Page 62 - 05_June-2025

Author, publisher and Porch Light Books owner Michael Hingston
a place that makes you want to sit back with some old friends
and reminisce about the Empress Ale House. Between the
Colombian, Made by Marcus, Frank’s Pub and the new Porch
Light Books, I love what’s happening in that little corner of
Strathcona right now. (Now bring back the Empress, and we’ll
call it good.)
Porch Light’s owner, Michael Hingston, is, among many
things, also the publisher of the popular Short Story Advent
Calendar series and Edify’s culture editor. He sells both used
and new books from this airy space, where you can easily
lose track of time chatting with Michael about your literary
aspirations while eyeing new copies of Martyr! by Kaveh
Akbar or used copies of Whitemud Walking by Matthew
Weigel. Since I am experiencing caffeine shakes, I limit
myself to purchasing just one copy of A Man of Two Faces
by Viet Thanh Nguyen instead of the thirty books that catch
my eye.
I have my pile of books, and the shops have been good to me.
It’s affirming to go out and talk books and drink coffee and realize
that we’re all just trying to make sense of the day-to-day. And if
there are coffee and books around, well, those things help with
that. I take my book stack to Frank’s to get a decompression pint
and post up to read and think about how I feel so fortunate to live
in this city. ED.
62 EDify. JUNE.25