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Monday 10am - 6pm Tuesday 10am - 6pm Wednesday 10am - 6pm Thursday 10am - 6pm Friday 10am - 6pm Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 11am - 5pm

Octopus Books

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Ottawa, ON
Octopus Books

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Woman owned, independent, & committed to making the world a better place.

Octopus Books is an anti-oppressive bookstore that supports the liberation of all community members from explicit or implicit violence, colonialism, racism, sexism, ageism, transphobia, whorephobia, cissexism, ableism, fatphobia, sexual harassment, or gender policing. We specifically recognize the right of all people to live without poverty, to gain an economic livelihood, and to work safely and with respect in their chosen field. While Octopus Books believes in promoting and exchanging ideas in support of emancipation and activism, we also reserve the right to assess and manage circumstances and situations within our store as per our collective vision towards liberation for all community members. If you have an experience at our store that does not reflect these values, tell us - please email us at [email protected], or ask to speak to the owner.

10/31/2026

Captain Hook may have ripped some bags and torn some pages, but it was great to have him stop by today for a few hours. Argh…Ahoy Matey & Happy Halloween!!

10/31/2026

We had a wonderful evening last night at the National Arts Centre for the conclusion of the 2026 CBC Massey Lectures with Leilani Farha (), this year’s Massey Lecturer and former UN rapporteur on housing. If you missed it, signed copies are still available at Octopus! In her lecture Housing Inc., Leilani Farha examines the global housing crisis, tracing its roots over the past four decades and exploring how political leaders and powerful financial institutions have shaped a system that increasingly treats housing as a source of profit rather than a fundamental human right. Farha draws parallels between the historical dispossession of Indigenous Peoples from their lands and resources and today’s housing inequalities, showing how the same systems of exploitation contribute to rising housing costs, tenant displacement, the destruction of communities and the growing invisibility of people experiencing homelessness. According to Farha, the fight for home requires an ideological shift rooted in law, compassion, and human dignity.

10/30/2026

Congratulations to local author Megan M. Davies-Ostrom on launching her debut novel, the horror-fantasy epic Rise From These Dark Waters. Signed copies available now at Octopus Books!

Published by Bad Hand Books

10/29/2026

We have three tickets available for tonight’s Massey Lecture at the NAC at 7:30 - let us know if you’d like them - we can email them to you!

10/27/2026

Honoured to be joining Monia Mazigh in conversation with Alex Neve. The launch for the second edition is a great reminder of the struggle we all face for Human Rights for all. Monia is an inspiration for all of us to stand up for what is right. Books will be available at the store.

10/27/2026

We’re excited for the upcoming October 29th CBC Massey Lecture at the NAC, Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home with Leilani Farha, and we’re celebrating with two last minute giveaway packages! Enter for your chance to win two tickets to the lecture and a free copy of the book. There will be TWO lucky winners, each receiving a ticket and book package!

Here’s how to enter:
1. Comment below with who you’d take with you to the lecture on Thursday night.
2. Share this post to your stories!

That’s it. Good luck, everyone! Winners will be contacted tomorrow.

10/27/2026

Join us for a discussion of Talk Treaty to Me: Understanding the Basics of Treaties and Land in Canada, a national bestseller by Crystal Gail Fraser and Sara Komarnisky, presented by Know History!

📍 Know History, 384 Bank St.
🕒 Wed Nov 4, 6:00PM - 8:00PM
🎟️ Free registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/talk-treaty-to-me-book-event-tickets-2001066249018

Designed for anyone interested in understanding treaties and their ongoing significance in Canada, this event is open to community members, students, educators, researchers, and the general public. It offers an accessible entry point into complex histories and contemporary conversations about land, responsibility, and relationships.

The discussion will explore key themes from the book, including treaty history, everyday acts of reconciliation, and how Canadians can better understand their responsibilities in relation to land and Indigenous peoples.

Attendees will hear directly from the authors, gain deeper insight into the ideas behind the book, and take part in a conversation that invites reflection on how treaties shape our shared present and future.

10/26/2026

Join M. Remi Yergeau to discuss Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal with panelists Miranda J. Brady, Rayvon Fouché, Jeff Nagy and Rianna Walcott.

📍 Irene's Pub, 885 Bank St.
🕒 Thursday Oct. 29, 5:00-6:30pm
Free registration: https://carleton.ca/fpga/event/author-meets-readers-technoskepticism-between-possibility-and-refusal/

This is a book about possibility and refusal in relation to new technologies. Though refusal is an especially powerful mode—particularly for those who have historically not been given the option to say no—people of color and disabled people have long navigated the space between saying yes and saying no to the newest technologies. Technoskepticism relates some of these stories to reveal the possibilities skepticism can create.

The case for technoskepticism unfolds across three sections: the first focused on disability, the creative use of wellness apps, and the desire for diagnosis; the second on digital nostalgia and home for Black and Asian users who produced communities online before home pages gave way to profiles; and the third focused on the violence inherent in A.I.-generated Black bodies and the possibilities for Black style in the age of A.I. Acknowledging how the urge to refuse new technologies emerges from specific racialized histories, the authors also emphasize how care can look like an exuberant embrace of the new.

M. Remi Yergeau (they/them) is a Canada Research Chair in Critical Disability Studies and Communication and associate professor of Communication and Media Studies at Carleton University.

Miranda J. Brady is an associate professor in Communication and Media Studies at Carleton University.

Rayvon Fouché holds a joint appointment as Professor of Communication Studies and Professor in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrative Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.

Jeff Nagy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at York University.

Rianna Walcott is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Maryland, and Associate Director of the Black Communication and Technology lab.

Presented by Carleton University Faculty of Public and Global Affairs
Published by Stanford University Press

10/22/2026

Join us to celebrate the launch of Megan M. Davies-Ostrom's debut novel, Rise From These Dark Waters, an uplifting, genre-blending tale told in an epistolary, novel-in-short-stories format.

📍 The Bridge Public House, 1 Donald St.
🕒 Thursday Oct. 29th, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Min, royal daughter of the elven-like Yhathlin, was born to be a diplomat. Representing her nation at the joint American-Canadian embassy in her subterranean city, she was good at walking the tightrope between the edicts of blood and birth-order that governed her people, the bewildering emotions of her human colleagues, and the strict rules of the Yhathlani Treaty. Then her city was overrun by an apocalyptic plague, and her ordered world disappeared in a flood of blood, teeth, and hunger. Now, fifteen years later, Min is a refugee in the dying remnants of Washington, D.C.. Alien and alone, with only the voices of those she's lost to guide her, she has one reason left to live: to protect Sophie, the last living relative of her human diplomats, or die trying.

Rise From These Dark Waters weaves between three interconnected storylines. If you enjoy epic political fantasy and love the found-document style and framing narratives of Max Brooks' Devolution, this one is for you.

Megan M. Davies-Ostrom is a Canadian author of horror and dark speculative fiction with an MA in Cultural Anthropology and 25 years' experience working in international development and cross-cultural settings. Her fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, such as; Fantasy Magazine, DreamForge, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Bodies Full of Burning, and A Chronicle of Horrors.

Address

116 Third Avenue
Ottawa, ON
K1S2K1

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm
Friday	10am - 6pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	11am - 5pm

Telephone

+16132332589

Website

https://www.octopusbooks.ca/

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