Welcome to the March edition of the Newsletter! Most of this past month was focused on launching the RISE book club website and finalizing details for the launch of the book club itself. In case you haven’t heard, we partnered with Reconciliation in Solidarity Edmonton—RISE to create a citywide book club that will bring people together to read, learn, and discuss books on the topic of reconciliation. The RISE book club will be reading Arthur Bear Chief’s memoir, My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell and we have created an online platform where readers can access the book for free and participate in an online discussion. We gathered at Edmonton City Hall with more than one hundred others to launch the book club and mark the third anniversary since the final national event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Edmonton.
Check out some of the media coverage for the book club and the event below!
Media
Metro Edmonton interviewed the co-founder of Reconciliation and Solidarity Edmonton about the Actions and Words event that launched Edmonton’s citywide book club focused on reconciliation.
Our acting director, Megan Hall, spoke to the Edmonton Examiner about how the RISE book club came about and why Arthur’s story is so important.
After the event, Arthur Bear Chief spoke to Mark Connolly on CBC Edmonton AM about his experience at residential school. (DISCLAIMER: Story contains content that may not be suitable for younger listeners.)
In other news, The Digital Nexus was reviewed in Alberta Views. You can read it on their brand new website!
Angie Abdou spoke to CBC Daybreak Alberta about what she learned from reading Without Apology. You can listen in on audioboom.
Events
Kahente Horn-Miller and Zoe S. Todd, contributors to Living on the Land: Indigenous Women’s Understanding of Place visited Octopus Books in Ottawa to talk about their chapters in the book.
The RISE Book Club will be meeting in person on April 29 to discuss My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell. Find the details on Eventbrite.
Throwback
Last March, we released two books in the How Canadians Communicate Series. The first, How Canadians Communicate V: Sports, looks at why sports matter in Canadian life and culture and how they contribute to the construction of Canadian identity. The second, How Canadians Communicate VI: Food Promotion, Consumption, and Controversy looks at food as a system of communication through which Canadians articulate cultural identity, personal values, and social distinction (and there’s a fascinating chapter on Kraft Dinner).
