A very New Brunswick book list: 2021 edition

Here’s a rundown of more than 30 new publications we heard about on CBC New Brunswick airwaves.

Check out every title or scan for your favourite genre. We’ve sorted them into sections you might find in a bookstore: Children, Adult fiction, Sci-fi, Poetry, Non-fiction, Outdoor Life, History, Arts, Self-help and Spirituality. Happy reading!

Children

The Manatee Presents: That’s Not True: An Inaccurate Journey Through New Brunswick — Written and illustrated by Brandon Hicks and Shauna Chase, independently published

There are many misconceptions about this province — that it’s a paradise where rich Ontarians can afford to buy mansions and retire, that it’s a backwater full of rednecks, that all New Brunswickers like fiddleheads and dulse. St. Stephen based illustrator and writer Brandon Hicks knows the truth. He and co-author Shauna Chase have released a children’s book meant to teach kids about the importance of not taking everything at face value and to showcase some actual, cool facts about the province. The truth is often stranger than fiction on this fun, illustrated road trip to landmarks like Magnetic Hill and Reversing Falls. 

When Pigs Fly — By Michelle McLean, illustrated by Sophie Arseneau, published by Chapel Street Editions

Described by the publisher as “a fanciful romp around the neighbourhood where the words are at play and things can get a little punny.” Beloved children’s writer and former Frederictonian Sheree Fitch called it “absolutely delightful, well-crafted nonsense verse.” Here’s a small sample: “Beware the Frumps who Criticize, the Grumps who Scowl with Beady Eyes.” McLean is a clinical social worker, educator and mom. The illustrator was one of her daughters. She’s also an award-winning poet. Her work has appeared in a number of publications including Quills and Other Voices. She lives with her family in the village of Bath.

We Wear Masks — Written and illustrated by Marla Lesage, published by Orca

This rhyming picture book features all kinds of people — from scuba divers to welders — who wear masks as part of their work or for fun. It’s the third book Lesage has been involved with. But she says this one has special resonance with her, as a writer who is also a nurse in Fredericton. “A fun tool to help children make sense of this new reality and make wearing masks less scary and more relatable.” 

Africville — By Shauntay Grant, Illustrated by Eva Campbell, translated to French by Josephine Watson, published by Bouton d’or Acadie

Josephine Watson, a spoken word artist and singer in Moncton, says it was a dream come true to work on this translation. She always wanted to be involved with children’s books and says it felt extremely personal to see the depiction of a young black girl in the Maritimes in Shauntay Grant’s story. The history of Halifax’s historical Black community is serious and heavy, says Watson, but is approached in this book with joy and a sense of adventure, as a young girl visits a park commemorating the former home of some of her ancestors.

Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians: Inspiring Stories of Courage and Achievement — By Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by James Bentley, published by Nimbus, for ages 8 and up

Lindsay Ruck’s grandfather, the late Nova Scotia senator Calvin W. Ruck, turned her into a storyteller and introduced her to Black history that wasn’t being taught in schools. Her new book takes us back in time and into the present. You’re likely familiar with the stories of people such as Viola Desmond and Measha Brueggergosman. But there is more to learn about their lives and achievements, and about many other Atlantic Black Canadians whose stories aren’t quite as well known — people like Marie Marguerite Rose, who was born on the west coast of Africa, came to Louisburg, N.S., was freed in her 30s, opened a tavern and married a Mi’kmaw hunter. Other featured historical figures include Saint John radio host and civil rights activist Lena O’Ree and Saint Andrews landscape artist Edward Bannister. Ruck set out to write a children’s book about the all-Black No. 2 Construction Battalion of the First World War and ended up with this illustrated collection of 50 stories. (Also new in this series: Amazing Atlantic Canadian Women: Fascinating Stories of Excellence and Determination)

Adult fiction

The Sound of Fire — By Renee Belliveau, published by Vagrant Press

A work of historical fiction based on a fire that erupted in a men’s residence at Mount Allison University on a cold December night in 1941, killing four students — Frederick Keillor Farrer, Joseph Simpson Harris Fraser, Melvin Mortimer Green and James Creelman MacDonald. Belliveau is the archivist at Mount Allison University, so she’d seen a lot of material about the fire in her daily work, including pictures, newspaper accounts, letters and diaries. The voices of those affected by the fire haunted her. She writes about how it felt to be in a smoky building trying to get out — a number of students had to jump from their dorm windows — and how it felt to be a parent, frantic for news of their sons. No real names are used in the novel, even for fictionalized versions of people who attended the school at the time and later became famous, like artist Alex Colville.

The Running Trees — By Amber McMillan, published by Goose Lane Editions

A collection of short stories based on a series of conversations — a phone call, a police interrogation, even a chat between two house cats. McMillan catches characters in the act of being themselves, to sometimes comic effect, wrestling with the deeper meaning behind everyday dramas. McMillan is pursuing a PhD in creative writing at the University of New Brunswick. Her previous work includes a poetry collection and a memoir. 

The Town That Drowned 10th anniversary edition — By Riel Nason, afterward by Sheree Fitch, published by Goose Lane Editions

The Town That Drowned is a coming of age story about a young woman named Ruby. She’s 14 when she falls through the ice one winter and has a vision of her entire town underwater. In fact, plans were underway to build a dam that would flood the valley where she lived. The book is inspired by the real-life construction of the Mactaquac Dam. When Riel Nason of Quispamsis released her first novel, she never dreamed of the impact it would have, both on readers and on her own life. It won several awards, including the prestigious Commonwealth Book Prize for Canada and Europe, and launched Nason’s literary career. She has since published another novel, children’s picture books and a book for children eight to 12 years old. 

Meadowlands — By Virginia Bliss Bjerkelund, published by Chapel Street Editions

Becoming a published author for the first time at age 91 is no easy feat. But when Virginia Bliss Bjerkelund discovered a treasure trove of information about her family, she knew she had a story to tell and the words just flowed. Bliss Bjerkelund is a descendant of the Scovil family. Meadowlands is a novel, based on the lives of her family members, including great-aunt Elizabeth Scovil, a nurse who was friends with Florence Nightingale. It’s set in and around the rural Fredericton region, between the years 1903 and 1934. 

Sci-fi

Letters from the Future: How New Brunswickers Confronted Climate Change and Redefined Progress — Edited by Daniel Tubb, Abram Lutes and Susan O’Donnell, illustrations by Ian Smith, published by Chapel Street Editions

A collection of speculative fiction in essay and story form that goes back to the future to tackle climate change and social justice in New Brunswick. The writers imagine a day when the climate crisis, food security and human rights issues have been solved and look back on how it was done. UNB environmental anthropologist Daniel Tubb conceived the work as part of a Rural Action and Voices for the Environment project, in partnership with the NB Media Co-op. There are 37 stories that envision glowing futures for everything from public transit to the Schoodic, or St. Croix, River. Contributors include the Skutik Collective, Matthew Hayes, Mary Louise McCarthy Brandt, Carlos Morales and Jael Duarte.

Poetry

Sulphurtongue — By Rebecca Salazar, published by Penguin Random House Canada

A finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry. Described by the publisher as, “An urgent, powerful examination of place and the ways in which all kinds of identities exist and collide. … An immigrant family scatters over a stolen continent. Oracles appear in public transit … Doppelgangers, Catholic saints, and polyamorists alike pass on unusual inheritances. … This collection confronts the stories we tell about gender, queerness, race, religion, illness, and trauma, seeking new forms of care for a changing world.” Salazar’s previous writings include poetry chapbooks the knife you need to justify the wound (Rahila’s Ghost) and Guzzle (Anstruther). She also edits for The Fiddlehead and Plenitude magazines.

Mill Rat — By Tom Halford, published by Frog Hollow Press.

A very limited edition collection of surreal poetry from former Saint John west-sider-turned-Newfoundlander Tom Halford. Halford casts the city’s iconic Loyalist Man —  with his tricorn hat, gleaming white grin, and hand-on-hip power stance —  as a wisecracking superhero. Loyalist Man represents an idea of Saint John that is super masculine, proud, and cartoonish, says Halford, and you can’t take him too seriously. Another icon of Saint John, a mill worker, accompanies Loyalist Man on a crazy, satirical and sometimes risqué ride through the Port City underbelly. Miller Brittain art adorns the cover. Bliss Carman gets a few shoutouts. Halford has previously published a novel, Deli Meat, as well as scholarly essays and short stories. (Also new in Frog Hollow’s New Brunswick chapbook series: Marsh Blue Violet: A Queer New Brunswick Anthology and Brickworks by Russell Carisse.)

Myself, A Paperclip — By Triny Finlay, published by Goose Lane Editions

“Bent out of joint in order to hold everything together/Won’t snap/Won’t dissolve in an acid bath,” reads an excerpt from this collection of poetry, which delves into one woman’s experience with debilitating mental illnesses and some of their treatments. “You Don’t Want What I’ve Got,” is the title of one section, what is essentially a single long poem, broken up by different headings. Finlay describes herself as a queer poet, mother and teacher. She grew up in Toronto and has lived the last 15 years in Fredericton, where she teaches at UNB. She writes about going through some terrible things, in a style that is frank and at times raw, at times funny — if you have an appreciation for the absurd. Also included is a touching thank you to the nurses and staff of 2Southeast, the psychiatric unit at the Chalmers hospital. 

Non-fiction

In the Arms of Inup: The extraordinary story of a Guatemalan survivor and his quest for healing from trauma — By Jeremias Tecú  and Eve Mills Allen, published by HARP

Today Jeremias Tecú is a settlement worker with the Multicultural Association of Fredericton. But 19 years ago, Tecú, his wife, Soledad, and their young children arrived in Fredericton to begin a new life after fleeing violence and persecution in Guatemala. Jeremias lost many family members to death squads that roamed his region killing Mayan people during a civil war. When he was 11 years old, he and his mother and younger siblings survived a brutal onslaught by hiding in the roots of a massive tree —  the Inup. His father and brothers disappeared and were feared murdered. As a young adult he was kidnapped and tortured. Coming to Canada meant safety, but it also meant living with the pain of what happened. Many years later, Tecú started working on writing as therapy with Moncton-based counsellor Eve Mills Allen. Now they have collaborated on a book that tells his story. 

Wires Crossed: Memoir of a Citizen and Reporter in the Irving Press — By Julian Walker, self-published through FriesenPress

Julian Walker is a former New Brunswick newspaper editor, reporter, political assistant and deputy minister in the McKenna government. His new book is part memoir, part critique of the New Brunswick media landscape. Walker revisits some blockbuster investigative stories broken during his days at the St. Croix Courier, when the nearby Lepreau nuclear plant was under construction. They exposed safety risks and illegal political donations by contractors. The province needs more of that kind of public interest journalism, he says, but the concentration of media and industry ownership by the Irving family has created an unhealthy situation. It’s a subtle influence, says Walker, which nonetheless hinders press freedom and enterprising reporting on important issues ranging from defoliant spraying to poverty and relations with Indigenous peoples.

Lyme Disease in Canada: The tick-borne epidemic you need to know about — now! — By Brian Owens, published by Formac

Ticks carrying Lyme disease have spread across southern Canada. Hikers, golfers, campers, hunters and dog-walkers all run the risk of being bitten and infected with Lyme or another tick-borne disease. But the idea that it’s not a real disease is still prevalent in parts of the medical community, and most patients spend years trying to get doctors to take them seriously. Science writer Brian Owens of St. Stephen had several friends who were either affected personally by Lyme disease or lost loved ones to it. He hopes to shed light on a disease that he describes as even more complicated than he expected. Owens’s new book covers everything from the history of Lyme disease to the life cycle of ticks and controversies over testing and treatment. It explains how ticks find human targets and transmit Lyme bacteria. And it includes tips to avoid being bitten or attracting tics to your yard, and instructions for finding and removing embedded ticks. It also tells the story of a vaccine developed about 20 years ago that worked well but never got off the ground because of “bad press” and “anti-vaxxers.”

Outdoor life

Shrubs and Vines for Atlantic Canada: Choose the best plants for your location — By Todd Boland, published by Boulder Books

Todd Boland calls himself the ultimate plant geek. He’s the author of a number of books about plants and gardens, and he’s also a horticulturist at Memorial University’s Botanical Gardens in St. John’s. Shrubs are the skeleton of a garden, says Boland, but they can be tricky to grow around here. His new book is full of colour photos and detailed “hows and whys” of planting and maintaining everything from hydrangeas to honeysuckle in the Atlantic Canadian climate.

No Thanks, I Want to Walk: Two Months on Foot Around New Brunswick and the Gaspé — By Emily Taylor Smith, published by Pottersfield Press

It took 59 days, but she did it. Emily Taylor Smith backpacked 2,400 kilometres along the coast of New Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula, all the way to Quebec City. It was a trek that tested her resilience, from the strenuous hills of the Fundy Footpath to the tent-wrecking gales of Gaspé. Taylor Smith grew up in Salisbury and struggled with her weight and body image as a teen. She now lives in Dartmouth, N.S., and previously completed a 3,000-km hike around Nova Scotia. She took her solo journey around New Brunswick in the summer of 2016, walking 45 km a day and camping along the way. Taylor Smith says it taught her a lot about herself and the kindness of strangers, who offered her rides and ice cream cones. She already loved coastal hiking but says this trip helped her develop an even deeper bond with the land.

Shorelines — By ACAP Saint John and Third Space Gallery

Fundy coast conservationists and artists collaborated on this book and an accompanying art exhibit that features cherished places along the Fundy Coast, from Grand Manan to Sackville, that are at risk from climate change —  the rocks of Tin Can Beach, the sand at New River, the lobster boats in Alma, the cliffs of Cape Spencer. Contributors include Patrick Allaby, Amy Ash, Jack Bishop, Bailey Brogan, Katie Buckley, Nathan Cann, Chris Donovan, Sara Griffin, Hailey Guzik, Sarah Jones, Jericho Knopp, Jamylynn McDonald, Christiana Myers, Ben Peterson, Bethany Reinhart, Graeme Stewart-Robertson, Kate Wallace, Laura Watson, and KC Wilcox. Their goal was to break through jargon and academia to express the threat of climate change in new ways.

History

The Blacks in New Brunswick — By William A. Spray, forward by Thandiwe McCarthy, preface by Funké Aladejebi, cover design by Karrie Nash, reprinted by St. Thomas University

When poet, writer and storyteller Thandiwe McCarthy asked his mom if there were any books on Black history in New Brunswick, she handed him an out-of-print book published in 1972 by a former history professor at St. Thomas University. As the seventh-generation New Brunswicker flipped through the pages he learned about a history he wasn’t taught at school — like how Black people needed a special licence to work in Saint John. McCarthy decided to reprint and redistribute the book. He hopes it reaches more black people in the province to let them know this is their home, and inspires more Black individuals to share their stories. Dr. Funké Aladejebi, a University of Toronto professor, formerly of UNB, wrote the preface for the reprinted edition. The cover design work was supported by the New Brunswick Black Artists Alliance and was created by Karrie Nash of Karrie’d Away Creations, who incorporated photos from the Kendall-Marr Collection courtesy of Carol Marr and Jennifer Dow.

Integration of Indigenous Culture, Knowledge and Traditions: A Guide for Understanding the Intersection of Archives and Indigenous History in New Brunswick — By Leanne Hudson, published by St. Thomas University

Leanne Hudson hopes her Reader’s Digest version of Indigenous history and culture might help address gaps in public school curriculum and educate New Brunswick students. But the inspiration for the project actually came from her experience in Nova Scotia schools. Hudson is studying communications and public policy, Native studies, and human rights at St. Thomas University. She interned for a year at the New Brunswick Public Archives researching and putting together this document. It includes history on individual Indigenous communities, geography, Indigenous names and language, as well as significant Canadian and provincial events. While the resource was created with teachers in mind, Hudson is hopeful anyone who wants to learn more about Indigenous history and culture will find it useful.

Asleep in the Deep: Nursing Sister Anna Stamers and the First World War — By Dianne Kelly, published by Goose Lane Editions with the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society

This is the story of the only First World War nurse from New Brunswick known to have died in combat. When we think of Canadians in the First World War, we generally picture rows of men marching off to European battlefields. But there were plenty of women who served on the front lines — as nurses. Dianne Kelly has told the story of one of them. Anna Stamers was from Saint John and served in England, France and aboard the hospital ship Llandovery Castle. She died when it was torpedoed by a U-boat. Kelly used surviving materials from other nurses to tell the tale. She says Stamers may also have been one of the first New Brunswick women to vote in a general election. To get more nurses to sign up, anyone serving got the vote, including women. 

A Canadian Nurse in the Great War: The Diaries of Ruth Loggie, 1915-1916 — By Ross Hebb, edited by Marianne Ward, published by Nimbus

More than 2,000 Canadian women served overseas in the First World War as army nurses. Ruth Loggie of Burnt Church, N.B., was among them. Loggie knew she was living through world-altering events and wrote down her thoughts and coping methods in these letters compiled by the author of Letters Home: Maritimers and the Great War; 1914-1918, and In Their Own Words: Three Maritimers Experience the Great War.

Just the Usual Work: The Social Worlds of Ida Martin, Working Class Diarist — By Bonnie Huskins and Michael Boudreau, published by McGill Queen’s University Press

Ida Martin was born in 1907 in rural New Brunswick and lived most of her married life on the west side of Saint John. She wrote in her diary every day from 1945 to 1992 about things like making ends meet on a longshoreman’s salary, labour confrontations at the port and the importance of family. Her seemingly simple records reveal a broad tapestry of life, according to her granddaughter, historian Bonnie Huskins, and Huskins’s partner, Michael Boudreau, editor of the Journal of New Brunswick Studies. 

Arts

Anything but a Still Life: The Art and Lives of Molly Lamb and Bruno Bobak — By Nathan Greenfield, published by Goose Lane Editions

Canadian artists Molly Lamb and Bruno Bobak met as official war artists during the Second World War. She was from B.C., and he was from a Ukrainian immigrant family that settled in Toronto. They moved to Fredericton in 1960 with their son and daughter, Alex and Anny. Bruno was director of the UNB art centre and known for his landscapes and melancholy figures. Molly was a prolific painter and also illustrated two books with children’s author Sheree Fitch. Ottawa-based author Nathan Greenfield used 34 years worth of diaries to delve into the personal and professional lives of the Bobaks. In words and photos his book explores their lives from early childhood to their deaths — Bruno in 2012 and Molly in 2014.

Bibliography of New Brunswick Architecture — By John Leroux, published by Gaspereau Press and UNB Libraries

The manager of collections and exhibitions at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery has put together a 200-page bibliography of everything ever published about New Brunswick architecture in books, journals and magazines — the stories behind the storeys, you might say. Leroux says it should be a game-changer for architectural and cultural history in New Brunswick. Until now, any bibliography of architecture in the province had maybe 50 entries at most, with holes the size of Reversing Falls. This one has more than 700 entries. The book starts with a succinct history of architecture in New Brunswick, from prehistory to present day. 

Stay Solid or Move West — By Chris Donovan, published by Boreal Collective Press

Like many Maritimers who went west to bigger cities or economic opportunities, award-winning photographer Chis Donovan of Hampton has now moved East again. Donovan’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, Washington Post among other publications. He has documented his journey to Toronto and back in a new book of photographs. The pictures contrast things such as city lights and skyscrapers with moose antlers and fish heads in a bucket. Donovan says he went away to find a photographic community but always felt a strong connection to the Maritimes. Inspired by Alistair McLeod’s novel No Great Mischief he says he tried to get at the mythologies around moving west and the dichotomy between places. He used only disposable cameras because they fit in his pocket, and he could carry one all the time. He also wanted to get back to basics, to something less technical, but more soulful, like jazz.

Honorarium: Essays 2001-2020 — By Nathaniel Moore, published by Palimpsest Press

From Terry Sawchuk and Brett the Hitman Hart to small-press Canadian poetry and ancient Latin verse. There’s a lot of high-brow vs low-brow stuff going on in Honorarium, a new book of essays by indie publishing gadfly, writer and book publicist Nathaniel Moore. Moore describes himself as a marginalized small press icon with an attitude problem. Others have called him the most misunderstood figure in Canadian publishing. Love him or hate him, he recently moved to Fredericton and has embraced the N.B. literary scene. Essay topics run the gamut from how to make it as a first-time author in Canada to Moore’s family’s involvement with a cult.

Self help/spirituality

Hit The Switch — By Dave Morell, published by the Chalmers Foundation

Mention the name Dave Morell in Fredericton and chances are people will know who you’re talking about. Morell is a local legend in broadcasting and sports. He’s the former voice of the Fredericton Express and the Fredericton Canadiens hockey teams, a former events and marketing manager at the Aitken Centre and a member of the New Brunswick Sports Wall of Fame. For the past few years he’s faced a new challenge — fighting Stage 4 lung cancer. In this book, Morell and his family share their experiences, from anger and sadness to revelations, in hopes of helping other patients. The book will be distributed free to oncology patients and their families. It’s also available in limited supply at chalmersfoundation.com

One: Let’s Connect: One World, One People — By Ali Ettarnichi, with forewords by Deborah Cordner Carson and Darlene Doiron, self-published

After the last 21 months of living through a pandemic, we could all use some inspiration, particularly when it comes to anxiety about returning to life as we knew it in the before times. This author of this book says it is meant to help people find their voice and live fully. Ali Ettarnichi of Moncton has included 17 inspiring stories and messages from coaches and motivational speakers from around the world. One of the contributors to Let’s Connect is another Monctonian, Diani Blanco.

The 6 Pillars of Civility — By Jay Remer, self-published

Jay Remer of Saint Andrews has made a living as the Etiquette Guy, an expert on everyday good manners. But what happens when the everyday has been turned upside down? And what’s the antidote when being a self-promoting, self-absorbed jerk seems to be some people’s ticket to success — or at least to a large online following. Remer argues six traits can help you lead a more balanced life in a chaotic world: awareness, compassion, humility, gratitude, encouragement, and responsibility. With his series of short essays, Remer encourages self-reflection, clarity and healing.

Between Two Worlds: Spiritual Writings and Photographs — By Brian Francis

Photos and words to help us find peace in chaos. Anyone who follows Brian Francis of Elsipogtog First Nation on Facebook knows his early morning posts are an inspirational start to the day — beautiful photographs of sunrises and nature, with gentle, reflective and thought provoking captions. His first book is a collection of spiritual writings and photographs.