Gaelic Nova Scotia Month
We were delighted to see that Atlantic Books Today gave a little shout-out to Gaelic Nova Scotia Month (May 2019) with a listicle on recent Gaelic-centred publications, and especially pleased for author Michael Newton, whose two most recent books are included: The Naughty Little Book of Gaelic, and Seanchaidh na Coille, The Memory-Keeper of the Forest. Both are CBU Press books.
Seanchaidh na Coille also recently received a lengthy and glowing review in International Review of Scottish Studies, vol. 43 (2018), pp. 141-44.
The book is “an unparalleled and formidable stòras (treasure-trove) of Scottish Gaelic written expression, both prose and poetry, gleaned from Canada’s sizeable yet subaltern body of knowledge created by members of its Highland and Hebridean diaspora.”
“Taken as a whole, the materials presented are a testament to Newton’s capabilities as both a diligent and conscientious researcher, presenting here an extensive and accessible survey of source materials that have long remained out of reach to both everyday readership and researchers in various disciplines lacking the necessary linguistic capabilities.”
May is Gaelic Nova Scotia Month, an annual celebration calling attention to the deep-rootedness of Highland Gaelic culture in our region. That Gaelic runs deep here is no secret, but overcoming more than a century suppression and institutional forgetting is not easy. Thus the need for a month wherein efforts are made to call attention to the language and culture, and the great strides being made to resuscitate them.
We like to think that CBU Press was part of the effort, with numerous important publishing contributions. Check out the Press’s Celtic/Gaelic list here. These books are still very much in print and available from Nimbus publishing.