In this image: Headshot of Shauntay Grant.

Dalhousie University professor Shauntay Grant wrote her latest book on the history of Africville, but there’s a twist. This isn’t your typical research book; it’s a book targeted at teaching children about the community of Africville.  Grant, a Nova Scotian writer and assistant professor in the Dal English department wrote her new book about a…

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Headshot of Mark Pineo.

Every November, Mark Pineo sits down at his computer and starts making an album of music. By the end of the month, it’s finished.  In his own way, Pineo, an audio instructor in the University of King’s College’s journalism program, participates in a contest called National Novel Writing Month (otherwise known as NaNoWriMo).   Regularly, participants…

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With Canada Reads beginning just before university exams, there’s an easy opportunity to decide which of the contenders to put on your summer reading list.   The theme is ‘one book to open your eyes.’ The shortlist includes The Boat People, by Sharon Bala; American War by Omar El Akkad; Precious Cargo by Craig Davidson; Forgiveness…

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“Mitch was smiling so big his back teeth shone in the soft-light of the solar-powered lamp we’d scavenged from someone’s shed.”   And so begins Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Theives, one of the books up for this year’s Canada Reads competition.   The Marrow Thieves tells the story of a dystopian society where almost everyone has lost…

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Translated texts are everywhere – they’re some of our favourite books, movie scripts, and articles.   But have you ever thought about the transformation a translated text had to undergo to land in your hands?  It’s interesting how much pressure a translator is under. They’re responsible for taking the native words and text and transforming it…

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The shortlist for the 2018 Atlantic Book Awards was announced on Monday at a press conference at city hall. The Atlantic Book Awards, which are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, are annual awards given out to authors across Atlantic Canada. The categories encompass several genres, including fiction, narrative non-fiction, and children’s literature. Joan Baxter…

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Daniel N. Paul is a Mi’kmaq Elder and born in Indian Brook, Nova Scotia. When he was a kid, he witnessed first-hand how the “Indian agents” treated his parents and community members. Paul was raised in an educational system that taught him he was “good at making axe handles and things, and that was it.”…

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