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Please Note: Events listed on this calendar are not organized by the Punch Up Collective unless otherwise noted in the event details.
The Politics of Lonely: Book Launch & Friendship Forum
Come celebrate the launch of “The Politics of Lonely: Why Is Friendship So Hard” by Lee Arden (https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/books/the-politics-of-lonely) and talk about friendship and community-building with special guests Adrienne Row-Smith and Alexis Shotwell.
When: Saturday October 24, 5-7 pm
Where: The Grove, 18 Louisa St. #280
(If you can’t make it, Lee will also be signing books at Octopus 11-1 the same day!)
Friendship is hard because everything is hard, not because you’re not trying hard enough. The Politics of Lonely shows how people build tight connections despite living in the austere conditions of colonial capitalism — boldly weaving a new social fabric as this one unravels.
Guests:
Alexis Shotwell is a queer SF nerd, functional potter, teacher, and writer, currently living on unceded Algonquin land. Author of Against Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times (about why purity won’t save us) and the forthcoming Liberation is Other People (about getting together to solve big problems in which we are complicit), she is also finishing a book about Ursula K. Le Guin’s anarchism and why it’s so great.
Adrienne Row-Smith (she/her) is a Queer Black visual specialist based in so-called Ottawa, working across photo and video to create bold, impactful imagery. Rooted in a deep commitment to authenticity and accessibility in media, she co-founded The Grove, which is an interdisciplinary art and community space offering affordable rentals and sliding-scale events. Through both her creative practice and community work, Adrienne aims to build a space and working body that reflects the elements of care, resistance, and belonging, where disenfranchised voices are not only heard but celebrated.