Mi’kmaw artistry, a short-story virtuoso, forgotten history, new voices, and more — explore recent work from East Coast authors.

The Art of Mi’kmaw Basketry
shalan joudry, editor; Holly Brown Bear, photography
Formac Publishing

In the introductory essay to this beautiful book of basketry, Mi’kmaw storyteller Catherine Ann Martin sets the scene for nine artist profiles. The L’nu’k, which translates to “the people,” have been making baskets for millennia, initially for primarily utilitarian purposes or to sell to settlers, and in more recent years, as an expression of artistry and beauty. The profiled basket weavers come from as far west as the Gaspé region of Quebec, and through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Each has a passion for and style of weaving entirely their own, from the miniatures of Virick Francis to the colourful and flower-decorated creations of Sandra Racine. 

Threshold Stories
Carol Bruneau
Nimbus Publishing

Well-written short stories are a reader’s dream. They can create a complete world with gritty, imperfect, funny, and annoying people, drawing us in so intensely that when the story ends, we are regretful yet satisfied, drawn into a tale about a woman who sees her dead mother everywhere, or a young woman realizing her lover is not all that as he sends her home early from their dream vacation. Bruneau is a master of her craft in both long and short fiction, and this collection is full of her astute mix of humour and ability to pierce through the issues confronting people in otherwise ordinary lives. 

Black Harbour: Slavery and the Forgotten Histories of Black People in Newfoundland and Labrador
Xaiver Michael Campbell and Heather Barrett
Boulder Books 

The title sums up this gripping, well-researched work on a little-known facet of Newfoundland’s history. Campbell is originally from Jamaica and discovered a connection between his island and Newfoundland: salt cod and unsurprisingly, rum. When he moved as a teenager to Newfoundland some 15 years ago, he began to connect dots between the history of slavery in his homeland and in his adopted home. Newfoundland, of course, was a British colony and had its own connections to the slave trade. Campbell partnered with longtime Newfoundland journalist Heather Barrett to compile this grippingly informative story of a people who many readers have likely never thought about in terms of slavery on the Rock.

Waiting for the Long Night Moon
Amanda Peters
Harper Perennial 

Hot on the heels of her stunning debut novel The Berry Pickers, Indigenous writer Peters has released a collection of stories of her people, from first contact with settlers to the short story that forms the foundation for her award-winning novel. Along the way we meet remarkable and memorable characters, in stories that can be uplifting, as with a story of water keepers, or saddening, (an old man waits for his transition to the spirit world), or harrowing (an imagined first-person account from a missing and murdered Indigenous woman) to read. The stories are unflinching in their honesty, an excellent sophomore offering from a vital new voice in Canadian writing.

Big Splash Knits
Shirley Anne Scott
Boulder Books.

Knitters, rejoice: There is a new book of Newfoundland-themed knitting patterns from Shirley Anne Scott, of Saltwater Mittens fame. This book is styled similarly to the four bestselling knitting books Scott co-authored with Christine LeGrow, also through Boulder Books, and is suitable for anyone with an interest in colour-pattern knitting. With designs for patterned mittens, socks, wristers (fingerless mittens), trigger mittens, hats, and more, knitters will be busy creating gifts for others or themselves.

Death & Other Inconveniences
Lesley Crewe
Vagrant Press.

When Crewe starts out her novel with a bitingly sarcastic, purported obituary of a character, you know you’re in for a wild ride. The prolific writer, author of the award-winning The Spoon Stealer, has penned a witty, snarky, yet compassionate story of Margo, whose no-good second husband dies, leaving her essentially penniless. Suddenly Margo must learn how to manoeuvre life in all its complexities, from finding a job and a new place to live, to managing her affairs and not being managed by her well-meaning children, to coping with her late, unlamented spouse’s bitter former wife and daughter. The cast of characters ranges from family members to a rescued teenager, a pair of donkeys and a couple of cats. You will laugh. You may get teary. Choice Crewe, indeed.