THE COMMUNITY
MEMBER NEWS The Writer’s Guild of Alberta invites members to submit news about their recent publications. Please keep submissions brief—up to 150 words. Content may be edited to conform to WestWord style. Adriana A. Davies announces the release of her newest work, From Sojourners to Citizens: Alberta’s Italian History (Guernica Editions, Spring 2021). The book brings to life the untold story of Italian immigrants in Alberta from the 1880s to the present. It places them in the narrative of province building from work on railways, mines and other industries to breaking the land for agriculture. Oral history excerpts allow the men, women and children to speak for themselves. What emerges is an unquenchable desire to make good, and overcome intolerable working conditions and discrimination, culminating with enemy alien designation and internment during the Second World War. Davies’s accomplishments include From Realism to Abstraction: The Art of J. B. Taylor (2014); The Rise and Fall of Emilio Picariello (2016); and the anthology The Frontier of Patriotism: Alberta and the First World War (2016). Dolly Dennis’ second book, The Complex Arms, released in May 2020 by Toronto’s Dundurn Publishing, received its official launch digitally September 3, 2020, through the Writer’s Guild of Alberta online reading series. A fictionalized account of the tragedy that erupted in the Black Friday tornado of July 31,1987, which tore through Edmonton killing 27 people, Alberta Views noted “some of the novel’s best writing shines in the description of this cataclysmic event.” On September 27, 2020, Dennis read and participated in a panel discussion with THE WRITERS’ GUILD OF ALBERTA
Canadian author Cordelia Strube, moderated by Deborah Dundas, book reviewer for the Toronto Star, at the Word on the Street Toronto Festival, Harbourfront Centre. Both streams can be viewed on YouTube. CBC Radio Edmonton A.M. conducted a morning interview on September 25, 2020. The book is a remembrance of Black Friday and is available at the usual outlets. Joan Marie Galat had three books released in 2020. Absolute Expert: Space (National Geographic Kids/ ages 8–12) explains all things space, from our solar system to worlds far beyond our galaxy. The book includes astronomers’ and other scientists’ amazing work and information on new discoveries and the latest technologies. Young readers will enjoy fun activities and sky-watching tips. Stars (Scholastic/ ages 7–10) explores stars, from supergiants and white dwarfs to supernovas and black holes. It includes an activity, timeline and stunning NASA images. The Story of Malala Yousafzai—A Biography Book For Young Readers (Rockridge Press/ages 6–8) tells the story of Malala Yousafzai. When Malala was told girls could no longer go to school in Pakistan, she stood up for equal rights and became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Please visit joangalat.com for details. Christie Mawer is thrilled to announce her first novel. Serial Love is the first book of the Bad Kitty Untethered trilogy. Kathy didn’t know what good sex was. When her husband announced he “didn't want to be married anymore,” it was the greatest gift 30
of her life. Her seemingly prudish friend, Barb, introduces Kathy to the swing, polyamorous lifestyle. Her eyes now open to her true sexuality, she discovers great partners in a sexy cop, her not-so-prudish friend, an attentive truck driver and more. She discovers who she is at a deeper level. All the while, a serial killer is moving closer to his next victim. How will Kathy, the Bad Kitty, manage her new life and this shadow over her? Available in three formats. For more information, go to thebadkitty.com. George Melnyk has edited an anthology of COVID-19 poems by 75 Canadian poets titled We Are One: Poems from the Pandemic published by Bayeux Arts (Calgary). The collection includes over 20 poets from Alberta, including WGA members. The poems were written during the first wave in the spring and summer of 2020. The themes are family, nature, distancing, quarantine, isolation, grief, resilience, love and laughter. The anthology captures a full range of the pandemic experience from shopping to being alone. It draws on both famous and new poets’ work to memorialize the difficult times through which we have lived. The book is available through your local independent bookseller or from the editor at georgemelny75@gmail.com. Midnight stopped! She felt something she hadn’t felt in 3,000 years, something that possessed magic, to the east in the mountains. She ran toward the beacon. Midnight stood in front of a sheer stone wall hundreds of feet tall. A cave, three-quarters of the way up, was where the magic was. If she tried to