buyers.

How important is Canadian literary content?

Our goal is to have fifty percent of our titles Canadian in every genre.  We’re a long way from that, but it’s where we’re aiming.

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