S.A.L.'s BOOK BAR
Introducing the Stratford Arts & Lectures' BOOK BAR,
a pop-up micro bookstore located inside the fun and fabulous Matilda Gallery & Art Bar at 85 Downie Street
in downtown Stratford, ON.
An ever-changing curated selection for dreamers and thinkers.
Art, books, and cocktails.
Open every day.
Order online.
Pick up in store.
Free local delivery.
Fall 2025 Events
Please join us for a delightful afternoon tea with Globe and Mail bestselling author Iona Whishaw as we celebrate, and discuss, her newest book, A Season for Spies, a Lane Winslow prequel. An audience Q & A and book signing will follow the event.
In A Season for Spies, the page-turning prequel to the mystery series Publishers Weekly calls “highly entertaining,” Lane Winslow embarks on her first spy mission in wartime England, while her grandparents’ quiet Christmas in Scotland is interrupted by a mysterious guest.
Iona Whishaw is a former educator and social worker whose mother and grandfather were both spies during their respective wars. She is the award-winning author of the Globe and Mail bestselling Lane Winslow Mystery series. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband.
Please join us for a delightful afternoon tea with New York Times bestselling author Marissa Stapley, writing as Julia McKay, as we celebrate, and discuss, her newest holiday romance, Christmas at the Ranch. An audience Q & A and book signing will follow the event.
In this second-chance holiday romance, a woman flees family scandal by returning to Wilder Ranch for Christmas, where she first found love—and heartbreak.
Julia McKay is the pen name of Marissa Stapley, a New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels, including the Reese’s Book Club pick Lucky, soon to be an Apple TV+ limited series starring Anya Taylor-Joy. She has also co-written several bestselling holiday romances, including The Holiday Swap and Three Holidays and a Wedding. She divides her time between city life in Toronto and lake life in Haliburton, where she writes about love, second chances, and the magic of the holidays.
Past Events
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Pop-up adult book fairs in collaboration with venues in southwestern Ontario. Our most recent event was with Matilda Gallery & Art Bar in Stratford, Ontario. More events popping up soon.
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Our Story
Stratford Arts & Lectures offers engaging programming with some of today's leading figures in the literary arts. Year round, Stratford Arts & Lectures hosts onstage conversations and carefully crafted events with incredible authors, critics, and cultural figures as we explore the creative process, ideas, and our relationship to the world around us. Stratford Arts & Lectures brings readers and writers together. This is where stories come to life.
