Before it was a federal statutory holiday, it was known as Orange Shirt Day, “an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of ‘Every Child Matters’”. (Government statement.) Valuing and learning the stories of
Poetry is a place into which we can disappear from pain. In these collections, there are many other themes explored, but these passages intertwined like threads through my reading. In “A Toothless Crackhead Was the Mascot” from Reginald Dwayne Betts’ Bastards of the Reagan Era (2015): “This begins the concept
A couple of weeks ago, I attended Wordstock, a literary festival in Northern Ontario (they presented all their events in-person and online), and one of my favourite discussions was between three northern Indigenous authors, which reminded me that I had intended to share some other recent Indigenous reads. The Wordstock
As you might guess, many kilometres north now, I’ve found that the weather grows cold more quickly. It was a shock to change the bedding, to the December-Freeze set, at the end of September. To pull the scarves and toques from the closet (but not, quite, mittens and gloves).
Even though I am reading more than I was when we first arrived up here, my habits remain changed. I finished the new Thomas King—Thumps DreadfulWater—mystery. This is not the place to begin with the series (Anne, I’m looking at you!) but for loyal readers, who have followed from
