Trident Booksellers & Cafe

Oooh. 👀

Yah, I know, this could also be "give your enployees more breaks" or "reduce the workday to 6h" too.

Can you imagine how productive we would be as a society if everyone just had more free time?

Hey businesses!

Help support bookstores, publishers, writers, readers, citizens, and neighbours with this one simple act:

Let your employees read on the job.

Cover of "The Wuggly Ump" by Edward Gorey

Cover of "A Halloween Treat" by Edward Gorey

An unknown signature under the printed dedication "For R.D.P."

Cataloguing some rare Edward Gorey for Trident Halifax! We have quite a few of his works right now, and here's the newest!

We think the third image is a previous owner name, but it is confidently inscribed on the dedication page! Anyone wanna take a stab at the name?

A front facing copy of Misplaced by Brittni Brinn on a wooden bookshelf between sci-fi and fantasy books.

Spotted at @tridenthalifax.bsky.social ☕✨

King's Co-op Bookstore Order books online or shop in-person at Canada's hardest to find indie bookstore, co-operatively run in Halifax, Nova Scotia!

King’s Bookstore in Halifax - They do excellent work in Halifax, co-operatively owned and makes book buying easy for students. We've never been, but their outreach/making sure people know the impacts book tariffs would have has been a great resource. kingsbookstore.ca @kingsbookstore.bsky.social

Trident Books & Cafe in Halifax - If you’re looking for a bookstore with amazing atmosphere, you can’t go wrong with Trident. Charlotte Ashley took it over in 2023 and we've been wanting to visit since. Go in our stead! Tea, snacks, books, and events. tridenthalifax.ca @tridenthalifax.bsky.social

When the cappuccino, science and samosa are all good.

@tridenthalifax.bsky.social

Writers from Halifax & beyond! @mollyrookwood.bsky.social 's editing workshop is TOMORROW! Register at Eventbrite, get a coffee or tea is you come in person. 😊

Whether you are querying, submitting, or self-publishing, these editing tricks are CLUTCH.

www.eventbrite.com/e/workshop-h...

This Wednesday at 7 PM Atlantic (6 PM Eastern)! Join us in person at @tridenthalifax.bsky.social or virtually via Zoom!

Poster for "How to Self Edit Like an Editor" workshop at Trident Booksellers & Cafe, led by Molly Rookwood. Wednesday, March 26 2025 @ 7pm AT 1256 Hollis St, Halifax $20 in-person*/$10 virtual *coffee and tea provided QR code in bottom right corner.

Next Wednesday, March 26th! @mollyrookwood.bsky.social leads this killer hybrid workshop on self-editing. Get that manuscript into fighting form!

Sign up at Eventbrite:

www.eventbrite.com/e/workshop-h...

Poster showing two women with guitars and all of the event details for our Becoming Pretty show on Thursday, March 13/25 at 7pm

This Thursday! March is for Music in downtown Halifax, so drop by to enjoy vibes from Becoming Pretty, aka Johanna Gibson and Ash Jansen! 7pm, no cover!

As always, our full event listing is at

tridenthalifax.ca/events/

Indie bookstores are not dead and there is s HUGE appetite out there for authentic art and culture. This place is an institution: a dream for the right person. 💕

The future of AI news is here in Halifax, it seems—and god, it sucks How an Instagram DM led to a rabbit-hole chase of fake journalists, fake addresses and fake endorsements, and what it means for us all.

Weeks ago, I ventured down Quinpool and visited a company office that doesn’t exist. I was looking for a team of Halifax writers who, despite my best efforts to prove otherwise, don’t appear to exist either. And that's only the start.

My latest for @thecoast.ca:

www.thecoast.ca/news-opinion...

Cultural industries in general! I have artist and writer friends genuinely panicking because they feel that when push comes to shove, they are disposable and have no "real" skills. :( We cannot go that way, as a civilization. Art isn't a luxury. I am so sad and frustrated.

I want to say "support everyone," but I feel like the more immediate harm is going to come to my community, the writers and editors and publishers who buy their coffees here and launch their books here. I need that economy not to be crippled.

I hate that he has forced choices & hate nationalism. :(

I *love* indies & hate this for everyone. We are keeping everything in stock.

But Canada only *has* a publishing industry b/c of cultural protectionism--our indies can't compete well even with US indies. Losing the Cdn market will hurt US pubs, but losing the US market will *crush* Cdn indies.

March is for Music! Our latest Newsletter is out the door, and there is so much to tell.

To keep up with Trident News and Happenings, check the website at tridenthalifax.ca and/or subscribe to the mailing list at the bottom of the page!

buttondown.com/TridentHalif...

Nobody understands me

Better than Well of Loneliness AMIRITE #obscurebookhumour

I know the drink is named after Stonewall Jackson, Confederate "hero", but I like to pretend it is named after the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Maybe the Haligonian version, then, can be called Radclyffe Hall?

A Haligonian Stonewall:

Rye
Propeller ginger beer
Noggins apple cider
Ice & a slice of apple...

You aren't going to be able to subsidize Alcoa or Algoma Steel, but you can keep your neighbours afloat and your community open while the government does the heavy lifting.

And, actually, rye is super tasty. Make your Old Fashioned with maple syrup, you won't be sorry.

~Fin

*passing, gdi 😂

Get your coffee from the cafe down the street instead of Starbucks. Read a book from ECW or Biblioasis next instead of Harper Collins. Drop an extra $5 in the band's tip jar.

That really is all it takes.

Some people are going to feel this more than others, which is a lot of why I won't raise prices. The difference between paying $2.40 or $2.60 for a cup of coffee might not matter to you, but it matters to someone.

If you are someone who won't feel a 1% change, this is your time to shine.

I do not have any intention of passive these costs on to our customers directly. I won't raise prices unless something truly drastic happens. (If eggs hit $22/dozen here, maybe we will have to talk about the cake.)

But it will have to come from somewhere.

But it is also in absolute terms not a lot of dollars. The entire cost of today's price hikes could be covered by selling one (1) additional used book per day. Three (3) more cups of coffee per day.

Any independent business survives or fails on razor-thin margins. When the price of milk goes up $0.20/gallon, coffee $1/lb, and paper cups $7/case, I can tell you right now, that is 1% of our annual revenue right there. (That's gross. Forget % of profits--small business do not make profits.)

That didn't prevent the price of tea, coffee, and milk from all going up last month. Our paper supply vendors (cups, sleeves, napkins, etc.) all announced price hikes in response to tariff threats as well.

We won't feel these changes directly, we will feel them as the overall economy hurts.