Our cover features Earnscliffe, PEI by Erica Rutherford, whose career-spanning retrospective and accompanying exhibition reminds us how boldly art can reflect and shape our understanding of identity, place and self. A transgender pioneer and multidisciplinary artist, Rutherford’s multifaceted career took her across continents before she settled on Prince Edward Island in the 1970s. TThere, she established herself as a painter and printmaker, using art to explore agency and gender construction. Her work evolved from dark, semi-abstract collages to hard-edged Pop Art, always ahead of its time. We chose Earnscliffe, PEI to honour a life and body of work defined by transformation, resilience and reinvention—values that echo Atlantic Books Today’s own journey. Her story sets the tone for this issue.
Welcome to the Spring/Summer issue of Atlantic Books Today, arriving as the region’s literary calendar hits its stride. Let’s raise a toast to the 2025 Atlantic Book Awards and cheer for this year’s nominees from across the region. You can pop over to our website at www.atlanticbooks.ca for a full list of this year’s nominees emerging from across all four provinces, and check out all the award-worthy books. We’re excited to give you a closer look at the Best AtlanticPublished Book Award to spotlight the 2025 nominees for this award and celebrate the incredible talent from authors and publishers in the region.
In this issue, we dive into the growing intersection of climate change, artistic collaboration and literature. Our feature story “Climate on the page” highlights powerful works that merge science, activism and storytelling to tackle global warming, eco-anxiety and energy transition with imagination and heart. From poetry rooted in rural PEI to graphic stories with grit, these titles show the many ways
literature can lead us through uncertainty with empathy and imagination.
“The Art of Rebellion” takes us into the world of riot, revolt and radical change. From Acadian poetry that burns with resistance to political deep dives and suffragist trailblazers, these stories remind us that literature can spark more than just thought—it can spark action.
We’re celebrating Éditions Perce-Neige’s 45th anniversary, a remarkable milestone for a cornerstone of Francophone publishing in the region.
We also pay tribute to the enduring legacy of two literary powerhouses—Antonine Maillet and Marguerite Maillet, whose contributions to Acadian literature are nothing short of legendary.
Plus, we’re sharing books that heal, guides that get you outside and art books that inspire. You’ll also find a rich mix of reviews, excerpts, author interviews and books for young readers.
As always, thank you for picking up Atlantic Books Today, and for supporting Atlantic Canadian books. Here’s to another season of stories that move us, challenge us and bring us together.
—Heather Fegan
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Heather Fegan
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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 101 Spring/Summer 25. Atlantic Books Today is published twice a year. All issues are numbered in sequence. Total Atlantic-wide circulation: 40,000. ISSN 1192-3652
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The “climate lens” is a concept in Canadian public policy which asks decision-makers not to ignore the coming tsunami (excuse the pun) of climate-driven effects that many communities will, or have already started to, experience. It asks our leaders to base their decisions not on what they’ve traditionally experienced as the risks and dangers of our civilized life, but rather on new risks and dangers that we can see coming, sometimes quickly, caused by our first unwitting and then deliberate alterations to the atmosphere.
But before our governments cottoned on to the need to be intentional about adapting to the changing climate, our writers and poets were already leading the way. “Cli-fi” is a term coined in the late 2000s to name a growing literary genre that gives readers space to imagine and rehearse how our human world may experience and respond to the very real and imminent consequences of global heating.
And this year, cli-fi has made a strong showing in Atlantic Canadian books. We Were In It: Stories about Energy Transition (Memorial University Press) is perhaps the most intentional cli-fi of the latest Atlantic offerings.
Editors Lisa Moore and Sheena Wilson are the helm of a group of writers from a variety of fields and backgrounds, including “academics, scientists, creative writers, visual artists, Indigenous legal experts, Knowledge Keepers and policy makers,” who convened on computer screens during the pandemic, to write down stories and ideas through a “climate lens.” The result is a series of vignettes and short stories that range from comedic scenes of present-day power outages, to visions of a future where we sometimes willingly play a role in the lucrative destruction and then reconstruction of our world.
With the use of writing prompts (which the editors share at the end of the collection, and encourage readers to use themselves) the writers manage to hone
Edited by Lisa Moore & Sheena Wilson, Illustrated by Kamei Lim Memorial University Press
Artist Kamei Lim visually interpreted the stories in We Were in It: Stories of Energy Transition (Memorial University Press).
“We engaged a visual artist, Kamei Lim, to illustrate each story through a visual medium of her choice . . . Lim’s art proved to be a complex, poetic, and metaphoric response to these flash fictions, more interpretation than illustration. This approach was incredibly exciting for the writers. Lim also designed the cover. Her artistic vision is integral to the experience of each story [and] the book as a whole…”
in on the people at the centre of the crisis, their complexity, complicity and relationships. A woman walks out to witness a poisoned, dying calf, recalling a night spent with the man who came to sell fracking to her community. A surveyor recognizes his childhood paradise, even as he helps prepare it for harvest. The son of a beleaguered COVID nurse takes his lockdown-borne paranoia too far. Under the guidance of Moore and Wilson, We Were In It is a fascinating survey of the cli-fi imaginings of a diverse group of thinkers.
Sofia Alarcon’s version of cli-fi tackles the climate-aware state of mind. The writer and illustrator borrows the title of her debut graphic story collection, Endsickness (Conundrum Press), from non-fiction writer Elizabeth Rush, who defined it as “its own kind of vertigo—a physical response to living in a world that is moving in unusual ways.”
Alarcon’s stories run the gamut from the darkly absurd— skewering the false hope offered up by Patagonia sweaters and “positive thinking,” to the starkly honest—pondering the path of life on earth that brought us to this point in history. “This can’t be what our ancestors survived for,” say the friends in “Adaptation,” of their high-rent, low-pay lives. “This can’t be the pinnacle of human imagination.” Finally, two poetry collections in this season’s crop
of Atlantic books speak to cli-fi themes, not so much intentionally as unavoidably, as they give windows into lives rooted in the natural world.
Poet Chris Bailey writes from rural PEI, with one foot on a fishing boat with a “nor’east wind that don’t give a fuck about you,” and another boarding a plane westward, to where “lobster traps are décor here.” There’s not much effort needed to apply a climate lens when the cruel vagaries of Maritime weather are your everyday, and Bailey shows that in his second poetry collection, Forecast: Pretty Bleak (McClelland & Stewart).
Bailey documents the deeply personal, and also the voices and ideas of his particular corner of the world, where storms can turn a house into “a thrumming low-toned tuning fork” and work is “an act of love.” In a series called “Only Replacement Will Do” Bailey walks readers through the destruction of Fiona and tunes in voices of determined resilience left in its wake: “Today is a day to count your blessings.”
Paul Moorehead is a pediatric oncologist, baseball fan and parent, all of which inform his debut collection, Green (Breakwater Books). Moorehead’s scientific outlook inspires and permeates his poems, as does his humour,
Endsickness
the playfulness of which effortlessly gives way to darker observations and unforgettable images (see “hermit crabs residing in bottle caps” and “as though amber does any good for the fly.”
In “Ways of Knowing,” Moorehead plays with the relationship between art and science, like Jacques Cousteau, whom he quotes with the assertion that “science and poetry are, in fact, inseparable.”
And while Moorehead’s collection includes more than cli-fi themes, it may also include the line that most sums up the genre, or at least the state of the world that inspires it: “Everyone’s about to get a faceful of natural consequences,” writes Moorehead in “Lessons in Wild,” a poem about his daughter and his cat, and perhaps also about all of us and our world. ■
ERICA BUTLER is a radio reporter and journalist based in Sackville, New Brunswick, perched on one end of the Chignecto Isthmus, which like many places, is vulnerable to the effects of a new and changing climate.
scrapbook des révoltes dans la poésie des Éditions Perce-Neige, de 1980 à aujourd’hui
Discover Acadie from a new perspective through this rebellious scrapbook, featuring the poetry of Éditions Perce-Neige from 1980 to today
Sofia Alarcon
Conundrum Press
Forecast: Pretty Bleak
Chris Bailey McClelland & Stewart
Green
Paul Moorehead Breakwater Books
Un
L’ACADIE SOUS UN AUTRE ANGLE
The jury is in
The shortlist-scoop on the Best Atlantic-Published Book Award
This spring, the Atlantic Book Awards Festival will once again celebrate the vibrant literary culture of Atlantic Canada with a week of engaging events, both online and in person. The festival showcases the region’s literary talent through readings, discussions and appearances by authors shortlisted for the prestigious Atlantic Book Awards, which together offer over $40,000 in prize money. This year’s festival takes place from May 29 to June 5, 2025.
A highlight of the week is the Atlantic Book Awards ceremony where this year’s winners will be announced and honoured. The award ceremony takes place on June 5 at Paul O’Regan Hall in Halifax Central Library.
Among the key honours at the Atlantic Book Award ceremony is the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association’s Best Atlantic-Published Book Award, presented annually to an Atlantic Canadian publisher whose book best exemplifies excellence and achievement in publishing. Sponsored by Friesen’s Corporation, the award includes a $3,000 cash prize for the winning publisher and $1,000 for the book’s author.
The shortlisted books are selected by independent juries for each award, who are given the challenging task of ranking an incredible array of submissions. Here’s what the jury had to say about the nominees for the APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award.
Death and Other Inconveniences
Lesley Crewe
Vagrant Press
In Death and Other Inconveniences, Margo, a 62-year-old widow in Fredericton, faces the chaos of life after her husband’s sudden death. Navigating family dynamics, financial struggles and self-discovery, Margo embarks on a humorous and heartfelt journey of reinvention, proving it’s never too late to start anew.
Jury’s Quote:
Death & Other Inconveniences is distinguished at first glance by its striking title, which cleverly announces the fine humor that characterizes her work. This ability to take life’s vicissitudes at face value has seduced thousands of readers across the country, and the publishing house has multiplied its initiatives to encourage this encounter between author and public. Congratulations to Vagrant for publishing a well-designed and lovely book. The author has elevated a common experience and woven an exceptional tale, featuring a woman on a voyage of self-discovery. Highly deserving of a nomination in the top three of the publishing award.
Visit www.atlanticbooks.ca or scan here for a full list of nominees for the 2025 Atlantic Book Awards.
Lesley Crewe
Photo by Nicola Davison
Zaatari: Culinary Traditions of the World’s Largest Syrian Refugee Camp
Karen E. Fisher
Goose Lane Editions
Zaatari offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of Syrian refugees through their food. The book features over 80 recipes passed down through generations, accompanied by personal stories, art and photographs from Zaatari Camp. Fisher, a field researcher with UNHCR Jordan, highlights how cooking preserves cultural identity and fosters community among displaced individuals. All royalties from the book support the camp’s residents.
Jury’s Quote:
This book is an important archive of Syrian culture and recipes and also supports a group of people experiencing a humanitarian crisis. More than a cookbook, it encapsulates the spirit and history of the Syrian people in a beautifully designed interior and exterior. The publisher created an extensive and wide-reaching promotional campaign that enabled the book to reach a large audience and become a bestseller. The book provides a catalyst for discussion, a call for understanding and the acknowledgement of suffering in a world that feels very dark lately. This book deserves to be in the top three for all of these reasons.
Mal
Chase Cormier
Éditions Perce-Neige
Mal by Chase Cormier is a poignant, auto-fictional narrative set in the Opelousas region of Louisiana, following Perroquet, a young boy navigating family separation, cultural loss and the complexities of Cajun identity. As he bonds with his grandparents, Perroquet begins to reclaim his sense of belonging and language through the transformative power of storytelling and memory.
Jury’s Quote:
Adorned with a remarkable cover, Mal stands out as much for the quality of its design as for the originality of its content and the earthy language of its narration. This is a clever and poignant work of autofiction and it receives top marks for originality. It also places a spotlight on the Cajun language and culture that generally receives little recognition. It is difficult for a small press to gain attention for their work, but this book accomplishes just that. A small gem competing in a sea of bigger marketing budgets. It is important to acknowledge the achievements of a small press when they do good work.
What does it take?
The APMA Best-Atlantic Published Book Award jury is comprised of qualified publishing professionals (publishers, presidents or senior staff of publishing firms) selected from outside the Atlantic-Canadian region.
The judges assess books based on the following criteria:
• Content and editing
• Design, layout and production
• Marketing, promotion and sales
• Cultural, social or literary impact
The jury is tasked to compile a shortlist of three outstanding books and select the final winner from the shortlist.
Karen E. Fisher
Chase Cormier
Photo by Yousef al-Hariri
Photo by Vivian Ivory
Resistance, activism, political change. These are some of the things that are making up our current geopolitical climate locally and in Canada. Atlantic Canadian authors have crafted books that reflect on these themes.
These works inspire conversations about Canada’s path forward, addressing issues of reconciliation, inclusivity and cultural preservation. This collection of books also underscores the importance of challenging societal norms and amplifying marginalized voices.
Jonathan Roy’s edited anthology Déchirures vers l’avenir highlights the enduring spirit of Acadian resistance and cultural identity through poetry.
It reflects the struggles and triumphs of the Acadian community while offering a powerful commentary on themes of rebellion and resilience. These poems resonate with Canada’s current political landscape, touching on cultural preservation, reconciliation and the complexities of regional and linguistic identities.
The collection serves as a testament to the role of art in igniting dialogue and challenging societal norms. It also is a reminder of art’s ability to ignite conversation, challenging the status quo. By showcasing poems rooted
The art of rebellion
Books on riot, revolt and politics
by Ameeta Vohra
in themes of rebellion and cultural identity, the collection brings attention to historically marginalized voices and the enduring struggles of the Acadian community. Through intergenerational perspectives, preservation of Acadian heritage—and inspiring readers to reflect on broader social and political issues, such as justice, reconciliation and inclusion—is consistent throughout the anthology. The collection is comparable to a cultural lens, offering insights into how art can amplify voices and bring about deep thought on critical issues. It encourages a reflection on Canada’s identity and the future path forward.
The Belfast Riot of 1847 by Callum Beck explores the second-worst election riot in Canadian history and how it ended up shaping Prince Edward Island’s social and political dynamics. It examines the violent clash between Scottish Protestants and Irish Catholics, highlighting the deep-rooted tensions of the time. It delves into the causes and consequences of the riot, offering a detailed narrative of the events and their lasting impact on the province’s history.
This book provides insight into how historical divisions influenced the development of cultural and political identities. It resonates with contemporary Canadian discussions about reconciliation and cultural diversity.
Jo-Ann Roberts (left) is an award-winning CBC Newfoundland radio-show host, journalist, former Canadian politician and the author of Storm the Ballot Box: An Insider’s Guide to a Voting Revolution (Nimbus Publishing).
Photo by Ken Kelly
It also addresses historical injustices, offering lessons on navigating societal challenges.
One of the current issues that this book would resonate with is the past injustices, reconciliation and a healing path surrounding the Indigenous people of Canada. The book underscores how divisions can harden over time, offering parallels to the importance of narrowing the gaps in understanding between communities. The themes of cultural identity and diversity are relevant to Canada’s efforts to celebrate and preserve the heritage of its marginalized groups. It also promotes inclusivity.
Jo-Ann Roberts’ book, Storm the Ballot Box: An Insider’s Guide to a Voting Revolution, addresses voter apathy issues and Canada’s electoral system vulnerabilities. From her past experiences, Roberts highlights how low voter turnout and external influences threaten the democratic process. The book empowers Canadians to reclaim their role in shaping the nation’s future through practical steps to inspire civic engagement.
Through 20 actions aimed at revitalizing democratic participation in Canada, it dissuades disinterest in the electoral process and emphasizes the significance of each individual’s vote. It highlights ways to address weaknesses in the system and encourages citizens to make informed decisions when voting. Roberts aims to inspire and empower Canadians to engage meaningfully in shaping their country’s future, regardless of political leanings.
In the context of current Canadian political discussions, the book resonates with ongoing debates about electoral reform, inclusivity, and the importance of active participation in democracy. It aligns with efforts to ensure that voices are heard, particularly when there is distrust in political systems locally, throughout Canada and globally. The book encourages citizens to take action and strengthen the democratic foundation of Canada.
Disruptive Women: The Untold Story of Nova Scotia’s Pioneers of Peace and Suffrage by Sharon MacDonald highlights the lives of Mary Chesley and her daughter Polly, two influential activists from Nova Scotia. With her Quaker heritage, Mary was a leader in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and played a critical role in the fight for women’s voting rights. Polly pursued advanced education at the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics. She became deeply involved in pacifist and leftist causes in London and even collaborated with Mahatma Gandhi on India’s independence efforts.
The book uncovers their often-overlooked contributions to social change and uses rare photographs to bring their
stories to life. It also highlights the broader movements for peace and suffrage in Nova Scotia, presenting a detailed and engaging account of these trailblazers who reshaped the province’s political and social landscape.
Challenging societal norms and advocating for change remain relevant in today’s political environment. Those include gender equality, cultural preservation and reconciliation. It reminds us of the power of grassroots movements and the need to amplify marginalized voices. By exploring the Chesleys’ efforts to address systemic injustices, the book provides valuable lessons for navigating contemporary challenges in Canada and beyond. ■
AMEETA VOHRA is an award-winning journalist from Halifax.
Déchirures vers l’avenir
Jonathan Roy Éditions Perce-Neige
Storm the Ballot Box: An Insider’s Guide to a Voting Revolution
Jo-Ann Roberts
Nimbus Publishing
The Belfast Riot of 1847
Callum Beck
Nimbus Publishing
Disruptive Women:
The Untold Story of Nova Scotia’s Pioneers of Peace and Suffrage
Sharon MacDonald
Nimbus Publishing
From a different angle
Acadian publishing house Éditions Perce- Neige boldly celebrates 45 years
There is much for Éditions Perce-Neige to celebrate this year. An essential feature in the Acadian literary landscape since 1980, Perce-Neige is marking its 45th anniversary. The publisher is at a turning point and is viewing and showing Acadie “from a different angle.” Recent changes reflect Acadian literature in the second decade of the millennium in bold and surprising forms and contents. As part of new graphic, web and cover design, the text on this season’s covers is printed vertically. Another literal new direction is the impressive 2025 team. Perce-Neige began as a collective of four of Acadie’s leading poets, succeeded by Gérald Leblanc and then Serge Patrice Thibodeau (1990-2005 as managing editor, 2005-2023 as managing and literary editor). The house is now under the direction of Danielle LeBlanc, Managing Editor for the past year; Émile Turmel, Literary and Art Editor since 2023 and Catherine Pion, in charge of marketing.
This is not the first time that women have played a pioneer role in Perce-Neige. Poet Dyane Léger inaugurated its list in 1980 with her poetry collection Graines de fée , and Rose Després’s publications have figured prominently since 1982. These pre-eminent feminist poets broke with one of the traditions established by the first Frenchlanguage publishing house in New Brunswick,
by Jo-Anne Elder
Éditions d’Acadie (1972-2000), which introduced Raymond Guy LeBlanc, Guy Arsenault and Herménégilde Chiasson. These poets of the “tenth renaissance” asserted Acadie’s modernity, collective identity and the first inscription of non-standard language. Less than ten years later, Perce-Neige affirmed a more urban and more introspective view, and has highlighted the diversity of writers (Queer and Indigenous) and Acadian / Cadien regions. While Éditions d’Acadie inscribed Acadian literature into history, Éditions Perce-Neige’s work is what Jonathan Roy calls a “désincriptionalisation,” a neologism I might translate as a process of “unsubscribing” to official narratives and outsider views of language, literature and identity.
Déchirures vers l’avenir, the anthology Jonathan Roy edited for the 45th anniversary, is a scrapbook, a living collage that reveals passions and dissidences, tribute and irreverence, and the intersectional identities of Acadie. Like the vertical title on the cover, the format is unexpected. The book is divided into five “collections” named by a line or two by a different poet about a different struggle. The table of contents presents poems by title only and the index of (70!) authors is alphabetical by first name, from André Muise to Zachary Richard. Jonathan Roy presents an Acadie that is “more dynamic, more convivial, unscripted” and hopes that his peers will
(L–R): Danielle LeBlanc, Émile Turmel and Catherine Pion, the team leading Éditions Perce-Neige.
Photo of Danielle: Mathieu Léger; photo of É mile: Annie-France Noël; photo of Catherine: ellememe
see themselves in these ruptures / cuttings / heartbreaks that move towards the future, always in progress. Roy’s introduction, written in a French with inflections borrowed from the spoken language of northeastern New Brunswick, sets the tone for a lively conversation in which poets talk over each other, contradict each other, refer to each other and finish each other’s sentences.
In 2018, Serge Patrice Thibodeau, then publisher, asked Roy to compile a poetry anthology that would mark the passage into the third decade of the 21st century. As Roy delved into the publications, a theme “imposed itself”: “revolt in all its forms, rebellion, protest, indignation…” The poets featured in the collection span nearly 50 years of Acadian writing, and the editor’s viewpoint is that of an insider and a Millennial. Jonathan Roy writes and works in a different literary and arts scene from that of the Baby Boom founders of publishing houses, theatres, musical groups and book fairs. In the 70s and 80s, small groups of students from arts disciplines formed co-ops that quickly became Acadian institutions, advocating for francophone artists and citizens. The 21st century has seen recession and inflation, Quebec student protests and Covid, and terrorism and tumult. Arts funding is more precarious, postcolonial identities fragment and consolidate and independent tools of production are more available. This anthology shows that literature is a compelling witness to change and a powerful change-maker.
The oldest French-language book fair in New Brunswick, in Madawaska, awarded Perce-Neige its Prix du salon this year. Performances and events are planned throughout the year, including the Frye Festival, the Quatre jeudis series in Barachois and the Acadian Poetry Festival in Caraquet. No doubt, there will be surprising, challenging and inspiring discoveries for readers. ■
JO-ANNE ELDER has translated more than 20 works of poetry, theatre, film, fiction and non-fiction from French to English and has been shortlisted for a Governor General’s Literary Award for translation three times. New & Noteworthy
Jonathan Roy
Photo by David Champagne
Love, loss and puffins
When Marjorie Simmins lost her husband, the late and celebrated author and filmmaker Silver Donald Cameron, to cancer in 2020, she struggled with two conflicting realities about his death: Cameron’s work was everywhere—“right bloody there… alive in print and film,” she writes in her newest memoir, In Search of Puffins—and yet, he was not. Simmins, the Truro-based author of Somebeachsomewhere, had spent more than two decades of her life with the man she called “Don.” She had even
Q&A with Marjorie Simmins
by Martin Bauman
chronicled their unlikely love story—when they fell in love, there was 22 years and 6,000 kilometres between them—in her first book, 2014’s Coastal Lives. Newly widowed and living alone, a continent’s width apart from the Vancouver suburbs where she grew up, Simmins had to rediscover both who she was and what it meant to call a place home. In Search of Puffins is a writer’s journey through grief, an ode to reinvention at any age and a love letter to Nova Scotia and all its wonders, big and small.
MB: Your first book, Coastal Lives, was a story about finding love—and how you and your husband, Donald, fell for each other despite the width of a country between you. In Search of Puffins is, in some respects, a story of accepting his passing. How did you realize that this was a story you wanted—or needed—to tell?
MS: Well, I did resist for some time, before it became obvious to me that I really should try to write the book. All of a sudden I thought, ‘Well, I have a beginning memoir, I have a middle memoir [The Year of the Horse], and I don’t have an end memoir.’
MB: Why puffins?
MS: Because they’re magical. And they fly, and they carry dreams around and I hadn’t had a chance to see them with Don. It came to me later that the puffins became a symbol of all the things and adventures that we hadn’t been able to do together—[though] we had many, many adventures together. They became a symbol of longing and delight.
CB: The years you write about during and after Don’s death have been eventful ones: we’ve seen a global pandemic, along with one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit Atlantic Canada—and that’s without navigating grief and loss. There’s a moment in the book where, in bracing for Hurricane Fiona to hit, you write that “facing the unknown, you have to hang onto something.” What was that something for you, in the unknown of a life after Don’s passing?
MS: You have to hang onto a sense of purpose, is what I found—and I hasten to say that everyone handles grief differently. In my case, it was all the work I did to extract myself from Cape Breton and to get to Truro. I focused on family, on friends, trying to bring some sort of lightness back into my life and looking for light to guide my footsteps. Later, that became a spiritual renewal for me— and that was important, too. But at first, it was just one foot in front of the other.
CB: One of the central themes of the book is the question of what makes a place home. You write of being torn between coasts—one on the west, where you grew up and where your family lives; another on the east, where you made a life and lifelong friends. You write, after Don’s passing, that it might break your heart to leave the Maritimes—and it might also break your heart to stay. How do you think of home today?
MS: I’ll probably be writing about different definitions of home all my life. I adore Cape Breton. It is a very magical, unique, lovely place and there’s a lot of lovely people there who I care about deeply. But for me, leaving Cape Breton was part of saying goodbye to Don. I needed to move in a new direction.
I think I’m probably the luckiest person in the world to love as many places as I do. I have a Cape Breton friend who once said to me, ‘Oh, you’re so lucky. Wherever you go, you’re loved.’ It was a really great thing for her to say, because it really brought me up short. It’s the truth of it. She’s right. One of these days, perhaps I’ll give into this delicious reality of mine, which is many, many homes, and many places to love. ■
MARTIN BAUMAN is the Halifax-based author of Hell of a Ride: Chasing Home and Survival on a Bicycle Voyage Across Canada.
Marjorie Simmins Pottersfield Press
In Search of Puffins
Forces of Acadian literature
by Marie-Linda Lord
Antonine Maillet (top) and Marguerite Maillet (bottom)
Photos of Marguerite Maillet
by Daniel Beaudry
Antonine Maillet and Marguerite Maillet Two exceptional Canadian literary women
Antonine Maillet and Marguerite Maillet are two of the most important figureheads of Acadian literature. Distant cousins, they have been connected in many ways throughout their lives. They were born five years apart in their neighbouring villages in New Brunswick: Antonine in Bouctouche in 1929 and Marguerite in Saint-Norbert in 1924. They died five weeks apart in 2025: Antonine at 95 on February 17 in Montréal, and Marguerite at 101 on March 27 in Moncton. They crossed paths within the congregation of Religieuses de Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur where they both taught literature at the Collège Notre-Dame d’Acadie in Moncton. Both left the congregation in 1967/1968 to pursue their careers: Antonine as a writer and Marguerite first as a teacher and researcher at Université de Moncton and later as an author and publisher.
Larger than life, Antonine Maillet was a true writer in the noblest sense of the term. She imagined a world, wrote a language, created a body of work, publishing more than 40 books. With her extraordinary determination, she participated in the modernization of Acadie by providing literary work in French for more than six decades, French being the pillar of the identity and hope of her people. From one book to the next, Maillet took a different and critical look at the world around her, a look that was sometimes difficult to penetrate and read because of its depth and insight. She combined, throughout her books, speaking out, transmitting memory and fictional writing. She created female protagonists who, in the text and the collective imagination, became spokespeople, liberating figures who undeniably leave their mark and who, above all, stand the test of time, as evidenced by the popularity of La Sagouine and the teaching of her books in universities around the world. In 1979, Pélagie-la-Charrette won the most prestigious literary prize in the Francophonie, Prix Goncour. Antonine Maillet enjoyed both popular success and critical acclaim, a rare occurrence in the literary world. Modern at heart, Marguerite Maillet was both a visionary and a pioneer of Acadian literature. During her academic career, Maillet worked tirelessly to promote Acadian literature by teaching among other things reference works
such as the first Anthologie de textes littéraires acadiens: 16061975, the first Histoire de la littérature acadienne, Réception des œuvres d’Antonine Maillet and two bibliographies of Acadian publications. After her retirement, Maillet wanted to pursue her work of promoting Acadian literature but for another audience. At the age of 72, she founded the first youth Acadian publishing house, Bouton d’or Acadie, in 1996, which was sold in 2012 and which still exists. She wrote more than a dozen children’s books and published dozens of authors. She was very innovative in creating various projects including a collection of Wabanaki First Nations tales, published in three languages.
Both Antonine Maillet and Marguerite Maillet, in their own acadianité, undeniably leave an invaluable legacy to Canadian literature. ■
MARIE-LINDA LORD is a retired professor from the Université de Moncton (1989-2024) where she directed the Research Chair in Acadian Studies (2007-2011).
Marguerite Maillet with the new owners of Bouton d’or Acadie upon her retirement in 2012.
Examining the natural world Look up, look around
by Meg D. Edwards
Most of us have our eyes glued to a bright screen for much of the day, and sadly that holds true for children too. While our eyes glaze over and our minds grow numb, the living, natural world is swirling magically around us, unnoticed.
No matter whether you are on a busy city street or in a quiet backyard, if you look up from your phone you will find life. Birds are singing, insects creeping and animals, their every sense alert to our presence, are hunting, foraging, nesting and living their lives practically underfoot.
Jeffrey C. Domm, an award-winning wildlife and nature illustrator (and retired instructor at NSCAD) with over 30 published books, hopes that his work encourages readers “to take the time to explore and take a walk in nature.”
As a child, Domm was a nature lover who loved to draw but it took him some years to put the two together. He had been working as a filmmaker and a designer when, after his first child, he found himself at the Robert Bateman Gallery and realized that he “wanted to get back to his art.” His first book (which never ended up being published) was about inner-city wildlife, the creatures that live alongside humans in the cities.
Now, in a full circle moment, Domm is in the middle of creating a new book about the same subject, urban wildlife. In this book (set to be published in late fall) he will guide families on how to reclaim the wild in their own backyards. With easy DIY projects included, this book will teach how you can make your garden more habitable to the wild creatures who live there or pass through.
Domm takes great pride in the realism of his illustrations. At one point when he was working on a guidebook about fossils, rocks and minerals, someone working on the book suggested that it would be easier and better to use photographs to capture the difference in textures.
Domm knew he had to prove he could do it. Later, when he pulled out his illustrations the man responded with,“That’s it! That’s why I said we needed to illustrate in photographs!” Domm, whose illustrations are truly as detailed and precise as photos, said he proudly “packed and up walked away.”
Domm has found that the distinction between adult and young readers is blurred in his field. At first, he was surprised to find children turning up to his shows asking him to sign adult birding books, but after he began to create books specifically for children, he found that adults turned up at the children’s events! It turns out that bright, beautifully designed guidebooks with clear definitions and check lists are popular with young and old.
Today, Domm is grateful that he has been able to spread his vision to so many people,
Jeffrey C. Domm, illustrator of nature guidebooks, as well as the illustrations gracing these pages.
no matter what their age. “The books connect them (the readers) to nature,” says Domm, “and that’s what these books are designed to do.”
Giving a child an illustrated book of their own is a great way to interest them in the natural world and Peggy Kochanoff’s Be a Close-Up Nature Detective: Solving the Tiniest Mysteries of the Natural World (Nimbus Publishing) is an excellent book for encouraging young naturalists.
Kochanoff concentrates on three habitats—a tree, a beach and a log. Her delicate watercolour illustrations begin with a wide view and then move in, as if with a microscope, for a closer look. Bright little sticky notes with a 3D effect add extra information to the page in an eye-catching manner.
This lovely book is full of fascinating details. Did you know that starfish have a small red eye at the tip of each arm? There are many interesting tidbits throughout the book, such as how to identify where a deer ate a branch or how ferns reproduce with spores, not seeds.
Sarah Grindler’s Ocean Secrets: A Guidebook for Little Underwater Adventurers (Nimbus Publishing) is another great book to grab for children heading into their summer vacation. This little book is bright and colourful and packed full of information in short easy-to-read sections.
Grindler even explains how the moon causes the ocean’s tides to rise and fall so that she can describe an intertidal zone and the creatures that live there. The young reader can then study a beautiful double-page illustration of a pool in the intertidal zone and try to spot the creatures.
The reader will also be introduced to the “twilight zone” where bioluminescent creatures stand out brightly against the dark blue sea, and the deepest darkest “abyssal zone”
where odd creatures like the blobfish live. And here is a surprising fact: did you know that most creatures, no matter how far down they live, travel up to the ocean’s surface at night for a midnight snack?
According to Domm, it is the visuals that help people connect with nature. And once we start looking, and actually seeing, we are on our way to caring, protecting and preserving. ■
MEG D. EDWARDS is a writer living in Baie Verte, NB. She writes plays and poetry, and her personal essays can be read on her blog, Notes from a Sinking Isthmu
New & Noteworthy Nature Books
Waterfalls of NL Goose Lane Editions
Yoga Adventures for Little Explorers Pownal Street Press
Edible East Coast Mushrooms Formac Publishing
Timeless and transformative
The creative legacies of Dawn MacNutt and Erica Rutherford
by Hillary Titley
Atour of downtown Dartmouth and Halifax can provide a generous survey of artist Dawn MacNutt’s work. From Alderney Landing to Peace and Friendship Park to the atrium of the IWK Health Centre, MacNutt’s woven fibre (often willow) sculptures, cast in bronze, have dotted HRM for four decades. Coinciding with a Winter 2025 retrospective show at the MSVU Art Gallery, comes Timeless Forms, an autobiographical art book of MacNutt’s life, relationships and creative practice. “When I am creating,” she tells us, “my love of people is my richest collaborator.”
Conversational writing from MacNutt and archival photographs of her work tell us her artistic story, spanning from the WWII-era Nova Scotia of her childhood and the Fine Arts Department of Mount Allison University in the 1950s, to the roadsides and ditches of Little Harbour, NS, where the willow she weaves into her present-day sculptures grows wild. “I am fascinated by posture, gait, and nuances of facial expression,” she writes, outlining a persistent motif in her sculpture pieces: lifelike forms pitching either forward or back, conveying a bold sense of emotion and vitality. If the completed work represents uncanny presence, MacNutt reveals that the source of her artistic inspiration is often equally unknowable, saying, “the mystery of the [creative] decision is part of the pleasure.”
Of a 2022 proposal for putting a two-metre-high woven work through the time- and money-intensivebronze casting process, MacNutt cheekily writes, “[a]t eighty-seven, I’m in my ‘now or never’ era!” Though in part a memoir of a long life, Timeless Forms gracefully sidesteps any now-or-never urgency, instead luxuriating in the opportunity to hear directly from the elder MacNutt about the circle of influence linking her experiences, her “love of people” and her artistic process. The archival photographs and corresponding stories are beautifully paired, with images of exhibitions and artworks always close at hand to accompany events and thoughts described in the text. If one is unable to discover MacNutt’s public artworks in person, Timeless Forms offers a comparable space to contemplate her output. “Reflecting on my work, I realize that both the muse and the act of musing, have been central to my process for decades,” she writes. The opportunity to receive or chase inspiration is something that MacNutt and Timeless Forms takes seriously.
Caring, 2010 by Dawn MacNutt
patinated bronze, cast from twined willow, acrylic paint
244 × 48 × 48 cm
pedestal 60 × 91 × 91 cm
IWK Health, Richard Goldbloom Pavilion, Halifax, Nova Scotia (photo: Keely Hopkins)
Timeless Forms
Dawn MacNutt MSVU Art Gallery and Owens Art Gallery
After a 2024 retrospective at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, PE, comes Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works, edited by the Centre’s curator Pan Wendt. The book, containing both English and French text (the English was evaluated for this review), is a critical anthology on the life and career of Erica Rutherford, a multidisciplinary artist who practiced internationally before eventually settling on Prince Edward Island. Born in 1923 in the UK (d. 2008), Rutherford was a WWII-generation trans woman, and the book’s contributors map Rutherford’s life within her historical context alongside the ongoing conversation between her lived experiences and her artistic creations.
A detailed biographical essay of Rutherford by Wendt opens the book, and excerpts of interviews between Wendt and Rutherford’s surviving partner and fellow artist, Gail, offer glimpses of the nuts-and-bolts decisions that go into sustaining an artistic life. (Of a car purchase, Gail says, “We bought that car because it would take the [large] painting size.”) Rutherford’s unique life story provides the inspiration for contributors to articulate notions on her art, her times and her legacy.
Of her filmmaking efforts, Wendt notes the “colonial logic” of the 1949 film, African Jim, for which Rutherford, who is white, served as producer; while film historian Peter Davis agrees, he also notes the boldness of a Black South African story made under apartheid.
If we call African Jim an example of dated audacity, the term can also be applied to some of the criticism contained within Erica Rutherford’s pages. Ray Cronin, who curated Rutherford’s solo show, The Human Comedy, in 1998, writes, “[Rutherford’s] profound sense of being the wrong gender had kept her unsettled throughout her
Additional reading
Edited by Pan Wendt Goose Lane Editions with Confederation Centre Art Gallery
life,” articulating trans experience as an internal error that must be corrected. In her essay, Eva Hayward, a Rutherford scholar, claims that gender is an assigned “naturalization” process, and to be trans is to actively reject that process—a notable departure from the passive language of Cronin’s framing.
In 2025, when trans rights, care and dignity are under threat, it is audacious to publish Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works. The courage of trans artists of all generations is a generous portal of exploration and discovery for all existing across the gender spectrum. ■
HILLARY TITLEY is a white, cis-woman sharing her home in Dartmouth with a cis-male spouse and two cats.
A Great Cloud of Witnessing: Arts Journalism of Nancy Bauer Chapel Street Editions
From 1980 to 2017, Nancy Bauer played a pivotal role in documenting New Brunswick’s evolving arts landscape. Her arts journalism appeared in numerous publications, including ArtsAtlantic, The New Brunswick Reader and, for over a decade, her weekly “State of the Art” column in the Saint John Telegraph-Journal’s Salon section. Beyond reporting, Bauer was deeply embedded in the cultural community—as a creative writer, organizer and advocate. She helped launch several cornerstone institutions, such as the Maritime Writers’ Workshop, the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick, ArtsNB, Gallery Connexion and Fredericton’s Word Feast Literary Festival. She also served as editor and publisher of the New Brunswick Chapbook series. Now, in A Great Cloud of Witnessing, a selection of her arts writing is gathered into a who’s who of New Brunswick literature, arts and cultures.
The Bearing is a work of magic realism that blends a remarkable tale from author Elizabeth Blanchard with the striking works of visual artist Nancy King Schofield, both of New Brunswick. Without the structure and funding typical of institutional art books, the project was created independently, standing as a testament to an artistic kinship spanning more than twenty years, a unique literary creation.
From its opening pages, The Bearing draws readers into a strange and unsettling tale, narrated by a voice that feels timeless—part memory, part myth. The story of a man and a woman expecting a child, this fable weaves a tale in which a mother’s attachment, like the slow work of the sea, ends up ravaging the family of fishermen. The result is a deeply original fusion of visual and literary storytelling. This book is also available in French under the title Le coeursidé.
Healthcare and healing
Three new books explore the healing power of community
by Sarah Butland
“…health isn’t just about the steps we take or the food we eat. It’s found in the moments of joy we embrace, the passions we chase and the connections we forge. True health melds the physical, mental, spiritual and communal.”
Health Explored by Mike Wahl
The more we learn about health and wellness the more evident it becomes that healthcare doesn’t begin at home, but just outside. Each of these three books tell the story of healing, community and obstacles in their own way, though all come to the same conclusion.
Being a part of something bigger than yourself is a common theme to better health and the strength to endure great challenges. As described in the stories collected in Book of Hope: Healthcare and Survival in the North edited by Agnus Pascal (Fernwood Publishing), people who live with a diagnosis of cancer do well when surrounded by people who have faith, offer prayer and will listen to their stories. The subtitle of “Healthcare and Survival in the North” is not to isolate the stories and hardships, but to solidify the value of knowledge and understanding, as well as the importance of early detection and choices.
In Book of Hope, Pascal collected stories of Indigenous people who are cancer survivors and presented beautifully the stories of varying ways people deal with a cancer diagnosis, making the horrible disease a relatable and beautiful lesson. As the title suggests, each personal account is one that describes a universal hope readers will easily connect with, offering a community, in itself, of people who understand. This collection ensures sufferers do not feel so alone in their journey while exploring ways to advocate, live and accept what is next.
Health Explored: A Journey in Happiness, Healing and Humanity by Dr Mike Wahl, PhD with photography by Braeden King (Breakwater Books) is a splendid combination of the power of grief and the ease of happiness through story, wellness tips and profiles of experienced people complemented with photographs. A tribute to the power of nature and the people who embrace it, Wahl and his team explore various areas around the world to discuss health and happiness. He honours the people he has met with as well as breaks down their strategies of living full lives which include history, nature and, of course, community.
A Stroke of Luck: Music, Medicine, and a Miraculous Recovery by D. Bruce Hughes (Purple Porcupine Publishing) describes the powerful perception of pets, importance of community and the therapeutic value of music. D. Bruce “Miracle Man” Hughes tells his own story of stroke survival from first detection to the team of miracle workers who helped continue what Willow, the lifesaving dog, started. Through music, river walks and determination, Hughes story of recovery and gratitude towards a healthcare system that worked for him is a glimmer of hope for all.
While Health Explored takes us around the world, A Stroke of Luck, in contrast,
keeps us close to the authors home while both equally express the importance of building a community and the value of connections in your healing process. Oftentimes people discuss the stages of grief while these stories propose the steps towards good physical, emotional and mental well-being.
Good physical and mental health is not about a single cure. As discussed in the three books in their unique way, health is more about healing and life is for living. While each offers a unique perspective, they collectively show that healing and good health starts with connection, understanding and nature.
While the state of health care is a topic on everyone’s mind, each of these stories respectively dive into the personal experiences of those being treated, who were treated and how many are taking steps to live their life to the fullest. Throughout history and storytelling, as each of these books do, we learn more about ourselves, this earth and the way we thrive. Miracles are happening every day and, while
Additional reading
Health and Healthcare Inequities
Arnel M. Borras
progress may be slow, finding the courage to speak about the celebrations more than the struggles is a value to all communities.
Hope can be found in obscure places and can multiply if we let it. Hughes, Wahl and Pascal are examples of how shedding light on darkness can help the spirit blossom. Something that was evident in each of the stories, and played a part in each respective healing journey, were the healing powers of water. With Hughes, his walks by the nearby Saint John River in Upper Keswick, New Brunswick, Wahl speaks with mentors who contribute their well-being to sources of natural water and in the introduction of Pascal’s collection, as Agnes says, “Water is healing for me. I’m always drawn to the river when I need clarity and grounding.” ■
SARAH BUTLAND is an author, freelance writer and writing coach living on the North Shore of Nova Scotia.
Imagine Antigonish: A Photographic Inquiry into Health Equity
Dorothy Lander & John Graham-Pole
Gutsy: Living My Best Life with Crohn’s Disease
Heather Fegan
The lowliest little friend
An excerpt from Every Little Thing : how small acts of kindness make a big impact,
by Janice Landy
… If you are of a certain age, have children or grandchildren, teach youth, work in a library or have kids present in your life, you may recognize the name “Lowly.” He is a fictional, hand-drawn character, created by one of the world’s most beloved and best-selling children’s authors of all time, the late Richard Scarry. Scarry was born in the United States and later moved to Switzerland. He died in 1994 at the age of seventy-four of a heart attack following complications from a cancer diagnosis. Scarry created more than three hundred children’s books which have sold more than one hundred million copies. They have been published in over twenty languages. Lowly Worm is one of Scarry’s most cherished characters. Some readers would argue that Lowly is the most popular resident in the make-believe world of “Busytown” featured in many of his books. … … Scarry, a creative genius, has inspired millions with his world and creations, including me. His only child, Huck Scarry, is also a successful illustrator and author who continues his father’s work and legacy. Huck spoke with me, via Zoom, from his home in Gstaad, Switzerland. I consider this rare interview to be a personal coup in my journalism career. …
… On December 16, 2023, I found Huck seated at home. He had poured himself a glass of red wine and was dressed fashionably, wearing funky glasses and a bowtie. Huck was well-mannered, polite and eloquent. For the record, he may be the politest person I have ever interviewed. He also frequently chuckled and smiled throughout our discussion.
An antique clock hung on the wall directly behind Huck. It intrigued me and seemed like a natural icebreaker that made sense in the moment because the tiniest of details clearly mattered to him, as they had for his father and my father. Huck said the timepiece was from the eighteenth century and was actually the inside of a grandfather clock.
“It was fixed by a clock maker before I bought it,” Huck said. “It gives perfect time. It has a rather loud chime which my family doesn’t like so much [chuckles]. I’m afraid he often just sleeps,” likening the inanimate object to a resting being.
Huck spoke lovingly and reverently about his father.
“He is an icon of an illustrator and author, and he was able to draw anything. He could explain things very easily
Pottersfield Press
through his drawings. He also put a lot of humour and fun into his work. His drawings have a great deal of charm to them. I also admire, very much, his sense of design, the way he lays out his books, his sense of colour. It’s very harmonious. There’s a British designer whose name is Paul Smith. He has said his favourite book is Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. I can see the parallels. Smith does these wonderful stripes of colours. I can see, in Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, what must appeal to him is this variety and well-balanced amount of colours.” …
JL: “As we grow older, we realize the small things [in life] really are the big things. Relate that to your father’s work. So, for me, this lowly little worm has had this major impact.”
HS: “Particularly to Lowly, my father thought it would be fun in his book, What Do People Do All Day? … to put in a little character for the children to look for in each spread. He thought of something small, and he said, ‘The smallest thing I can think of is a worm.’ [chuckles] He named him Lowly because the worm is the lowliest of little animals. He’s living inside the earth.”
After our interview, I ordered a hardcover copy of What Do People Do All Day? as part of my research and to keep as a memento of this interview. In it, Scarry introduces readers to the many professions and residents of Busytown, including Nurse Nelly, Bugdozer, Sawdust the Carpenter, Zip the Postman and Farmer Alfalfa, among others. In that book and others, Scarry also labels each building in Busytown so children also learn about various jobs. Among places to visit are Town Hall, Detective Agency, The Remarkable Bookshop, Fire House and Bank. In the windows of each respective building, Scarry draws his Busytown residents engaged in their business. Scarry had done this so that readers of all ages might relate to one or more of the characters and their professions.
The book’s opening sets the tone and the message: “We all live in Busytown and we are all workers. We work hard so that there will be enough food and houses and clothing for our families. Children are workers, too. Many children are helper workers. Are you a helper?” ■
A novel of suspense
An excerpt from Puppet by Robert Stutt
Everywhere various flying objects spun, fell, and bounced. A couple of unicycles wove through the gathering. I dumped my coat and boots by the door, laced on my court shoes, and headed to the mats for a little stretching. Several of the regulars called greetings. I lay back on a gym- mat and squeezed a thigh to my chest. Deep breaths, slow count to ten.
Juggling is a kind of meditation for the hyper-active, a physical mantra, a flashy gateway to the moment. When juggling, if you think ahead—you drop. If you think behind—you drop. The only place your consciousness can be is right there inside each flowing tick of the present, each distinct toss and catch. Pure focus. No animal has ever learned to juggle. It’s what separates us from the beasts. The two ingredients required to learn three ball juggling are time and effort. Most people don’t juggle for the same reason they don’t ride unicycles —they’ve never tried.
Juggling five balls, well, that’s different. Adding those two extra balls is what separates the men from the boys in the juggling world. Five balls require real talent. More than a few of the guys here tonight could juggle five balls. Fred Sivel sometimes had moderate success with five clubs. But say you wanted to see a continuous cascade of seven clubs then there aren’t many places you can go. One might be front row at the Moscow State Circus, but another was right here at the Elizabeth Street Public School on this deep winter Tuesday evening in January.
Boslav Indrikov’s arms and hands flashed like manic pistons below the shimmering fountain of seven spinning clubs, his hands catching and throwing twice a second, his legs flexed and solid, very little movement through his chest, shoulders and head, upper-body stillness being essential for such accuracy. Legend has it that, while he was training at the Moscow Circus school, Boslav’s juggling teachers bound his upper arms to his torso for hours at a time, all in the name of precision.
Somewhere inside the spinning tower two clubs touched, igniting an implosion of high impact plastic. Boslav ducked and covered up. We’d all been hit on the head by spinning clubs at one time or another. It’s like being smacked with a Corvette.
The seven clubs bounced and rolled while various whoops and cheers broke out from the assembled jugglers. Everyone had stopped to watch. More than a few mouths hung open.
Merlin Star Press
I howled and applauded with the rest.
“Hey, Jimmy.”
Joey Decola, alias Joey Toronto, threw his coat onto the pile. “Hey, Joe,” I said.
“You want to do some passing?”
“Sure. Just let me warm up a bit.”
He moved closer, lowered his voice. “I got a call from the police on the weekend.”
“Let me guess. They asked about me.”
“Yeah. Wanted to know if you were here last Tuesday night.”
“My alibi.”
“Alibi? For what?”
I hesitated, but it was all public knowledge now. “Did you hear about Kurt Heppel?”
“Sure. The sex abuse thing. Wild. What an asshole.” Then the connection came to him. “Oh yeah. That’s your show.”
“I do the puppet, yeah. Wild is right. Anyway, the police are checking out everyone.” At least, I hoped they were checking everyone. I hoped it wasn’t just me. “Sorry about the call. They asked me for some names.”
“Hey, no problem. Don’t worry about it.”
I was trying not to. “So...what did you tell them?”
Joey shrugged. “That I juggled with you here last Tuesday night.”
“Is that all they wanted to know?”
“Yeah. They just asked about last Tuesday. Asked if I thought you could have slipped out for an hour or so. I said, no way.”
Slipped out for an hour? Obviously, something happened last Tuesday night.
Dan Ripley joined us. “Hi, Jimmy. I got a call from the cops about you.”
“Me, too,” said Joey. They smiled at each other. Quite the little fraternity.
“Sorry about that, Dan,” I said. “You heard about Kurt Heppel?”
“I figured that might be it. I always found that guy weird. A bit too suave.” He rhymed it with ‘save.’
“What’s your connection?”
“The show,” I said. “‘Beaver Tales.’ The police are checking everyone’s alibi for last Tuesday. I’m not sure why.”
“I told them you were here all night,” said Dan.
“Me, too,” said Joey. Another exchange of smiles. ■
A timeless journey
An excerpt from He Who Would Walk the Earth
by Griffin Bjerke-Clarke
Felix shook him away and jumped back, falling onto rough ground of the caverns behind him. The man with the loud voice stumbled after him but fell in a heap under the weight of his wounds. When Felix could stand once more, he ran into the depths of the caverns — no matter how far he went, the glowing eye of the man with the loud voice would always find him.
Finally, when he was out of breath, Felix had left the man with the loud voice behind in the caverns and bought himself some more time.
It was silent. The faint dripping of water and the breath of the mists sounded in the distance. Felix walked about the depths, trying in vain to find a path to the surface. He scratched his head considering how to climb back to the forest and return to the plains. He hoped that if he could find an entrance to the surface, even some distance from his original direction, he might find an unorthodox path to the forest. The great trouble was that he couldn’t remember where he had been going above. When he tried to remember, all that came to mind was the image of the beast’s horrible face and then a sudden flash of the horrors he had fled from in the town — of Cuthbert lying lifeless in the blood-stained streets.
Felix jumped back, having imagined that the ground had been shifting under his feet. Dismissing this notion, Felix kept walking only to jump back again as the ground shifted — sustaining its movement this time. He fell on his backside and watched the rocks creep into a long snake of stone that stood before him. The snake slithered near him, waving from side to side as she looked down and began to speak.
“What is this but some long-lost drifter trapped beneath the husk of the earth?” the snake asked as she looked over Felix’s terrified expression. “What a pitiful thing these soils have brought me on this day. Such a broken, sad man you are.”
Felix looked up at the great snake of stone. No eyes looked back on the rock face that hovered above him. He looked first to the floor and then to the snake, gathering his words as he struggled to speak.
“Please,” he said, “I am only lost. I have found refuge, but I have lost my path. I meant no trespass. I was only fleeing from that horrible thing above. There’s also a man — he’s chasing me too. He tried to side with that horrible monster, and the monster pushed him down anyway — it carelessly
Roseway Publishing
tossed him into the pit where I fell. It was as though it didn’t care if he lived or died.”
“The blond beast,” the snake said, nearly cutting Felix off. “A new, loathsome fixture along with the woods that wrought him. I can’t tell you anything about that strange man following you — but I am too familiar with the blond beast.
“Once, he was a man like any other. Before he was the blond beast, his name was Albert Gould — an ordinary name for an ordinary man. He lived in a farmhouse and worked hard until his father failed to pay his debts. When his father was chased from the town, Albert moved in. There, he adopted their ways until he couldn’t exist beside people anymore. As the days went by, Albert Gould died. A disease burrowed itself into his head and killed him, leaving only the base desires the town had breathed into his core. He lured seven men and eight women to their deaths so he could sell their organs. At his trial, he said that he was merely making a living. Then, the Republic removed him and planted some trees to contain what he had become. Shortly afterward, he lost the ability to speak at all. The Republic, of course, hid his true nature and spins pitiful tales that paint him as an elevated genius. They lie about his father and his acts — those fifteen people he killed have been effectively erased. Legend from beyond the woods says that he wanders the perimeter of the forest to find a messenger post so he can sell the organs of his victims to the highest bidders of the Republic once more.”
Felix’s thoughts turned to Doufsanctville & Avaramck as he listened, thankful that he didn’t join the monster in the forest. It wasn’t hard to see how a man like Albert Gould might emerge from such actions.
“More and more people from surrounding towns are starting to act like him — like animals mindlessly hunting for the meaningless spoils of pyrrhic victories. They dispose of their dead, their sick, and their injured in the woods — and they call themselves and that rapacious beast noble and magnificent for doing these terrible things. The poor fools — they can’t see that their beloved beast will kill them too if it gets the chance. They don’t understand that there was no danger here before they brought him into the world. They tell stories about Albert Gould being a hero, but Albert Gould has been dead for a very long time.” ■
Reviews
milktooth by Jaime Burnet is full of tiny moments
Say what you will about a big, explosive storyline—bright flashing lights, loud sounds, breakneck speeds—there is something so specifically affecting about a book that keeps its devastation quiet.
Nova Scotia novelist Jaime Burnet’s second work, milktooth, is full of tiny moments. The line between prose and poetry is blurred here, with the wistfulness of a life being lived through a haze. That haze that is occasionally punctuated with descriptions of visceral physicality that pierce through: a jar of cherries in thick glowing syrup, a litre of whole milk drank in one long gulp, the moon as a scythe. The agony of waiting for a piece of mail that will almost certainly wound you but may also free you—at least from the bondage of the waiting.
A milk tooth—the physical item of the book’s title—is a temporary tooth of a young mammal. Your baby tooth. The one that’s meant to fall out and be replaced by something permanent. Sorcha, our narrator through milktooth, is waiting for her permanent life to begin. We find her in what could be an idyllic situation. Living in a small town in Cape Breton, in a charming old house with lots of potential, with her very handsome girlfriend Chris. Chris has all the 90s heartthrob charm she could have wished for and is willing to help Sorcha fulfill the dream of her life: having a baby. But the narrative oscillates between dream and nightmare as Chris swings from big romantic gestures to being maybe the meanest lesbian ever committed to print. In the description of Sorcha’s increasing isolation away from her friends and her life outside of Chris, the quietness of the language again cuts deep. Its subtlety ties to the subtlety of the abuse. For the first hundred pages or so, the reader inches along with Sorcha as she quietly rationalizes the behaviour she’s
Vagrant Press
experiencing. Her girlfriend may not be an abuser. She may be a wounded soul doing her best. We as the reader are removed enough from the situation to see that the reality is the former, rather than the latter, but there is no moving our narrator forwards before she’s ready to see that distinction for herself.
There is a gentle suffocation in this first part of the book as Sorcha is increasingly trapped, with tantalizing and heartbreaking flashbacks to the times along the way when she could have made another choice—could have chosen her friends and her freedom. Interspersed flashbacks to her also-stifling early family life go a long way to explaining why betting on herself would be so particularly hard to do.
So, the moment when—finally pregnant and experiencing ever-worsening abuse—Sorcha decides she has to make an escape feels like a blast of fresh air. When her estranged aunt, a retired midwife, sends an unexpected message looking to connect, the hope of something better starts to feel like it might have real legs. And when that connection turns into a spur-of-the-moment flight to her aunt’s home in the Scottish Highlands, it’s absolute fireworks—until we slowly return to the dread of the question: what happens if Chris finds her?
With milktooth, Burnet achieves a beautiful balance of pathos, humour and heart-wrenching storytelling, as we witness Sorcha wrenching her way towards—we hope—a permanently better life. ■
KATE SPENCER (she/her) is a writer, arts administrator and choral singer living in K’jipuktuk/Halifax.
Michelle Robinson, photo by Saffron Morriz
Foraging guide strikes a thoughtful balance between botanical detail and convenience
For wild food lovers, a walk in the woods, through a field or along a beach can result in the most satisfying of culinary kismet. From discovering a perfect patch of shaggy ink cap mushrooms to harvesting handfuls of dark-purple serviceberries, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as finding sustenance in nature. But it’s one thing to know a plant like the back of your hand, as PEI-based biologist Kate MacQuarrie does, and another to face the nagging feeling you might have the wrong species; not to mention the anxiety posed by potential mishaps, like painful encounters with stinging nettles or itchy rosehip seed hairs, to the daunting practicalities of how to cut the right part of a plant or where to go to find success.
In her newly published Wild Foods of Prince Edward Island, longtime naturalist MacQuarrie offers both comfort and gastronomic inspiration in this charming and informative field trip across her home province. Focusing on thirty easy-to-identify species—many of which are found right across Atlantic Canada—this practical handbook is structured around seasonality. Starting with spring’s early cattail shoots, which she quickpickles, MacQuarrie winds her way to winter’s white pine needles, which she ferments in water with sugar for a fizzy, aromatic soda. In between, she focuses on everything from
overlooked urban weeds like dandelion, pineapple weed and lamb’s quarters, to more advanced targets like burdock root, salty sea rocket and chaga.
Festooned with science-packed sidebars and colour photographs to help novice foragers identify tasty targets, this guide strikes a thoughtful balance between botanical detail and convenience. For instance, MacQuarrie—whose day job is as PEI’s director of forests, fish and wildlife— suggests keeping an eye out for chokecherry’s distinctive roadside blossoms in May to harvest heavy bunches in August. For experienced wild-food folks, this book also offers many novel suggestions, like sprinkling Musk Mallow’s immature seed pods (which “look like tiny cheese wheels”) as a garnish, to using golden-hued chanterelles to infuse a savoury cheesecake. “We all come from foragers,” MacQuarrie says in the book’s introduction. With this book in hand, those curious about returning to those earliest roots will find a trusted friend. ■
KAREN PINCHIN is a Dartmouth-based food systems journalist and the author of Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession and the Future of Our Seas.
Acorn Press
Harvesting musk mallow seeds
A reliably good read for mystery lovers
Deep Freeze is the second accomplished novel in the Deep Mysteries series by Anne Louise O’Connell, but works just as well as a standalone. As was the case in the first novel, ex-nurse Susan Morris cannot leave well enough alone. After a good friend is involved in an accident at the artificial ski hill in Dubai, and is again victimized in his hospital room, Susan’s sixth sense starts tingling. The more she searches for answers, the more questions she has; she begins lurking behind corners and asking questions that are guaranteed to make her the next target. Susan’s amateur sleuthing doesn’t sit well with her husband, either; with the tension in her marriage and her need to be everywhere for everyone, Susan’s brain is in turmoil, but she is determined to find out what is going on. Deep Freeze’s cast of characters is extensive, but not overly so, and many of them are under suspicion: Pat’s maid Anu who disappears more than once; Dr. Frank Pettigrew, the rude surgeon assigned to Barry’s case; Nala, a stay-at-home mother who is often seen going in and out of a private
OC Publishing
research lab at the hospital and the security guard stationed at the door of the victim’s room. As expats in Dubai, the close friendship between Susan and Pat is convincing, as is the way Susan gets drawn into the potentially dangerous situation. The author’s personal knowledge of Dubai shows as Susan zips around different parts of the city searching for answers, and Islamic customs are organically woven into the story. The prose is clear and makes for effortless reading, while the action and pacing is steady and suspenseful. Being privy to Susan’s progress and thoughts along the way keeps the reader interested and engaged in puzzling out the mystery alongside the characters. Set in one of the most interesting cities in the world, Anne Louise O’Connell’s novel makes for a reliably good read, especially for mystery-lovers. ■
NAOMI MacKINNON lives in Nova Scotia where she blogs about books at Consumed by Ink.
Vivid dialogue, thorough research build this sweeping poetic tale
It is Christmas Eve, 1968, in the filmic opening scene of Monica Kidd’s new novel, The Crane. A young man sits on a train, “trees smearing past his window,” squinting at his broken eyeglasses on the table in front of him. He is James Anderson, a native of Wyoming, and he has fled to Newfoundland to evade serving in Vietnam, in the war that has recently killed his twin brother, Dave. The broken glasses and his compromised vision become a metaphor for secrets, stories that remain buried or obfuscated. A conflicted dodger, James is also embarking on a quest to fulfill the wishes of his dead brother. He carries a small wooden crane—ironically a symbol of peace, honour and good fortune—carved by Dave’s close friend Eric, also a casualty of the war. Birds are a recurring motif in the novel, their presence variously suggesting both freedom and entrapment.
A man compelled to seek the truth, James is aptly hired as a fact-checker for the St. John’s newspaper, The Daily Standard, but soon his editor assigns him to northern
Breakwater Books
Lewisporte to cover the story of the scuttling of an old British warship, Calypso. In the remote coastal outpost, he becomes acquainted with locals who are enduring their own traumatic search for a man lost at sea. In a selfimposed exile, having lost his twin and his country, “James was just a trespasser, thinking about how the dead reign over the living, with their things unsaid, their eternal silent witness.”
Kidd’s vivid dialogue captures the cadences and poetic precision of the Newfoundland dialect; her thorough research evokes the natural beauty of Vietnam and the brutal wastage of war. A physician by profession, she writes fearlessly about the ripple effects of violence and trauma, the walls people build to survive and the restorative power of community. ■
CLARISSA HURLEY is the founding co-editor of the new literary journal, Camel
Catherine Bush carries the torch of Canadian fiction in new collection of short stories
“Skin,” the eponymous story in Catherine Bush’s collection, pinpoints her fictional techniques and themes. Truncated perspectives of fleeting moments capture the slices of her characters’ lives and fraught relationships. Like a deft dermatologist, Bush probes the sensual and cerebral aspects of anatomy to get under her characters’ skin. “After her divorce my mother flew to Tanzania.” This abrupt opening sentence introduces parental divorce, as well as spatial dislocation. The narrator’s mother embraces foot-washing as a form of baptism. In a brief paragraph, she criss-crosses Tanzania only to return to Toronto where she engages in washing the feet of refugees. In another abrupt shift of perspective, a refugee reacts to her ministrations as “a besiegement of the unknown.”
That phrase applies not only to his reaction, but also to the reader who navigates between religious ritual and foot fetish. Mother confides to daughter about her erotic response to foot rubbing, and the narrative abruptly turns to her father’s deathbed. The final sentence recapitulates another besiegement and belated healing after divorce: “He made small cries like a wounded creature as her wet sponge touched him and she pressed her fingers slowly and
Small
methodically to his wasted flesh.” Skin is both synecdoche for the larger body, and an interface of transference between couples and cultures.
In another story, “Roxanne,” the narrator comments: “This knowledge, so far from anything I know that hands can do, also lies beneath your skin.” In the penultimate story, “Glacial,” the protagonist is told by the glacier’s mysterious voice to take off her skin, as Bush peels back layers of meaning and mystery to embrace empathy.
In “Breath” she writes that “Breath determines meaning,” and throughout her fiction pauses and spaces between sections determine meaning, mood, intimacy and intensity. In the footsteps of Mavis Gallant and Alice Munro, Bush carries the torch of Canadian fiction. From novella to shorter tales, she besieges skin to expose the kin and kindness within. ■
MICHAEL GREENSTEIN is a retired English professor, published widely in Victorian and Canadian literature.
town drama, fractured friendships, ghosts of sins past are themes of these tales
“All stories have value. All stories can tell us something. Especially those that terrify us,” says the mysterious tour guide at the centre of Terror Nova: The Thirteenth Exhibit, the fourth in a series of Newfoundland-based short horror story collections curated by Mike Hickey. This latest volume follows a tour group through a museum filled with cursed artifacts, each accompanied by their own terror tales. Some of those stories (“Bog Legs”, “Crescent Lake”) feature cryptidstyle creatures who are lonely and hungry in equal measure, while others see the province’s fiery past—usually, but not always, the “Great Fire” that ravaged the city of St. John’s in 1892—engulfing the inhabitants of its cursed present (“The Immovable”, “Some Say In Fire”), or presenting a bizarre mystery to those left in its recent wake, as in the period piece “Notes From The Cathedral Excavation.” Both “Killpop” and “Writer’s Block” feature struggling authors making ill-advised deals with supernatural forces to further their own creative pursuits. Not even the province’s tourism industry is safe—several of the stories take place in hotels and motels, some of which are home to supernatural forces
(“Allure”, “Writer’s Block”) while others are merely the setting for creature carnage (“Overnighting”, “Jimmy’s Little Helper”). The final story, “The Bowtie,” brings it all together, focusing on the museum tour’s sinister host and setting up the conclusion of the book’s framing sequence. Small town drama, fractured friendships and the ghosts of sins past are recurring themes among the various tales, which are often peppered with local references and familiar brands like Dominion Ale and Tim Hortons. The many contributors to the newest Terror Nova collection have ensured that the reader, no matter which province they call home, will still find themselves in a world that is both frightening and familiar. ■
DAVE HOWLETT manages the Halifax location of Strange Adventures Comix & Curiousities and is the writer/ artist behind such comics as The Makers, Scenester and Slam-a-Rama.
Goose Lane Editions
Engen Books
A contribution to the rich history of crosscultural Indigenous solidarities
Smokii Sumac’s meditative collection, Born Sacred: Poems for Palestine, reflects on the absurdity of everyday life during genocide in a series of journalistic reflections—it is, above all a practice of compassionate witnessing. It is both universal and deeply personal, chronicling his own thoughts, yet extending past the individual self of the writer to interrogate the role of poetry as an expression of humanity. They say: “i write each poem / for Palestine / out of love / for humanity.”
This collection pays homage to the journalists whose work has been an avenue for disruption of a colonial entity that seeks to disempower and render the average person ignorant of the global machinations of genocide and dispossession. Sumac highlights the shared experiences of colonialism by situating the ongoing genocide in Palestine within the history of Canada’s continued colonization of Indigenous land and life. This book is one of the most recent contributions to what is a rich history of crosscultural Indigenous solidarities, in the vein of works such as Lee Maracle’s Talking to the Diaspora
In the face of an often-numbing deluge of horrors, Sumac uses the act of writing poetry to rally against the depersonalization of violence. Witnessing, naming and writing become ways to re-humanize and centre the individuals in Palestine who make that witnessing possible— some of whom have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the time it took for these poems to be edited and published.
While the author often questions the impact of writing poems—imagining each word turning into food or water— the power of language cannot be understated. Writing becomes an act of resistance not only against the erasure of Palestinians but against the soul-death that ignorance would allow: “i write these poems / so they don’t / change / me / so they don’t / take / my / humanity.” ■
EMILIA MORGAN is a Palestinian writer, publisher and copyeditor of several books, including Born Sacred.
A collection of poetry that will make your heart sing and weep
In her fourth collection of poetry, Jessica Hiemstra exposes her roots—and ours. She lays bare, through words and images, the natural order, and its human counterpart. It is not an easy journey.
Hiemstra forgoes titles. One poem bleeds into another, and each poem bleeds off the page. At times you may be hesitant to turn the leaf and open another vein. Blood Root is about the poet’s Dutch ancestry and our descent into colonialism. It is about the way we were and the way we are. It is about living with that reality and dying with it.
The poems in Blood Root are always lyrical, and they are always raw. Hiemstra is drawn to hard edges. Just when you think you can breathe, she pushes you over the precipice.
“the villages I know aren’t sanctuaries / women were raped in the forests I love holes in trees from bullets / holes in women from rape / language can’t change / what happened”
Words paint a picture in this collection, and that picture is unsettling. Despair is everywhere: in her Dutch Reform heritage, her childhood in Sierra Leone and Canada. We look for hope, as does Hiemstra. Sometimes it seems within reach.
“I’m learning / to listen to stones”
Words are joined in Blood Root by equally disquieting images. Hiemstra, a visual artist, has interspersed drawings from her multimedia work “Cormorant.” Like the poems they share space with, the images are unsettling. Elements remain cloaked in strokes of grey. You need to look closely. At times, you’ll wish you hadn’t. ■
DONALEE MOULTON is an award-winning poet, short story writer and mystery writer. Her new book is Bind
Roseway Publishing
Goose Lane Editions
Decades of gardening expertise on full display in beautiful yet practical gardening book
My Island Garden: Ornamental Gardening in Atlantic Canada by Dawn Baker is a beautiful yet practical book that spotlights a wide selection of hardy plants for Maritime gardeners. It’s a good choice for home gardeners who are looking for reliable suggestions that will thrive in our region.
The book is organized by plant type and includes selections of annuals, biennials, bulbs, perennials, shrubs, trees and vines. This is where Baker’s decades of gardening expertise is on full display as she includes not just the basic details of each plant, but also her personal experiences growing them in her garden.
I like that Baker doesn’t just recommend general plant types, such as ‘hydrangeas’, but has specific variety and cultivar suggestions. For example, she writes about how hydrangeas are ideal shrubs for Atlantic Canada and then shares how ‘Unique’ panicle hydrangea has been a standout in her garden. “In midsummer, immense flower clusters will form in creamy-white, conical shapes,” she says. “The effect is very lacy, romantic, and beloved by pollinators!”
Plants featured in the book include Atlantic Canadian garden staples like ‘Karl Rosenfield’ peony, ‘King of Hearts’
bleeding heart and common lilac, as well as lesser-known options like ‘Alaska Apricot’ nasturtiums, ‘Brookside’ geranium and ‘Valentine’ sunflower.
The last chapter is charmingly titled ‘Game Changers’ and features tips and techniques on subjects like container gardening, making no-dig beds, gathering seeds and winter sowing. Winter sowing, in particular, is an easy way to start seeds outside and uses the moisture and cold temperatures of winter to jump start the germination of various perennial, annual and edible plants. Baker provides step-bystep instructions for winter sowing as well as a list of plants she’s successfully winter sowed.
Finally, My Island Garden contains dozens of lovely photos of Baker’s garden, helpfully dated to show actual bloom times of the recommended plants. Readers will also delight in the many botanical illustrations created by Baker, a well-known visual artist. ■
NIKI JABBOUR is a year-round vegetable gardener and the award-winning author of four gardening books. Flanker Press
A frank and generous memoir by one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most well-known media figures
In my opinion, a good memoir shows the reader the perfect amount of a person’s life. It doesn’t overshare and it doesn’t skimp on the important details. It should feel like a conversation, in that you and the writer are just sitting down, having a coffee and you’re listening to them talk.
This is exactly what Newfoundland and Labrador broadcaster Karl Wells does in Openly Karl: A Memoir. The story traces Wells’ life, from his early childhood in Buchans to growing up in St. John’s, his family, early romantic relationships and self-discovery, and slow integration into the world of broadcasting with the CBC and ends with his marriage and retirement. It also showcases someone who, while on air appeared composed and put together, had to deal with personal anxieties, along with the fear, prejudice and misunderstandings that came from being a gay man at a time when it wasn’t as accepted or legal. And dealing with some of those same issues during the AIDS crisis.
Wells expertly weaves personal stories and anecdotes in with his broadcasting career and how, together, both factions
of his world made him who he is.
At times, some of the stories seem a bit long-winded, but, then again, that’s how conversations can go. Wells always gets you back on track though.
Those from outside the province might not get some of the Newfoundland-specific historic references, media personalities and cultural touchstones. For me, being from Nova Scotia, I had to make notes of events or people to look up later, so I could fully understand the story better.
That doesn’t take away from the story entirely though, and Openly Karl is worth a read, whether you’re a Newfoundlander, someone who just likes memoirs or you want to know more about journalism history, of which Karl Wells is. ■
KATIE INGRAM is a freelance writer, journalism instructor and author of Breaking Disaster: Newspaper Stories of the Halifax Explosion. She lives in Halifax.
Breakwater Books
Chronicles of a family history on the once lively McNabs Island an invaluable addition to interested readers
McNabs Island, located at the gates of Halifax Harbour, is well visible to anyone but not many know the history of the families who lived on this beautiful and, nowadays, abandoned island.
In this, his first book, Bruce Scott follows a chronological approach, from the 1920s and 1970s, showing lives and fates of several families that populated this island during that time. Having spent his childhood summers on McNabs Island, Scott offers an individual and personal collection of stories of his own family background and other families who lived and worked on McNabs Island.
The Last Farm on McNabs contains 40 photos and some hand-drawn images and maps. Sources were provided by the Halifax Municipal Archives, the Friends of McNabs Society and family members of the author. This mixture of personal and family photographs, notes, memories and archival collections provides a personal and unique perspective on the history of McNabs Island. The twelve rather short chapters, usually not longer than 15 pages,
portray the lives of several families, but focus on the 50 years the author’s grandfather, Ernest Farrant, lived on the island. The story begins with how Farrant and his wife Annie settled down on McNabs island in the early 1920s, which, at that time, was known to Haligonians as a popular recreational destination. It ends with the author’s recollections of his own early childhood on the island and the death of Ernest and Annie Farrant.
This book is an invaluable addition to any reader wanting to learn more about the lives and fates of the families, farms and businesses of this once lively but now isolated and uninhabited vast island at the mouth of Halifax harbour. ■
MATHIAS RODORFF is the research manager of the Gorsebrook Research Institute at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, and the editor of the Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society.
Architectural and cultural history in Historic Churches a work of love and an
educated eye
Readers will appreciate this book of architectural and cultural history, written in an accessible style and enriched with well-chosen colour and black and white photographs.
Historic Churches of Prince Edward Island: 3rd edition is a work of love and of an educated eye. Written by retired architect H. M. Scott Smith, also the publisher of SSP Publications, the 221-page book is “not intended as a history text or manual of preservation,” writes Smith in the introduction. Instead, he hopes that it … “will prove to be a useful tool in this conservation effort.”
The forty-some buildings included range from urban Gothic cathedrals and basilica to tiny, white-steepled rural churches. Together, they form a durable and cherished part of PEI’s settler history. Smith began research for the first book in 1978. The first edition was published in 1986, the second in 2004.
“Islanders are very aware of heritage buildings and the conservation thereof,” says Smith. “Other provinces could learn from them.”
Smith acknowledges the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, and the work of its past and present members.
“It’s remarkable how little has changed over the years,” says the Halifax-based Smith, adding that from edition to edition, “it’s a revelation to see how [well] the churches are doing.”
Fortunately, given the 19th century construction of many of the churches, some of these wooden, only three to four churches have “disappeared from the books,” says Smith, and only one is considered “at risk.” A number have been repurposed as community centres or private homes or even dental clinics.
The three editions cover over 40 years, updating and highlighting the conservation efforts PEI has made. ■
MARJORIE SIMMINS is a journalist, author, and teacher who specializes in personal narratives and biographies.
Nimbus Publishing
Poetry
E DITOR’S PICKS
Atlantic Canadian books that are generating buzz
Cut Side Down
Jessie MacEachern
Invisible Publishing
A poetic collage blending literary influence, fantasy and fragmented autobiography. Through sensuous, experimental verse, it explores the pleasures and pains of reading, memory and identity, blurring boundaries between author, character and text across a rich, intertextual landscape.
antibody
Rebecca Salazar McClelland & Stewart
A poetry collection that confronts sexual violence through body horror, reclaiming agency and challenging victimhood myths. It honours the complex grief and resilience of survivors, embracing rage, queerness, disability and desire in a ritual of survival and transformation.
Years, Months, Days: Second Edition
Luke Hathaway Biblioasis
A poetic exploration of Mennonite hymns transformed into lyrical verse. The collection meditates on themes of life, death, love and hope, bridging secular spirituality with reverence.
Fiction
Saints Rest
Luke Francis Beirne
Baraka Books
A neo-noir crime novel set in gritty Saint John, New Brunswick. Private investigator Frank Cain is hired by Malory Fleet to investigate her son’s death and his girlfriend Amanda’s disappearance. As Cain delves deeper, he uncovers a web of secrets and corruption, risking his own unraveling in the process.
Stolen Sisters
Leahdawn Helena
Breakwater Books
A one-woman play that reimagines the lives of three Beothuk women, whose stories have been distorted by colonial narratives. Through humor and honesty, it offers an Indigenous perspective, shedding light on the global experiences of Indigenous women and girls, with a focus on Newfoundland’s role in that legacy.
Here
Heidi Wicks Breakwater Books
A collection of interconnected short stories set in a colonial mansion on Circular Road in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Spanning a century, the narratives feature a diverse cast—including aristocrats,
hippies, housemaids and even a crow—exploring themes of family, perseverance and redemption.
Salt on her Tongue
CS Porter
Vagrant Press
A literary mystery and the second installment in the Kes Morris series. Detective Kes Morris, returning from mandatory leave, investigates a missing persons case in the Bay of Fundy. She discovers a dead man, unraveling a web of secrets in a village governed by its own maritime code. As she delves deeper, the case becomes increasingly complex, challenging her understanding of guilt, innocence, love and retribution.
The Ignis Psalter
Danny Jacobs Porcupines Quill
The Ignis Psalter by Danny Jacobs is a moody comingof-age novel set in rural New Brunswick. It follows a family haunted by a prolific, almost artistic arsonist—who may just be one of their own. Jacobs’ poetic prose illuminates small-town lives through the lens of fire and family secrets.
The Girls of Belvedere
Michelle T. Clemens Flanker Press
After their mother’s death, Kitty Murphy and her sisters are sent to Belvedere Orphanage in 1940s Newfoundland. Enduring cruelty and hardship, Kitty fights to protect them. Amid poverty, gender inequality and oppression, girls and women seek survival, sanctuary or escape—only to find a different kind of captivity behind convent walls.
Nine Crows for a Kiss
Vernon Oickle
Moose House Publishing
The forthcoming ninth installment in Vernon Oickle’s acclaimed “Crows” series, set in Nova Scotia. A blizzard, an abandoned car and a missing driver set the stage for mystery at a New Year’s Eve party. As tensions rise among the guests, nine watchful crows circle overhead—harbingers of danger or protectors against it in this atmospheric tale of suspense and secrets.
Non-fiction
Goose Lane Editions
One in Six Million: The Baby by the Roadside and the Man Who Retraced a Holocaust Survivor’s Lost Identity
Amy Fish
Amy Fish recounts the true story of Maria Vasitinskaya, abandoned
in wartime Poland, and Stanley Diamond, a Canadian genealogist who helps her rediscover her lost Jewish identity decades later. It’s a powerful tale of survival, memory and the enduring search for belonging.
Our Land The Maritimes
Edited by G.P Gould and A.J. Semple
Goose Lane Editions with New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council
A groundbreaking work published in 1980, now reissued with a new preface, this book explores the history and legal basis of Indigenous land claims in Atlantic Canada, exposing land loss, forced assimilation and the enduring validity of Aboriginal Title. Drawing on historical records and legal analysis, it challenges the myth that Indigenous claims were extinguished by colonial law.
Dispatches from the Threshold: Tenant Power in Times of Crisis
Edited by Rae Baker and Alexander Ferrer
Fernwood Publishing
An archive documenting the housing justice movement during and after COVID-19, highlighting tenant resistance, cross-movement organizing and the fight against eviction, surveillance and criminalization. Featuring voices from five countries, it explores the tensions and possibilities in building lasting, intersectional solidarity for housing rights.
Kindling Hope: Daily Passages from Darkness into Light Zhen-Ru Pownal Street Press
An inspiring collection of reflections by Buddhist teacher Zhen-Ru encourages compassion, perspective and inner peace. Offering gentle guidance for joyful living, it helps readers shift from despair to hope. Newly translated, these meditations nurture stillness, ethical clarity and resilience in an oftenchaotic world.
Memoir
The Illogical Adventure: A memoir of love and fate
James MacDuff & Mirriam Mweemba Pottersfield Press
The true story of James and Mirriam, two people from vastly different worlds who meet by chance in Cape Town. Defying distance, culture and logic, their love grows into a shared life—an inspiring testament to connection, courage and the power of fate.
Where Did I Go
Francene Gillis
OC Publishing Francene Gillis shares her powerful journey of healing and rediscovery after a traumatic brain injury. Through candid reflections, she explores identity, resilience and the emotional challenges of recovery, offering hope and insight to anyone facing lifealtering adversity.
Welcome to Bookverse A digital library platform for classrooms
Bookverse is a new digital platform of Canadian books from Formac Publishing Ltd. and Nimbus Publishing, two of Nova Scotia’s largest publishers. This collaboration is a pilot program with the Nova Scotia Department of Education, in hopes of bringing Atlantic Canadian books to more schools across the region. The pilot program launched earlier this year to twenty-four classrooms. These classes were mostly grade threes, some were combined with grade twos and fours.
The impact of Bookverse appears to be extremely positive. Students on average read three to four books during the pilot program, and being able to read fiction in similar surroundings has been a beneficial asset for them. It’s an exciting change for students to be surrounded by books where they could see themselves, in location, dialect and the diverse communities that Formac and Nimbus strive to celebrate.
Heather Epp, Operations Manager at Formac Publishing, was thrilled about the positive feedback of Bookverse, mentioning that, “a lot of classroom libraries don’t have these books in them. The kids are super excited. It speaks to the excellent quality of books being published in Nova Scotia. It’s also exciting because it’s all local. Authors are writing stories relatable for people who grew up in those neighbourhoods.”
One teacher, part of the pilot program, provided feedback and commented on the importance of having local stories in classrooms.
“Bookverse has local stories, so it’s good for looking into local topics. Kids want to read about places they know like the Halifax harbour and events like the Halifax explosion…They would also seek out the Mi'kmaw stories,
by Andre Fenton
they liked seeing the seven sacred teachings. You won’t find that on Epic or Raz Kids.”
Both Nimbus and Formac are committed to bringing diverse Atlantic Canadian stories to the forefront of their catalogue, but with Bookverse they also aim to offer a set of accessibility features. These features include giving young people the option to change font size and colour of the text, along with audio options for students to listen. These settings are individualized for each specific student’s preference, creating a more inclusive reading environment. So far, the youth have been taking advantage of these features to suit their needs.
Another teacher commented on the quality of the books, stating, “Once my kids realized what is here, they liked the selection. They stopped looking for other things and just dove into the books.
I appreciate the quality of these books. I’m often concerned about the books on other sites, so I really loved the quality and the connection we have to these books. Especially the Indigenous books.”
Bookverse is built around an easy-to-read user interface, with a search engine above top recommendations for students. Similar to a streaming service, but for books. Students have found this a convenient option to select their next reads. In total, 1,238 books were loaned throughout the pilot program. This is about three to four books per student.
Bookverse is aiming to expand with more regional publishers, hoping to make these Canadian books a pillar in classrooms across Atlantic Canada. ■
ANDRE FENTON is an award-winning African Nova Scotian author, spoken-word artist, screenwriter and arts educator.
Young readers’ reviews
Picture Books
Out on the Trail
Bonnie Morgan, illustrated by Molly Margaret
Running the Goat Books & Broadsides
A pair of seemingly happy wanderers enjoy an idyllic day of outdoor explorations in this lovely new book for very young readers. Together, “just you and me,” this adult and child duo wander by the ocean and a brook, they take time to gaze up at the clouds as well as at flocks of birds, and they rest upon the rocks as they take in the wonders all around them. Although they see others during their rambles, this day is all about these two together discovering nature’s treasures and taking the time to savour them. Then, at the end of the day as they head for home, a look behind reveals footprints that serve as a reminder of their blissful meanderings.
This is a gentle and reassuring story with a lilting cadence and a welcoming page design that features cheerful illustrations and vibrantly layered compositions that provide abundant visual allure. It has been thoughtfully designed to engage youngsters with its repetitive refrain and bold, bright images. By repeatedly asking “And what do I see?”, the author encourages little ones to think about what might lie to the right or left or above that trail and to anticipate what the next page might hold. The wordless double-page spreads invite readers to linger in this story and to see for themselves what else there is to be seen by the brook and in the sky and on the beach. It is a book that will undoubtedly have both adults and children yearning to get out into the world to make their own joyful discoveries.
by Lisa Doucet
Lisa-Maude
Aubin-Berube
Monster House Publishing As indicated in the
opening pages of this book, it is a retelling of two different stories from the oral tradition, one of which was a Wabanaki creation story. This tale begins with a child joining their grandfather who proceeds to share the story of Askemawso, the man who longed to live forever. Askemawso and his two friends Crow and Rabbit (Kahkakohs and Mahtekwehs) embark on a quest to find Keloweskap, the First Man. According to legend, anyone who finds Keloweskap would be granted a wish. After a lengthy journey, the threesome find Keloweskap who does indeed offer to grant Askemawso his wish. But, as Keloweskap warns Askemawso, one must be careful what one wishes for and choose wisely. Askemawso soon finds himself transformed into an ash tree. After many moons, a storm arises and this ash tree is struck by lightning. From the core of the stricken tree, new life and new traditions are born.
In the very best of ways, this story feels like a traditional origin story. The prose is precise and restrained, and it is easy to imagine the grandfather’s voice as he narrates this tale. The illustrations employ a flat aesthetic and dark, earthy tones to depict the journey that these three friends undertake, the island where they eventually find Keloweskap and the highest peak of the island where Askemawso’s wish is finally granted. While good things ultimately come of this wish, its fulfillment is not what Askemawso had intended and young readers will no doubt take Keloweskap’s warning to think carefully when one makes a wish to heart.
Askemawso Written & illustrated by
I Lost a Day
Written
& illustrated by
Briana Corr Scott Nimbus Publishing
“I lose track of the hours/ And sometimes the days/When anger takes over/When sadness just stays.” Briana Corr Scott’s latest picture book depicts in both words and images what it feels like to be overcome by the intensity of big feelings that threaten to overshadow everything else. And then it gently offers ways to help ease troubled minds and hearts, reminding readers that sometimes the days that we “lose” are the ones that give us the chance to find what we most needed. Whether lost in the pages of a book, or in a sketch that flows from your fingertips, or gathering shells and stones by the sea, sometimes nature and creativity can provide solace and comfort when anger or sadness or any other emotion feels overwhelming.
The soothing cadence of Corr Scott’s poetry guides readers gently through the darkness of rage and sadness to the hope that can be found when you take the time to be still, to listen, to look and to do whatever you need to do to find your own peace. The first few pages feature a fistclenched boy against a dark, stormy background and a girl with angry-looking hand-drawn messy lines and sketches of bees buzzing round her head, and a child completely engulfed in an enormous raincloud. From there the images become fuller with hints of brightness (the sun peeking through the raindrops near the top of a window, an outline of a mountain scene with a starry sky sketched atop a cozy living room). The final images are luminous and filled with light. This book uses messy, line art overlays to visually capture these intense feelings, and as they gradually ease, the overlays themselves become less frenetic-looking and softer. A thoughtful and empathetic book, I Lost a Day offers hope as well as helpful suggestions for how to be kind to yourself when you need it most.
What if Marty Doesn’t Like My Party?
Written &
illustrated
by Katie Arthur Owlkids Books
For a boy who is about to have a birthday party, Henry is oddly quiet and preoccupied. But when big sister Sam tries to sleep, Henry reveals what is on his mind.
Marty, his new best friend and the kid that everyone wants at their birthday party, is coming to Henry’s party. Now Henry is afraid: what if she hates Grandma’s confetti cake, or the elevator is broken and she has to climb all those stairs or she thinks their apartment is too small? For each of his what-ifs, Sam has a what-if of her own: what if Marty loves the cake, and climbing stairs and she thinks their apartment is really big? What if she has such a fun time? Henry struggles to understand how Sam can possibly know that these things will happen and she tells him, “I don’t. But neither do you.” And with his loving sibling’s thoughtful reassurances and profound observation, Sam relaxes and let’s himself just savour the exciting news that “Marty is coming to my party.”
In this beautiful story of sibling love, Henry trusts Sam enough to finally reveal the worries that are consuming him. She helps him to see that his worst-case scenarios are just that, and that there is just as much chance that the opposite might happen. The muted colour palette reflects Henry’s anxiety, and the comic-book-style panels in the early pages of the story effectively capture the details of their daily lives: backpacks in the hall and toys strewn about the living room. Many of the images feature closeups of Henry’s face as he gives voice to his worries, and they candidly depict the intensity of the feelings that he is wrestling with. These illustrations are also interspersed with childlike drawings that effectively depict Henry’s fears as he relays each one. The spare text and subdued but finely detailed illustrations tell a poignant tale that is both touching and wise.
Early Readers
Shark Girl
Written & illustrated by Kate Beaton Roaring Brook Press
When a little Shark Girl (who is part human and part shark) finds herself caught in a fishing net, things take a definite turn in her life. Gone are the days where she pays little heed to the human world. Fueled by anger at the evil and greedy sea captain, she breaks free and begins plotting her revenge. Disguised as a sailor, she joins Captain Barrett’s crew with the intention of creating a mutiny. But the little Shark Girl has much to learn (both good and bad!) about human nature, and although things don’t go exactly as she had planned, she makes some loyal and true friends, she confronts (and sinks her teeth into) the captain and yes indeed, she ultimately inspires a mutiny, which she herself witnesses from the safety of her beloved ocean home.
Whether in shark or human form, this little Shark Girl is a feisty and determined protagonist who fearlessly stands up to Captain Barrett when she sees that he cares only about profits with no regard for the innocent creatures that get caught in his net and are of no use to him. As she boldly tries to rally the crew to her cause she soon discovers that it takes time to build a relationship with humans. She also learns that although humans are capable of doing terrible, selfish things, they can also be loyal and brave and willing to stand up for what is right. Ultimately, the little Shark Girl succeeds by being true to herself and her own true nature. With its delightful heroine, astute observations about humanity as well as its understated but artful exploration of environmental themes and dynamic illustrations that are loose-lined, boldly whimsical and delightfully expressive, this book is sure to captivate Beaton’s fans of all ages.
Middle Grade
Benny on the Case
Wesley King Simon & Schuster
As a new school year begins, Benny is both excited and nervous about his “reintegration” into a mainstream classroom. Because he has Mosaic Downs syndrome, Benny spent years as a special education student, and his peers have often been quick to make him feel different. But Benny isn’t the only new student. Salma and her family have recently moved to Newfoundland and, as the only brown-skinned student in their class, she too is subject to rude comments and harassment from several of their classmates. Benny and Salma soon become fast friends. But bullies at school are the least of Benny’s worries. When a number of thefts at the retirement home that his mother runs come to the attention of a local inspector, he warns that they could be shut down. Soon retirement homes all across Western Newfoundland face closure, which would leave countless elderly residents homeless. Fearing the loss of the only home he’s ever known, and heartbroken for those who will have nowhere else to go, Benny recruits Salma to help him get to the bottom of the thefts.
Benny is a sympathetic protagonist who is comfortable with himself and the ways in which he is unique compared to all “the other b’ys” (for example: living in a retirement home, having an 86-year-old best friend). But he is also caring and kindhearted, and struggles to stand up for himself, yet manages to find the courage to stand up for Salma when the need arises. Salma is equally likeable, and her pluckiness and strength of spirit inspire Benny. The mystery is cleverly crafted, with enough clues and red herrings to keep readers guessing. Benny’s growth and maturation as he confronts numerous painful realities in his life is both believable and heartwarming. King has also captured a strong sense of community, and sensitively depicts the different relationships in Benny’s life in this satisfying mystery and family drama.
Joe and the Wreck of the Tribune
Jacqueline Halsey Nimbus Publishing
Left on Gram’s doorstep as a baby, Joe has grown up feeling like a burden to Gram and her son Eli. He longs to run away and join the navy but when he tries to do so, a nasty fall leaves him battered, bruised and limping back home. But he also discovers a bedraggled boat washed up on the shore, a boat that could be perfect for a fisher boy who could fix it up and then use it to do his own fishing and make his own way. As he sets about trying to repair the boat, he wonders about his parents and why they left him. He also wonders about all the secrets that people all around him seem to be keeping. Mostly he wonders if he will be able to make his patched-up boat seaworthy. Joe gets to put his boat to the test when a ship is wrecked off the shores of his home in Herring Cove. With only a handful of survivors clinging to the masts, Joe sets out alone in the storm try to save them.
Author Jacqueline Halsey has adeptly captured a true spirit of place in this latest novel with the fishermen and their inextricable bond with the sea; the neighbours who don’t necessarily like one another but love each other as kin nonetheless; the families whose roots run deep and whose ties hold fast. Halsey brings readers into the heart of this tiny fishing village while also sensitively depicting Joe’s longing for answers and a sense of true belonging. The characters and their relationships are finely woven and the climactic shipwreck scene near the end of the book provides rich dramatic tension and a very vivid depiction of the fury of the wind and waves. Joe’s refusal to see himself as a hero and his ultimate realization of what he truly wants for his future are heartwarming and satisfying.
The Sky’s the Limit!: Canadians Who Blazed a Trail in Aviation
Wanda Taylor
Nimbus Publishing
In her latest book for young readers, Wanda Taylor explores the fascinating history of aviation in Canada and the evolution of the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force). Noting the different types of pilots, she also points out the fact that pursuing a career in aviation has often proven more challenging for some than others, and this book specifically looks at how people from certain communities, including Black people, Indigenous people and women, often struggled to be accepted. Sharing stories of the first Black Canadian pilots, several of the earliest Indigenous pilots and a number of women who were among the first to find places for themselves in this industry, Taylor looks at the ways in which racism and discrimination, lack of training opportunities and other obstacles made it even harder for many Canadians to make their way into this demanding but rewarding field. This book also recognizes the ways in which these men and women, and many others, paved the way for future generations and for a more diverse aviation industry.
Filled with a wealth of information, Taylor gives readers an eye-opening overview of Canada’s aviation history and what it takes for those who set their sights on becoming a pilot to achieve their dreams. Presented in a way that is concise, engaging and easy to understand, she includes interesting added facts and additional snippets of information in separate text boxes that appear on certain pages along with photos and an occasional newspaper clipping. These and the three appendices at the back provide valuable additional resource material, making this a wonderful reference tool. But it is the personal stories of all the individuals that she highlights in these pages which really stand out and make this book one that will capture and inspire young readers. ■
LISA DOUCET is the co-manager of Woozles Children’s Bookstore in Halifax. She shares her passion for children’s and young adult books as our young readers editor and book reviewer.
EDITOR’S PICKS
M pour Magnifiques
Musiciennes
By Anneli Loepp
Thiessen, illustrated by Haeon Grace Kang
Bouton d’or Acadie
A vibrant alphabet book celebrating influential female musicians from around the world, showcasing their diverse cultural and musical backgrounds in French, with expressive illustrations and empowering profiles for young readers.
Every Leaf on Every Tree
Written and illustrated by Lauren Soloy
Nimbus Publishing
Bestselling author-illustrator Lauren Soloy’s debut board book is a lyrical celebration of love, inspired by nature. With vibrant illustrations and a soothing refrain, it carries readers from fields to stars in a heartfelt journey perfect for reading aloud.
Mr Beagle and the Quidi Vidi Caper
Written and illustrated by Lori Doody
Running the Goat Books and Broadsides
Mr. Beagle, a sleuthing canine, investigates the mystery of missing teddy bears in Quidi Vidi. A delightful Newfoundland-set tale of community, kindness and puzzlesolving; the fourth installment of this charming picture-book mystery series.
My Nova Scotia
Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by Martyna Czub
Nimbus Publishing
Joyful rhymes and illustrations celebrate the diverse cultures, people
and traditions that make the province unique, depicting Acadian hooked rugs, Mi’kmaw history, African Nova Scotian resilience, Cape Breton fiddle music and more.
The Friendship Centre
Theresa Meuse, illustrated by Zeta Paul Nimbus Publishing
A gentle, informative story introducing young readers to the role and importance of the Friendship Centre for urban Indigenous peoples. Blending cultural pride and community values, this story welcomes all into a safe and inviting community space.
The Sandcastle that Jack Built
Judith Graves, illustrated by Maurice Bernard Acorn Press
A playful retelling of the traditional nursery rhyme, this beach-themed story follows Jack and his friends as they build—and defend—a sandcastle from invading crabs and waves. Beautiful text is perfectly accompanied by rich, vivid illustrations.
Morgan Moose Visits New Brunswick Provincial Parks
Kimothy Stewart, illustrated by Airen MacMaster
Monster House Publishing
Join Morgan Moose in learning about pollination, dark sky preserves and
more on their exciting adventure traveling to provincial parks around New Brunswick.
Puppy School Pandemonium: The Adventures of Easton the Rescue Pet
Elizabeth Retter, illustrated by Izzy Bean Pownal Street Press
Easton the puppy starts school, but things quickly spiral into chaos. A fun-filled, relatable story for kids that highlights the joys and challenges of training a rescue dog. Young readers and dog-lovers alike will discover the importance of patience, perseverance and second chances in the third book of this series.
Reg Catches a Salmon
Lori Gard, illustrated by Emma Martin Pownal Street Pres
Reg sets off to catch a salmon— learning patience and a bit about himself. The latest in the Tales for Big Feelings series guides readers through the challenge of learning new, hard things and the joy of trying and trying again.
Hope of the Wasteland
Matt Watts
Donovan Street Press
Twelve-year-old
Huey breaks his dad’s cardinal rule and ventures into a post-apocalyptic wasteland to find him. Battling anxiety, mutants and giant scorpions, Huey’s biggest challenge might just be teaming up with a bold girl named Hope.
