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Us and Them “an excellent piece of storytelling”

Posted by Mike Hunter on December 21, 2016

A valued resource for Canadian learning materials, the December 2016 issue of Resource Links (vol. 22, no. 2) will soon be in circulation, and we are so pleased that a review of Hugh R. MacDonald’s Us and Them is included. Not only that, it made the publication’s “Best of 2016” list.

“Us & Them is an excellent piece of storytelling that should be in the Canadian history curriculum for Grades 7-12. The historical content is accurate, and very compelling, not just as a coming of age story, but as a story that both male and female readers can enjoy […] a remarkable book that will have the reader hoping for the next installment…. Highly recommended for both public and school libraries….”

The review calls Us and Them “‘stepping back in time’ to discover a rich history…. The conditions in the mines are so vivid that in reading the author’s descriptions the reader could close his/her eyes and sense being underground.”

Published five times a year, Resource Links: Connecting Classrooms, Libraries and Canadian Learning Resources is Canada’s national journal devoted to the review and evaluation of Canadian resources for children and young adults. For subscription information: resourcelinks@nl.rogers.com.

A valued resource for Canadian learning materials, the December 2016 issue of Resource Links (vol. 22, no. 2) will soon… Continue»

Reader gushes over “Us and Them”

Posted by Mike Hunter on December 14, 2016

Gosh, what a great customer review of Hugh R. MacDonald’s Us and Them posted on Amazon.com recently – from Nebraska no less!

“Excellent read!! Thank you to the Author Hugh Mac Donald for the story line … of how life was … and how someone can make a difference in another s life … and pass it forward..:)..”

Link here to read the full review.

Gosh, what a great customer review of Hugh R. MacDonald’s Us and Them posted on Amazon.com recently – from Nebraska no… Continue»

Reeling Roosters review published

Posted by Mike Hunter on

We had seen an advance version of this review of Heather Sparling’s Reeling Roosters and Dancing Ducks: Celtic Mouth Music in International Review of Scottish Studies vol. 41 (University of Guelph), but now it’s in print!

Link here to our previous post about this awesome review.

We had seen an advance version of this review of Heather Sparling’s Reeling Roosters and Dancing Ducks: Celtic Mouth Music… Continue»

Thoughtful comment about a thoughtful work – review of Charting the Darkness

Posted by Mike Hunter on December 12, 2016

Here is a brief and thoughtful review published this week in Midwest Book Review (The Fiction Shelf, Dec. 16, 2016).

“Charting the Darkness [by A.C. Geisel] is a novel about the long, hard journey to recovery. Nick Sullivan was a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War; his years in a horrific Viet Cong prison camp haunt him long after the war’s end, driving him to self-medicate with alcohol. The death of an uncle from his estranged family leads Sullivan to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where he works to refurbish a worn-out sailboat. The process of restoring the boat strikes an epiphany within, in this thoughtful work about gradually discovering renewal and hope. Charting the Darkness is highly recommended for both personal and public library collections.” (Emphasis added]

Charting the Darkness is a novel of post-trauma human wreckage – and salvage.

Here is a brief and thoughtful review published this week in Midwest Book Review (The Fiction Shelf, Dec. 16, 2016). “Charting… Continue»

Newton speaking at U Edinburgh Dec. 9

Posted by Mike Hunter on December 6, 2016

Here’s a dispatch from the “wish I could be there” department.

Michael Newton, author of Seanchaidh ne Coille / Memory-keeper of the Forest: Anthology of Scottish-Gaelic Writing from Canada (CBU Press 2015), is giving a talk at University of Edinburgh School of Celtic and Scottish Studies on Friday (December 9, 2016, 1:10 p.m.), Room 1.17, Dugald Stewart Building, Charles Street, 3.

Michael’s planned talk is titled: “Blinders on the Left, Klans on the Right: Scottish and Celtic Studies in Trump’s America.”

Abstract: One of President-elect Donald Trump’s strongest bases is the (so-called) “alt-right,” white supremacists who commonly invoke Celtic heritage in their messaging. Hatemongers are able to occupy a gap left open by the American academy’s narrow fixation on the critical lenses of race, gender and sexual orientation, and the underdevelopment of Celtic Studies. This underlines the urgent need for intellectual engagement with the historical realities of Celtic peoples in the Americas and for the cultivation of a radical and progressive vision of the heritage of a large segment of the American population now categorised as “white.”

A recent reviewer of Seanchaidh na Coille, called Michael a “cage-rattling radical” – friends and colleagues who follow Michael’s posts on social media know that he is a committed and thorough researcher sure to take a scholarly approach to a wide variety of subjects that concern the place of Gaelic in the world.

He is the author of numerous books, including the best-selling Naughty Little Book of Gaelic: All the Scottish Gaelic You Need to Curse, Swear, Drink and Fool Around (CBU Press 2014). Michael is active on social media and blogs as “The Virtual Gael / Gàidheil is Gàidhealtachdan air an eadar-lìon.”

Here’s a dispatch from the “wish I could be there” department. Michael Newton, author of Seanchaidh ne Coille / Memory-keeper… Continue»

Glace Bay Historical Society to host talk about company houses

Posted by Mike Hunter on December 2, 2016

Note that the December meeting of the Glace Bay Historical Society (Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, 7 p.m.) will feature a talk on company houses by CBU professors Andrew Molloy and Tom Urbaniak. The talk will no doubt be based on their recent publication, Company Houses, Company Towns: Heritage and Conservation, which hit bookstores a just a couple of weeks ago.

Their book, an edited collection of articles on the subject from studies in Cape Breton, of course, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Québec, Ontario and the Yukon.

The presentation is open to the public and the book will be available from the museum gift shop. Glace Bay Heritage Museum (old town hall) McKeen St., Glace Bay.

Note that the December meeting of the Glace Bay Historical Society (Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, 7 p.m.) will feature a… Continue»

O’Donnell to receive honorary degree

Posted by Mike Hunter on

We were delighted to learn that Jack O’Donnell (The Men of the Deeps: A Journey with North America’s Only Coal Miners Chorus, CBU Press 2016) will receive an honorary degree from St. Francis Xavier University (St. FX) during their fall convocation Sunday (Dec. 4, 2016). O’Donnell is emeritus professor and former chair of the St. FX music department.

As conductor and musical director for more than forty of the now fifty-year history of The Men of the Deeps, Prof. O’Donnell travelled almost weekly between Antigonish and Glace Bay to rehearse with The Men. He broke new and important ground, becoming a world class authority on coal mining songs. He evolved into a choral champion of songs with Maritime and particularly Cape Breton subject matter. He published widely on mining songs in Canada.

Prof. O’Donnell has also made many contributions as a humanitarian. He and his wife Judy have long been closely involved with L’Arche Antigonish, working to build and support a community of people with and without intellectual disabilities. Prof. O’Donnell is a Member of the Order of Canada, and has received an honorary degree from Cape Breton University, the Katharine McLennan Award in recognition of his major contributions to the heritage of Cape Breton’s coal mining communities, and the Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award from the East Coast Music Association.

Congratulations Jack!

Jack’s latest book The Men of the Deeps: A Journey with North America’s Only Coal Miners Chorus is now in stores and will be officially launched on December 14 in conjunction with an exhibit on the chorus at the Cape Breton Centre for Heritage and Science.

We were delighted to learn that Jack O’Donnell (The Men of the Deeps: A Journey with North America’s Only Coal… Continue»

Living Treaties essay, Atlantic Books Today

Posted by Mike Hunter on November 30, 2016

The latest issue of Atlantic Books Today (vol. 82, Winter 2016-2017) is now out there, delivered free with numerous select newspapers, and available from libraries and bookstores across the region. The design has been revamped and looks great thanks to Chris Benjamin, Joseph Muise and Vaughan Horne at Atlantic Publishers Marketing Assoc.

A feature essay by Marie Battiste, inspired by her edited collection Living Treaties: Narrating Mi’kmaw Treaty Relations (CBU Press 2016), situates treaty education for Atlantic Canadians and is a worthwhile read. “This time of reconciliation is as Justice Murray Sinclair (TRC 2015) has affirmed a time for Canadians to take control of their own learning and unlearning, to build a better relationship with Indigenous peoples.”

Link here to ABT 82.

The latest issue of Atlantic Books Today (vol. 82, Winter 2016-2017) is now out there, delivered free with numerous select… Continue»

St. Andrew’s Day notes

Posted by Mike Hunter on November 24, 2016

St. Andrew’s Day is approaching (Nov. 30) and we recently noted a couple of tributes worth passing along.

The Antigonish Highland Society will hold a gala evening at St. Ninian Place (6 p.m. if you can get tickets), including lots of entertainment and an address to the haggis. Part of the evening will include recognition of Antigonish historian and author Theresa MacIsaac, who will be inducted as an honorary member of the society (The Casket, Nov. 23, 2016, p. 13).

Theresa is the author of A Better Life: A Portrait of Highland Women in Nova Scotia (CBU Press 2006) and Highland Storytellers (self-published).

Congratulations Theresa.

St. Andrew’s Day provides a good opportunity to extend early birthday wishes to another Nova Scotia Highland woman and author, even though she was not published by CBU Press. We recently learned that Sr. Margaret MacDonnell will be celebrating her 96th birthday on December 13, 2016. A recent column (The Casket, Nov. 23, 2016, p. 13) by our colleague Catriona Parsons (an advisor, translator and proof reader on several CBU Press Gaelic/Celtic books) calls Sr. Margaret a “Gaelic cultural hero.”

A native Gaelic speaker born in Inverness County, Cape Breton, Sr. Margaret was long-time Chair of the Celtic Studies Dept. at St. FX and the author of two seminal books on the Gaelic experience in Nova Scotia: Luirgean Eachainn Nill and The Emigrant Experience. These books have long been a “must” for students of Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia.

Co-là breith sona dhut – happy 96th birthday to Sr. Margaret.

St. Andrew’s Day is approaching (Nov. 30) and we recently noted a couple of tributes worth passing along. The Antigonish… Continue»

Hugh MacDonald @ Glace Bay Library Nov 30

Posted by Mike Hunter on November 23, 2016

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