Message from the editor

Decades ago, I studied environmental communication at York University. I worked as a professional environmentalist for several years after. I wrote the Sustainable City column for The Coast for years and I still write about environment every chance I get. That’s why this issue’s theme of environmental literature is dear to me. In our cover story, environmental journalist Erica Butler talks of the dual need for books exalting the nonhuman world and books lamenting its decline at our hand.

She considers seven new Atlantic books serving one or both of those functions, and only scratches the surface of a wealth of literature on the subject. There had to be a further reading list, looking at new books and classics on environment, and still there isn’t enough room for all of them (visit atlanticbooks.ca/stories/ tag/environment for more). Publishers and writers from across the region have grappled with the existential crisis that is climate change, and other equally fundamental crises facing our world, like toxicity and habitat loss.

Beyond Butler’s extensive literary review, this issue includes a snippet from Ruby Red Skies, a powerful novel that grapples with climate change and rampant wildfires, a guide to growing a thriving garden in acidic soils (in our digital issue), a feature about an Indigenous-inspired cookbook using local ingredients (local is sustainable), and children’s books about wild animals struggling to overcome human-induced environmental challenges.

And that further reading list: it covers art and photography to replenish our love and appreciation for this irreplaceable planet, thoughtful meditations in fact and fiction on our relationship with the nonhuman world and how we might rebalance it and stories of activists and others striving to do just that, by reworking our economy so it won’t destroy us.

As always, this issue is packed with author interviews and book features, excerpts and reviews. We have a beautiful story on Elder Sister Dorothy Moore’s new memoir, and the reconciliation happening in Indigenous art books, as well as celebrations of a 50-year publishing venture and a brand new graphic imprint for young readers. That’s sustainability and renewal, right there.

FEARNOCH

Steinbeck meets Toews meets Joyce This insightful and illuminating debut by Jim McEwen explores the decline of rural Canada, the meaning of community, and the need to see oneself in one’s neighbour. HARD TICKET

New Writing Made in Newfoundland Edited by critically acclaimed author Lisa Moore, Hard Ticket showcases the magnetic work of Newfoundland’s next generation of literary trailblazers. THE RAW LIGHT OF MORNING

A powerful debut Laurel searches for a fresh start, humour, and love in the aftermath of domestic violence, and discovers how far she will go to protect herself and the ones she loves.

NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT US

Award-winning author Bridget Canning returns with an incisive and unsettling collection A collection of short fiction about how we find connection in a disconnected world, and considers what it means to be good, or a villain, in our relationships with others. FOUR FOR FOGO ISLAND

Sardonic private eye Sebastian Synard returns A murder in a quilt shop on scenic Fogo Island leads to an investigation that takes Sebastien and Mae across Newfoundland to track down the killer all the while dealing with family drama. WHERE THE CROOKED LIGHTHOUSE SHINES

A dark, fantastical collection of narrative poems Drawing on the unique elements of Newfoundland and Labrador culture and folklore. Readers of all ages will enjoy the rhymes of Joshua Goudie and illustrations by Craig Goudie.

Publisher

Executive Director Editor Graphic Designer Program Manager Administrative Assistant Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association Karen Cole Chris Benjamin Gwen North Chantelle Rideout Lynn McCallum

Atlantic Books Today is published by the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association (www.atlanticpublishers.ca), which gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia and the Government of PEI. Opinions expressed in articles in Atlantic Books Today do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Board of the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association.

Printed in Canada. This is issue number 96 Fall 22. Atlantic Books Today is published twice a year. All issues are numbered in sequence. Total Atlantic-wide circulation: 30,000. ISSN 1192-3652

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