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Launch of After All Was Lost by Alice Nsabimana, Sat. Sept 16 at 1:30 pm

Published by Baraka Books on September 7, 2023

(Montréal, 7 septembre, 2023) – Baraka Books will launch After All Was Lost, The Resilience of a Rwandan Family Orphaned on April 6, 1994 when the Rwandan President’s Plane was Shot Down by Alice Nsabimana on Saturday, September 16, from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm at the Centre Saint-Pierre, 1212, rue Panet (métro Beaudry), Montreal. Both the author and the translator, Maurice Nsabimana, will be in attendance. Everybody is welcome.

First published in French under the title Résilience, After All Was Lost is an outstretched hand bearing a message of love, peace, forgiveness, and resilience for victims of war or other disasters in the world. The highlights and life lessons that Alice Nsabimana and her brothers and sisters have chosen to share cast new light on the terrible tragedy that struck Rwanda – and the world.

Please register by Rsvp at  info@barakabooks.com. For those who cannot attend, the launch will be live streamed. You can request the link at also at info@barakabooks.com.

Livres Baraka inc. lancera After All Was Lost, The Resilience of a Rwandan Family Orphaned on April 6, 1994 when the Rwandan President’s Plane was Shot Down d’Alice Nsabimana le samedi 16 septembre de 13 h 30 à 16 h 30 au Centre Saint-Pierre, 1212, rue Panet (métro Beaudry), à Montréal. L’auteure and le traducteur, Maurice Nsabimana seront présents. Tout le monde est le bienvenu.

Paru d’abord en Belgique sous le titre Résilience, le livre est une main tendue portant un message d’amour, de paix de pardon et de résilience pour les victimes de guerres ou autres catastrophes dans le monde. Les événements et leçons que Alice Nsabimana et ses frères et sœurs partagent jettent un nouvel éclairage sur la tragédie qui a frappé le Rwanda – et le monde.

On vous invite à vous inscrire par Rsvp à  info@barakabooks.com. Pour ceux et celles qui ne peuvent y assister, le lancement sera diffusée en direct sur Zoom. Vous pouvez obtenir le lien en le demandant à info@barakabooks.com.

Source: Baraka Books
514-808-8504

 

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Shaf and the Remington: Review by Maya Khankhoje published to honour the memory of the late Rana Bose

Published by Baraka Books on May 11, 2023
Rana Bose(11 May 2023) Rana Bose left his family and friends yesterday after a long and courageous struggle with cancer. This review of the last book he wrote and presented to the world while already ill was written by Maya Khankhoje, who has given us permission to publish it.*
The story of Shaf and the Remington starts off with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, then arches up with Adolph Hitler’s rise to power and his invasion of Poland and pauses with the end of World War II. The story then follows the Cold War all the way to the thawing of international relations with Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika in 1985. What a narrative arc!
Notwithstanding a turbulent century and the presence of a Remington as an iconic protagonist in this story, Shaf and the Remington is not a tale of war. It is a tale of life, of the lives of real people and an affirmation of their capacity to live together in peace as good neighbours in spite of their different languages, religions, ethnic origins and dietary habits. It is the story of humanity’s resilience and its innate impulse towards peace and conviviality, if only… if only false prophets and purveyors of weapons did not meddle. It is a story that speaks to us today.
This is indeed a complex novel with a deep subtext, and numerous flashbacks and flash forwards. It is narrated from different viewpoints in different locations and at different times but this should not deter readers. Just the opposite. Bose, the writer, resorts to playful language and a light touch to deftly reduce a complex human universe to its simplest subatomic components. Bose, the engineer, cleverly resorts to quantum physics, to explain to readers that human behaviour is not subject to a linear analysis. The author zeroes in on the very core, which simply means heart.
All the characters are endearing, except, of course, the evil ones whose names have survived in history books that may be rewritten and in monuments that may be toppled over. There is Shaf, a lover, a partisan, a mentor, whose life is a mystery to be decoded. Then there is Ben, a young boy who follows Shaf’s science lessons but winds up learning much more. And Bo, a father, absent physically more often than not, yet very much present in people’s hearts. Not to forget the grandfather, an imposing yet distant figure, very much a product of his times. Nika is a young woman yearning to break free from social constraints. There are also two mothers, one whose heart will be broken and another one who will break a heart. Several minor characters are mostly off scene but at some point make their relevance known. Sabzic is the name of the fictitious town where the events play out, but history buffs will quickly identify it as the Balkan city shattered by several 20th Century conflicts.
Shaf and the RemingtonThe ending closes the loop and returns to where the story began, for another generation to take over. It is no coincidence that Rana Bose has dedicated this book—his best in his compact corpus of novels—to Josephine Chameli, Colette Daisy and Fran Amiya, not merely as an affectionate gesture from a doting grandfather to his young grandchildren, but as a pledge—and a token of faith—for them not to repeat history.
Author: Rana Bose
Publisher: Baraka Books, September 2022
Montreal 2022.
Review by Maya Khankhoje
[Full disclosure: Maya Khankhoje is a long-time colleague and friend of the author but she never reviews a book, from either friend or stranger, unless she finds it of great interest to readers at large. This novel more than fits the bill.]
* Baraka Books will honour Rana Bose in the near future. Rana is the author of four novels including two that Baraka Books is proud to have published, Fog (2019) and Shaf and the Remington (2022).
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“Professor Chitpin’s memoir will make you laugh, cry, and be swept away…” Marvin Zuker

Published by Baraka Books on May 9, 2023

Keep My Memory Safe, Fook Soo Am, The Pagoda, a Memoir by Stephanie Chitpin, is about grief, doubt, and faith and heroes. Love is not a solo journey. Yes, there are heroes in the world of lost and abandoned children. Professor Chitpin’s memoir will make you laugh, cry, and be swept away by the celebration of love as it exists in real life. Stephanie’s memoir is an inspiration, a truly bright light of valor in the cause of justice. It is about relationships, feelings, betrayals and revelations. What I have lost is part of who I am, and so is what I chose to save. Her heart broke, but it mended. Keep My Memory Safe is about survival as an orphan to becoming a bright star in academia.

No, I have not lost you my Mauritius. No I have not lost you, my Pagoda. That will never be. You are present everywhere, most of all in me. “When you have learned how to live, life itself is the reward”. Sadness, anger, the marginalized. Yes, but overwhelmingly these hard emotions that we read about reflect a self-belief that like Dr. Chitpin, a Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa and a Doctorate recipient from the University of Toronto, all of us can ultimately and truly become triumphant, made so much sweeter by the difficulty in achieving it. Her path from A to B was never a straight line. Such courage, compassion and most of all dignity for all of humanity. A truly remarkable book for all to read.

Marvin Zuker, Associate Professor
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, Ontario
Professor Zuker is the author and co-author of numerous books including The Law is NOT for Women with June Callwood and The Law is NOT for Kids with Ned Lecic.

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Francesco Filippi in Montreal – Launch and Meet the Author – Jan 21, 2-4 pm

Published by Baraka Books on December 22, 2022

Francesco Filippi, author of the 2019 Italian bestseller  Mussolini Also Did a Lot of Good, The Spread of Historical Amnesia will be speaking in Montreal at a book launch/meet the author event on Saturday January 21 from 2 to 4 pm at the Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220, av. McGill College.

The event is organized with the support of the Istituto italiano di cultura of Montréal.

Here are some of the international reviews:

“an antidote to all the nonsense still circulating about fascism…. Filippi is almost surgical in the way he reestablishes the context.” La Repubblica Book of the Month

« Dans un tel climat, le scalpel de Francesco Filippi n’en est que plus nécessaire. » Le Monde

“Francesco Filippi’s book is very timely and relevant … a lesson on a past that simply doesn’t go away.” Corriere Della Sera

« agile e necessario, » La Stampa

“… extraordinarily pertinent.” Agata De Santis, Italocanadese

“We are indebted to Mr. Filippi for his skilled passion in establishing a proper analysis…” Truby Chiaviello, Primo Magazine, Washington DC

The launch and discussion will be conducted in Italian, French and English

RSVP: info@barakabooks.com

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Documentary series rights option agreement signed for Barry Sheehy’s Montreal, City of Secrets, Confederate Operations in Montreal During the American Civil War

Published by Baraka Books on December 12, 2022
Documentary series rights option agreement signed for Barry Sheehy’s
Montreal, City of Secrets, Confederate Operations in Montreal During the American Civil War
(français ci-dessous)
(Montreal, Dec. 12, 2022) Robin Philpot, publisher of Baraka Books of Montreal, and Barry Sheehy, author of the book Montreal, City of Secrets, Confederate Operations in Montreal During the American Civil War, are pleased to announce the option of documentary series rights to Montreal-based producer Sphere Media. Baraka Books and Sheehy were represented by Janine Cheeseman of Aurora Artists. Sphere Media is working with Executive Producer Danny Goldman, of Goldridge Media, on the project.
Montreal, City of Secrets reveals that Montreal hosted Confederacy’s largest foreign secret service base during the Civil War, and that Montreal banks and other Canadian financial institutions held a million dollars or more in hard currency or gold to fund clandestine activities. When Jefferson Davis fled the U.S. in 1865, Montreal welcomed him and his family. Overrun with refugees, soldiers of fortune, spies, assassins, bankers and smugglers, Montreal was a pro “Secesh” town.

From the city’s grand hotels, plots of all sorts were hatched, including the infamous St. Albans raid and the Lincoln kidnapping, which mutated into an assassination. Influential British-Canadian bankers joined Confederates as they launched a successful assault on the new “Greenback.” When John Wilkes Booth was shot, a bank draft signed by Montreal banker and future mayor Henry Starnes was found in his coat pocket.A French edition of Montreal, City of Secrets will be published in 2023 by Les éditions du Septentrion of Québec City.

Baraka Books is a Quebec-based English-language press publishing creative and political non-fiction, history and historical fiction, and fiction.

Barry Sheehy, born and raised in Montreal now living in Cape Breton Island, is an award-winning author of seven books. His writings have appeared in historical and business publications worldwide.

Sphere Media is a production and distribution company with world-class talent creating premium content for the global market. Sphere’s content spans international territories and languages in both the scripted and unscripted spaces. Among Sphere’s international scripted hits are Transplant (NBC / CTV), and the Peabody Award-winning Sort Of (HBO Max / CBC). Sphere’s track-record in the unscripted space include international specials 9/11: Cleared for Chaos (Nat Geo / Discovery Canada) and 100 Days to Victory (BBC / History Canada). Sphere Media creates content across all unscripted genres including specialist factual, doc series, docudrama, fact-entertainment formats, lifestyle, and kids & family.

Danny Goldman has over thirty years of experience in the media business and runs Goldridge Media, an international TV distribution, co-production and development consultancy that works with film and TV producers to maximise value for their content. Based in the UK, the company delivers distribution and co-production consultancy and implementation for British, US and other European producers across a broad range of genres including feature films, scripted series, sports documentaries and other factual programming.

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Source:            Blossom Thom, info@barakabooks.com
514-516-1067

Entente sur les droits de série documentaire conclue pour Montreal, City of Secrets, Confederate Operations in Montréal during the American Civil War de Barry Sheehy

(Montréal, le 12 déc. 2022) Robin Philpot, éditeur de Livres Baraka, et Barry Sheehy, auteur de Montreal, City of Secrets, Confederate Operations in Montreal During the American Civil War, ont le plaisir d’annoncer la conclusion d’une entente d’option sur les droits de série documentaire avec Sphère média de Montréal. Livres Baraka et Barry Sheehy ont été représentés par Janine Cheeseman de Aurora Artists. Sphère média collabore sur le projet avec de producteur Danny Goldman, de Goldridge Media.
 

Montreal, City of Secrets, qui paraîtra en 2023 en français chez les Éditions du Septentrion sous le titre, Montréal, Nid d’espions, révèle que pendant la guerre civile américaine, Montréal était l’hôte de la plus importante concentration des services de renseignements des États du Sud (The Confederacy) et que les banques montréalaises et d’autres institutions détenaient plus d’un million de dollars en espèces ou en or pour financer des activités clandestines. Lorsque Jefferson Davis a fui les États-Unis en 1865, l’élite montréalaise l’a accueilli avec sa famille. Il ne faisait pas de doute que Montréal, qui pullulait de réfugiés, de mercenaires, d’espions, d’assassins, de banquiers, de contrebandiers, était une ville pro-Sudiste (Secesh town).

Des complots de toutes sortes ont vu le jour dans les grands hôtels de Montréal, dont la célèbre attaque des St. Albans, au Vermont, et le kidnapping du président Lincoln, qui s’est transformé en assassinat. De puissants banquiers britanno-canadiens se sont alliés aux « confédérés » pour essayer de miner la nouvelle devise, le « Greenback ». Quand on a tué John Wilkes Booth après l’assassinat de Lincoln, on a trouvé dans la poche de sa veste une traite bancaire signée par le banquier montréalais – et futur maire – Henry Starnes.

Livres Baraka est une maison d’édition québécoise de langue anglaise qui publie des essais littéraires et politique, des livres d’histoires et de la fiction.

Barry Sheehy est un auteur primé de sept livres. Ses écrits ont paru dans internationalement diverses publications historiques et d’affaires. Né à Montréal où il a et a grandi, il habite aujourd’hui l’Île du Cap Breton.

Sphere Media est un producteur et distributeur avec des talents de calibre mondial dans la création de contenus de qualité pour le marché mondial. Les contenus produits par Sphère atteignent des pays étrangers dans plusieurs langues, qu’ils soient scénarisés ou non. Parmi les succès scénarisés figurent Transplant (NBC / CTV) et Sort Of (HBO Max / CBC), récipiendaire du prix Peabody. Dans les produites non scénarisés, mentionnons des succès internationaux tels 9/11: Cleared for Chaos (Nat Geo / Discovery Canada) and100 Days to Victory (BBC / History Canada). Sphère crée des contenus non scénarisés de tous genres, dont factuel spécialiste, séries documentaires, docudrames, formats de divertissement factuels, mode de vie et jeunesse & famille.

Danny Goldman compte plus de 30 ans d’expérience dans les médias et dirige Goldridge Media, experts-conseils internationaux en distribution, co-production et développement télé qui collaborent avec des producteurs de film et de produits télévisuels dans l’optique de maximiser la valeur des contenus. L’entreprise, dont le siège est au Royaume-Uni fournit des services de conseil en distribution, en co-production et en mise en œuvre à des producteurs britanniques, américains et européens dans une grande gamme de genres, dont des longs métrages, des séries scénarisées, des documentaires de sport et d’autres genre d’émissions factuelles.

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Source:            Blossom Thom, info@barakabooks.com
514-516-1067
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Blinded by the Brass Ring Patricia Scarlett’s Debut Novel to Appear April 2023 – Screen Rights Available

Published by Baraka Books on September 2, 2022

Television Sales Is a Funny Business, Sometimes It’s Hard To Find The Laughs

Patricia Scarlett’s debut novel, Blinded by the Brass Ring, the first in the Jewelle Joseph Series will be out in April 2023 and screen rights are available.

“A fun and flirtatious insight into the nuanced experience of being an ambitious career-driven woman living a Black experience in a White workplace. A familiar conversation that has not been heard yet . . . .”

~ Donisha Prendergast, Writer/Director, Actor, Public Speaker

Looking to the journals she has kept over the years about the inner and outer workings of the domestic and international TV industry, Patricia Scarlett, founder of Media Business Institute, a Toronto-based TV training and production company, wrote Blinded by the Brass Ring. This debut novel in the Jewelle Joseph Series centres on the professional and personal life of Jewelle Joseph, an Afro-Canadian international television sales and distribution executive who works for a small TV channel with a big reputation.

  • Screen rights are available. Contact Robin Philpot: robin@barakabooks.com 514-808-8504
  • Novel available for pre-order in January 2023 from Baraka Books. Pub date: 1 April 2023.

Stylish and ambitious, Jewelle Joseph (JJ to her friends) has the perfect opportunity to make her move into senior management through the newly created sales and distribution spin-off company. It will mean a significant salary increase and equally important it will allow her to reign in and  over her rival and fellow international sales executive, Chantal Mercier. But Chantal’s got her eye on the VP of sales position too. The competition between these two ambitious women moves from the glitzy office towers of downtown Toronto to the glamorous world of the international television market in Cannes. While navigating family drama—a philandering father and traditional Jamaican mother who tries to control Jewelle’s life and the lives of her siblings—Jewelle tries to balance her doubts about her boyfriend Anthony Brown, who Jewelle perceives as lacking in ambition, and the hot and heavy pursuit of her by Johann Eriksson, a dashing and successful Swedish television executive. Her posse’s honesty and support keep her grounded.

Author Patricia Scarlett’s stories reflect contemporary Black life in Canada and explore the intersections of race, class, and culture through a Caribbean-Canadian lens. Over the span of her career, she has worn many hats, including those of entrepreneur and consultant. She founded Scarlett Media to provide a variety of consultative services to independent producers and broadcasters on media production and distribution. Her early experience in the industry began at TVOntario where she worked primarily in international sales. As a highly successful Sales Executive, Scarlett was responsible for opening up the Latin American market and she initiated and closed TVOntario’s first educational broadcast and educational non-broadcast sales in Brazil. Her relationships with producers and broadcasters culminated in several significant achievements including her licensing Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, winner of the Camera D’Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, to CBC Television. She is the recipient of the 2020 Afroglobal Television Media Award.

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Richard King, book lover, mystery novelist and wonderful storyteller: May he rest in peace

Published by Baraka Books on January 3, 2022

Baraka Books was very sad to learn that Richard King passed away on Jan. 4, 2022. His was a life devoted to books, as bookseller, book reviewer, bookseller and more. He was the author of great mystery novels and biographies. A renowned bookseller, he co-founded Paragraphe Bookstore in Montreal and held the position of President of the Canadian Booksellers Association. His regular books column at CBC was appreciated by authors, publishers and listeners because his comments and suggestions were always sharp, enlightening, witty and inspiring.

As publisher of Baraka Books, I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2019 when he proposed that we publish his series that came to be called, The Nurse Annie Linton, Detective Gilles Bellechasse Mystery Novels. We had never published a mystery novel before.

In addition to being a tribute to nurses and health-care workers, this series showcases the great city of Montreal that Richard loved very much. Fortunately, Richard had finished the third instalment Serving Life which will be published on April 1, 2022. From our communications in early December, it was clear the Richard had many projects yet to be completed.

On behalf of Baraka Books, who has had the privilege of working with Richard for the past three years, I would like to extend my most sincere condolences to his family and to his many close friends.

For more information about Richard King, please see his obituary.

Robin Philpot, Publisher

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“Une facette unique de la diversité humaine” – Jean-Yves Soucy

Published by Baraka Books on September 16, 2021

Baraka Books vient de lancer la version anglaise de Waswanipi de Jean-Yves Soucy (1945-2017) avec une postface de Romeo Saganash. Lors du lancement en ligne du livre anglais le 15 septembre, Carole Massé, veuve de Jean-Yves, a offert le texte suivant sur l’importance du séjour à la communauté de Waswanipi en 1963. Voici le texte. Vous pouvez lire le texte anglais ici.

Une facette unique de la diversité humaine

Mon nom est Carole Massé, j’étais l’épouse de Jean-Yves Soucy décédé en octobre 2017. Je veux remercier ici M. Jean Bernier des éditions Boréal d’avoir publié la version originale de Waswanipi. Je veux aussi remercier M. Robin Philpot d’avoir publié la traduction anglaise de l’œuvre dans sa maison d’édition Baraka Books.

Jean-Yves m’a souvent dit que son expérience de garde-feu en 1963, à l’âge de dix-huit ans, l’avait profondément marqué, à cause des découvertes qu’il avait faites cet été-là. Or, il les raconte lui-même dans Waswanipi.

Sa première découverte est celle non seulement d’un monde nouveau, celui des Cris, mais d’une civilisation différente de la sienne, qu’il aime d’emblée. Les mots que l’écrivain utilise pour narrer sa rencontre avec ses deux guides cris, William Saganash et Tommy Gull, sont sans équivoque : joie, rires partagés, connivence. Jean-Yves est curieux, respectueux et il veut tout apprendre. Il leur pose nombre de questions, entre autres sur leur conception du temps, du monde, de la place de l’homme dans l’univers, de même que sur la langue crie. Ses guides lui donnent des réponses inattendues, originales qui le font réfléchir et penser d’une manière nouvelle. Visitant régulièrement le village cri, s’imprégnant de la culture crie, Jean-Yves se sent comme chez lui, écrit-il, en famille. Il perçoit sa propre personne et les Cris comme égaux, parents. Sa première découverte est donc celle d’un peuple différent du sien et pourtant proche de lui, et pour lequel il ressent une profonde amitié.

Sa deuxième découverte a lieu vers la fin de l’été, à l’occasion d’une noce. C’est Jean-Yves et son collègue de travail qui vont acheter de la bière pour la fête, parce que la loi interdit aux «Indiens» d’acheter de l’alcool. Après la noce, il voit les hommes du village ramasser des bouteilles et des capsules au sol, et les immerger ensuite dans le lac. Ils agissent ainsi pour ne pas être pris en faute par des agents de la GRC. À propos de cette scène, Jean-Yves écrit: «Cela me fait mal, y voyant la marque d’une profonde injustice.» À ce moment-là, il prend vraiment conscience que «les Cris, comme les autres peuples premiers, sont des citoyens de seconde zone», écrit-il encore. Et son cri de révolte devant ce fait, il le traduit par des dénonciations des mauvais traitements que les Blancs leur infligent.

Découvrir un autre peuple, le respecter et l’aimer, puis découvrir la flagrante injustice dont il est l’objet, sont ce qui a marqué Jean-Yves adolescent, un Jean-Yves pour qui la justice sociale et l’égalité entre tous les êtres humains seront des préoccupations majeures dans sa vie d’adulte. Et malgré le fait que le monde changeait pour les Autochtones et que ces changements apporteraient des bouleversements à leur mode de vie, Jean-Yves a toujours gardé espoir qu’ils les surmonteraient et atteindraient un jour à cette justice et à cette égalité.

En 2013, en vacances à Baie-Trinité, Jean-Yves croise par hasard une famille innue (deux parents avec quatre enfants) et il s’entretient avec elle. Lorsqu’ils se séparent, il a ces mots sereins et confiants, qui terminent son récit :

«… sous mes yeux, je vois qu’ils réussissent à se réinventer, à se créer de nouveaux repères dans un monde qui a complètement changé pour eux. Et ils le font sans renier ce qu’ils sont : une facette unique de la diversité humaine.»

Je veux remercier ici M. Roméo Saganash de sa présentation du livre Waswanipi et de sa lecture des extraits de Jean-Yves Soucy. Je veux le remercier aussi de sa très belle postface et des extraits qu’il nous a lus.

Carole Massé

14 septembre 2021

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“A Unique Facet of Human Diversity” Jean-Yves Soucy

Published by Baraka Books on September 16, 2021

Baraka Books recently launched  Waswanipi by Jean-Yves Soucy (1945-2017) with an Afterword by Romeo Saganash. At the online launch on September 15, Carole Massé, Jean-Yves’ widow, read the following text in French about the importance of Jean-Yves’ stay in the Cree community of Waswanipi in 1963. You can read the original French text here.

“A unique facet of human diversity”

My name is Carole Massé and I was Jean-Yves Soucy’s wife. Jean-Yves passed away in October 2017. I would like to thank Mr. Jean Bernier of Les éditions Boréal for publishing the original book entitled Waswanipi. I would also like to thank Robin Philpot of Baraka Books for publishing the English translation of the book.

Jean-Yves often told me that his experience as a fire warden in 1963 at the age of 18 had touched him profoundly because of what he encountered that summer. That is the essence of the story he told in Waswanipi.

The first encounter was not only with a new world for him, that of the Cree, but of a civilization that was different from his and that he immediately liked. The words the writer used to tell the story of his meeting with his two Cree guides, William Saganash and Tommy Gull, leave no room for doubt: it was joyful, with shared laughs and a deep bond. Jean-Yves is curious, respectful, and he is yearning to learn. Everything. His questions touch on his guides’ conception of time, the world we live in, the place humans occupy in the universe, and on the Cree language. William and Tommy provide unexpected and original answers that make him reflect and think in a new way. During his frequent visits to the Cree village, Jean-Yves bathes in Cree Culture and feels at home, he writes. Like being with family. He sees himself and the Cree as equals, as family. His first encounter is therefore with a people that is different from his own people and yet close to him and for whom he feels a solid friendship.

His second encounter occurs towards the end of the summer during a wedding. Jean-Yves and his fellow worker go and buy beer for the celebration, because the law prohibits “Indians” from buy alcohol. After the wedding, he sees the men from the village picking up the bottles and bottle caps on the ground and hiding them in the bottom of the lake. They have to hide the evidence so as not to be caught by RCMP officers. Jean-Yves describes the scene in the book: “It hurts me to see the scars of a profound injustice.” That was the moment when he fully realizes that “the Crees, like other First Peoples, are second-class citizens.” His cry of revolt following this event takes the form of denunciations of the terrible treatment White people have inflicted on them.

His encounter with another people, respecting and liking them, and followed by his discovery of the flagrant injustice to which they are subjected are what marked the teen-aged Jean-Yves, he who throughout his adult life would embrace principles of social justice and equality of all human beings. Despite the fact the world was changing for the Indigenous peoples, changes that would disturb their way of life, Jean-Yves always kept up the hope that they would overcome these changes and obtain justice and equality some time in the future.

In 2013, during holidays at Baie-Trinité, Jean-Yves happened to meet an Innu family (two parents with four children) and he had a long talk with them. When they left each other, he had the following serene and confident words that conclude his story:

“before my very eyes, I can see they’re managing to reinvent them- selves, to lay down new markers in a world that has completely changed on them. And they’re doing that without turning their backs on what they are: a unique facet of human diversity.”

I would now like to thank Romeo Saganash for his presentation of Waswanipi and for the reading of excerpts from Jean-Yves Soucy. I would also like to thank him for the beautiful Afterword and for the excerpts he read.

 

14 September 2021

 

 

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International Online Book Launches, Fall 2021 – Baraka Books & QC Fiction

Published by Baraka Books on July 16, 2021

Baraka Books and QC Fiction will hold launches for six remarkable books in Fall 2021.

Weekly online international book launches will be held in September and October. Everybody is welcome. To register please write to Blossom Thom at liteventrsvp@gmail.com. You will then receive the necessary information. All times are EDT.

Wed. Sept. 8, 7 pm:  Maker, A Novel by Jim Upton. Maker is one of those rare birds known as working-class fiction, a genre we see so few of these days. Yet the subject concerns millions of people. In addition, the main character is a woman in a modern unionized setting.  (Pub date, Sept. 1)
Jim Upton and author/editor Elise Moser will discuss Maker and also working-class literature in our time.

 

Wed. Sept. 15, 7 pm: Waswanipi by the late Jean-Yves Soucy, Afterword by Romeo Saganash (translated by Peter McCambridge). Jean-Yves Soucy wrote this book upon the insistance of Romeo Saganash, former Deputy Grand Chief of the Crees of Quebec. It is a beautiful account of an era (1963) that soon came to an end.  (Pub date, Sept. 1)
Romeo Saganash will present the book and read from his afterword, followed by a Q&A.

 

Wed. Sept. 22, 7 pm: To See Out the Night by David Clerson, translated by Katia Grubisic (QC Fiction). The jury of the Grand Prix du livre de Montréal (2019) described this collection as “A powerful world where the fantastic meets the organic in compelling fashion.” (Pub date, Sept. 1)
Author David Clerson will discuss To See Out the Night with translator Katia Grubisic, followed by a reading.

Wed. Sept. 29, 7 pm: Bigotry on Broadway An Anthology Edited by Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank. In this hard-hitting anthology, the editors have invited an accomplished group of writers from different backgrounds to comment on the long-standing bigotry on Broadway. (Pub date, Sept. 1)
Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank will present Bigotry on Broadway and discuss it with contributors.

 

Wed. Oct. 6, 7 pm: Montreal and the Bomb by Gilles Sabourin, translated by Katherine Hastings. This is the amazing but little-known story of secret nuclear research during World War II that was conducted in parallel (and in competition) with the Manhattan Project. The original French book just won the 2021 Hubert Reeves Award for Science Communicators. The book is the result of 15 yeas of research by a nuclear engineer. It reads like a novel. (Pub date, Oct. 1)
Gilles Sabourin will discuss the inside story of nuclear research in Montreal during World War II. A Q&A will follow.

 

Date TBA: Mussolini Also Did A Lot of Good, The Spread of Historical Amnesia by Francesco Filippi (translated from the Italian by John Irving). This 2019 Italian bestseller was La Reppublica’s “Book of the Month,” described as “an antidote to all the nonsense still circulating about fascism … Filippi is almost surgical in the way he reestablishes the context.” (Pub date, Oct. 1)
Format and participants to be announced.

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