Author: Chelene Knight
Publisher: Book Thug
ISBN: 9781771663908
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Book Description
Literary Nonfiction. From Vancouver-based writer Chelene Knight, DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is a creative nonfiction memoir about home and belonging set in the 80s and 90s of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Using a variety of forms including letters, essays and poems, Knight reflects on her childhood through a series of letters addressed to all of the current occupants now living in the twenty different houses she moved in and out of with her mother and brother. From blurry and fragmented non-chronological memories of trying to fit in with her own family as the only mixed East Indian/Black child, to crystal clear recollections of parental drug use, Knight draws a vivid portrait of memory that still longs for a place and a home. Peering through windows and doors into intimate, remembered spaces now occupied by strangers, Knight writes to them in order to deconstruct her own past. From the rubble of memory she then builds a real place in order to bring herself back home. "Knight is a poet at heart, somewhat disinclined to follow the dusty rules of prose writing, and we are all richer for it. This memoir is built from shards of pure resilience, expertly pieced together into a compelling--and at times devastating--chronicle of youth, family, and sense of place. From Clark Drive to Commercial and Broadway, DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is a love song to East Vancouver--it is a map of scars, and as everyone knows, scars make for good storytelling."--Carleigh Baker "I want to thank Chelene Knight for not forcing her memoir into a point 'a' to 'b' narrative. Too often complex and stigmatized stories are dumbed-down, but Knight elevates! She uplifts both her her experiences and the poetic prose and hybrid forms used to share these experiences. DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT will surely become a nuanced creative touchstone that shows us how our stories of survival can and should be told."--Amber Dawn "DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is an astonishing book: haunting, intimate, and deeply rendered. A lyrical memoir set against the backdrop of Vancouver's gritty East Side, it triumphantly melds together prose, poetry, letters and imagery, to illuminate the pain of un-belonging, the search for a home, and the power of words to heal and transform us. It is a book that boldly takes risks, unafraid and brimming with raw energy, tenderness, and heartbreaking beauty. Chelene Knight emerges as a fierce new voice in Canadian literature, deserving of our full attention."--Ayelet Tsabari
Dear Current Occupant
Author: Chelene Knight
Publisher: Book Thug
ISBN: 9781771663908
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Book Description
Literary Nonfiction. From Vancouver-based writer Chelene Knight, DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is a creative nonfiction memoir about home and belonging set in the 80s and 90s of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Using a variety of forms including letters, essays and poems, Knight reflects on her childhood through a series of letters addressed to all of the current occupants now living in the twenty different houses she moved in and out of with her mother and brother. From blurry and fragmented non-chronological memories of trying to fit in with her own family as the only mixed East Indian/Black child, to crystal clear recollections of parental drug use, Knight draws a vivid portrait of memory that still longs for a place and a home. Peering through windows and doors into intimate, remembered spaces now occupied by strangers, Knight writes to them in order to deconstruct her own past. From the rubble of memory she then builds a real place in order to bring herself back home. "Knight is a poet at heart, somewhat disinclined to follow the dusty rules of prose writing, and we are all richer for it. This memoir is built from shards of pure resilience, expertly pieced together into a compelling--and at times devastating--chronicle of youth, family, and sense of place. From Clark Drive to Commercial and Broadway, DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is a love song to East Vancouver--it is a map of scars, and as everyone knows, scars make for good storytelling."--Carleigh Baker "I want to thank Chelene Knight for not forcing her memoir into a point 'a' to 'b' narrative. Too often complex and stigmatized stories are dumbed-down, but Knight elevates! She uplifts both her her experiences and the poetic prose and hybrid forms used to share these experiences. DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT will surely become a nuanced creative touchstone that shows us how our stories of survival can and should be told."--Amber Dawn "DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is an astonishing book: haunting, intimate, and deeply rendered. A lyrical memoir set against the backdrop of Vancouver's gritty East Side, it triumphantly melds together prose, poetry, letters and imagery, to illuminate the pain of un-belonging, the search for a home, and the power of words to heal and transform us. It is a book that boldly takes risks, unafraid and brimming with raw energy, tenderness, and heartbreaking beauty. Chelene Knight emerges as a fierce new voice in Canadian literature, deserving of our full attention."--Ayelet Tsabari
Publisher: Book Thug
ISBN: 9781771663908
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Book Description
Literary Nonfiction. From Vancouver-based writer Chelene Knight, DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is a creative nonfiction memoir about home and belonging set in the 80s and 90s of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Using a variety of forms including letters, essays and poems, Knight reflects on her childhood through a series of letters addressed to all of the current occupants now living in the twenty different houses she moved in and out of with her mother and brother. From blurry and fragmented non-chronological memories of trying to fit in with her own family as the only mixed East Indian/Black child, to crystal clear recollections of parental drug use, Knight draws a vivid portrait of memory that still longs for a place and a home. Peering through windows and doors into intimate, remembered spaces now occupied by strangers, Knight writes to them in order to deconstruct her own past. From the rubble of memory she then builds a real place in order to bring herself back home. "Knight is a poet at heart, somewhat disinclined to follow the dusty rules of prose writing, and we are all richer for it. This memoir is built from shards of pure resilience, expertly pieced together into a compelling--and at times devastating--chronicle of youth, family, and sense of place. From Clark Drive to Commercial and Broadway, DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is a love song to East Vancouver--it is a map of scars, and as everyone knows, scars make for good storytelling."--Carleigh Baker "I want to thank Chelene Knight for not forcing her memoir into a point 'a' to 'b' narrative. Too often complex and stigmatized stories are dumbed-down, but Knight elevates! She uplifts both her her experiences and the poetic prose and hybrid forms used to share these experiences. DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT will surely become a nuanced creative touchstone that shows us how our stories of survival can and should be told."--Amber Dawn "DEAR CURRENT OCCUPANT is an astonishing book: haunting, intimate, and deeply rendered. A lyrical memoir set against the backdrop of Vancouver's gritty East Side, it triumphantly melds together prose, poetry, letters and imagery, to illuminate the pain of un-belonging, the search for a home, and the power of words to heal and transform us. It is a book that boldly takes risks, unafraid and brimming with raw energy, tenderness, and heartbreaking beauty. Chelene Knight emerges as a fierce new voice in Canadian literature, deserving of our full attention."--Ayelet Tsabari
Breaking the Ocean
Author: Annahid Dashtgard
Publisher: House of Anansi
ISBN: 1487006489
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
In Breaking the Ocean, diversity and inclusion specialist Annahid Dashtgard addresses the long-term impacts of exile, immigration, and racism by offering a vulnerable, deeply personal account of her life and work. Annahid Dashtgard was born into a supportive mixed-race family in 1970s Iran. Then came the 1979 Revolution, which ushered in a powerful and orthodox religious regime. Her family was forced to flee their homeland, immigrating to a small town in Alberta, Canada. As a young girl, Dashtgard was bullied, shunned, and ostracized both by her peers at school and adults in the community. Home offered little respite, with her parents embroiled in their own struggles, exposing the sharp contrasts between her British mother and Persian father. Determined to break free from her past, Dashtgard created a new identity for herself as a driven young woman who found strength through political activism, eventually becoming a leader in the anti–corporate globalization movement of the late 1990s. But her unhealed trauma was re-activated following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Suffering burnout, Dashtgard checked out of her life and took the first steps towards personal healing, a journey that continues to this day. Breaking the Ocean introduces a unique perspective on how racism and systemic discrimination result in emotional scarring and ongoing PTSD. It is a wake-up call to acknowledge our differences, addressing the universal questions of what it means to belong and ultimately what is required to create change in ourselves and in society.
Publisher: House of Anansi
ISBN: 1487006489
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
In Breaking the Ocean, diversity and inclusion specialist Annahid Dashtgard addresses the long-term impacts of exile, immigration, and racism by offering a vulnerable, deeply personal account of her life and work. Annahid Dashtgard was born into a supportive mixed-race family in 1970s Iran. Then came the 1979 Revolution, which ushered in a powerful and orthodox religious regime. Her family was forced to flee their homeland, immigrating to a small town in Alberta, Canada. As a young girl, Dashtgard was bullied, shunned, and ostracized both by her peers at school and adults in the community. Home offered little respite, with her parents embroiled in their own struggles, exposing the sharp contrasts between her British mother and Persian father. Determined to break free from her past, Dashtgard created a new identity for herself as a driven young woman who found strength through political activism, eventually becoming a leader in the anti–corporate globalization movement of the late 1990s. But her unhealed trauma was re-activated following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Suffering burnout, Dashtgard checked out of her life and took the first steps towards personal healing, a journey that continues to this day. Breaking the Ocean introduces a unique perspective on how racism and systemic discrimination result in emotional scarring and ongoing PTSD. It is a wake-up call to acknowledge our differences, addressing the universal questions of what it means to belong and ultimately what is required to create change in ourselves and in society.
Dear Oval Office Occupant
Author: Kathy Hayes
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781954403383
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
When Donald Trump was elected president, Kathy Hayes was stunned. He didn't have relevant experience or qualifications. He mocked women, immigrants veterans and the disabled. He had presided over a string of bankruptcies, lawsuits and a bogus university. She knew she couldn't remain silent. On Dec. 1, 2016, she wrote him an old-fashioned paper letter, put it in an envelope with a stamp and mailed it. Then she wrote another, and another. Beginning on Inauguration Day, the letters became a daily discipline. What began as a simple act of protest morphed into much more: a chronicle of current events and presidential misdeeds; a journal of her frustrations and fears; and the birth story of an unlikely activist. With flashes of humor, poignancy and righteous anger, Hayes's letters document the struggles of an ordinary citizen trying to make sense of a presidency like no other. Entertaining and inspiring, Oval Office Occupant challenges readers to find within themselves the courage to speak truth to power.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781954403383
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
When Donald Trump was elected president, Kathy Hayes was stunned. He didn't have relevant experience or qualifications. He mocked women, immigrants veterans and the disabled. He had presided over a string of bankruptcies, lawsuits and a bogus university. She knew she couldn't remain silent. On Dec. 1, 2016, she wrote him an old-fashioned paper letter, put it in an envelope with a stamp and mailed it. Then she wrote another, and another. Beginning on Inauguration Day, the letters became a daily discipline. What began as a simple act of protest morphed into much more: a chronicle of current events and presidential misdeeds; a journal of her frustrations and fears; and the birth story of an unlikely activist. With flashes of humor, poignancy and righteous anger, Hayes's letters document the struggles of an ordinary citizen trying to make sense of a presidency like no other. Entertaining and inspiring, Oval Office Occupant challenges readers to find within themselves the courage to speak truth to power.
Burning Sugar
Author: Cicely Belle Blain
Publisher: arsenal pulp press
ISBN: 1551528266
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 113
Book Description
In this incendiary debut collection, activist and poet Cicely Belle Blain intimately revisits familiar spaces in geography, in the arts, and in personal history to expose the legacy of colonization and its impact on Black bodies. They use poetry to illuminate their activist work: exposing racism, especially anti-Blackness, and helping people see the connections between history and systemic oppression that show up in every human interaction, space, and community. Their poems demonstrate how the world is both beautiful and cruel, a truth that inspires overwhelming anger and awe -- all of which spills out onto the page to tell the story of a challenging, complex, nuanced, and joyful life. In Burning Sugar, verse and epistolary, racism and resilience, pain and precarity are flawlessly sewn together by the mighty hands of a Black, queer femme. This book is the second title to be published under the VS. Books imprint, a series curated and edited by writer-musician Vivek Shraya, featuring work by new and emerging Indigenous or Black writers, or writers of color. This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A Simple book with few images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.
Publisher: arsenal pulp press
ISBN: 1551528266
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 113
Book Description
In this incendiary debut collection, activist and poet Cicely Belle Blain intimately revisits familiar spaces in geography, in the arts, and in personal history to expose the legacy of colonization and its impact on Black bodies. They use poetry to illuminate their activist work: exposing racism, especially anti-Blackness, and helping people see the connections between history and systemic oppression that show up in every human interaction, space, and community. Their poems demonstrate how the world is both beautiful and cruel, a truth that inspires overwhelming anger and awe -- all of which spills out onto the page to tell the story of a challenging, complex, nuanced, and joyful life. In Burning Sugar, verse and epistolary, racism and resilience, pain and precarity are flawlessly sewn together by the mighty hands of a Black, queer femme. This book is the second title to be published under the VS. Books imprint, a series curated and edited by writer-musician Vivek Shraya, featuring work by new and emerging Indigenous or Black writers, or writers of color. This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A Simple book with few images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.
Braided Skin
Author: Chelene Knight
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781896949505
Category : Canadian poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Braided Skinis the vibrant telling of experiences of mixed ethnicity, urban childhood, poverty and youthful dreams through various voices. Knight writes a confident rhythm of poetry, prose and erasure by using the recurring image of braiding-a different metaphor than "mixing," our default when speaking the language of race. In the title poem "Braided Skin," this terminology shifts, to entwining and crossing, holding together but always displaying the promise or threat of unravelling. This is just as all tellings of family, history and relationships must be-"Skin that carries stories of missing middles." When speaking about race, Knight raises the question, then drops it, and the image becomes other objects, then abstraction, and memory-finally becoming something "she breathes in" actively.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781896949505
Category : Canadian poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Braided Skinis the vibrant telling of experiences of mixed ethnicity, urban childhood, poverty and youthful dreams through various voices. Knight writes a confident rhythm of poetry, prose and erasure by using the recurring image of braiding-a different metaphor than "mixing," our default when speaking the language of race. In the title poem "Braided Skin," this terminology shifts, to entwining and crossing, holding together but always displaying the promise or threat of unravelling. This is just as all tellings of family, history and relationships must be-"Skin that carries stories of missing middles." When speaking about race, Knight raises the question, then drops it, and the image becomes other objects, then abstraction, and memory-finally becoming something "she breathes in" actively.
Junie
Author: Chelene Knight
Publisher: Book*hug Press
ISBN: 9781771667685
Category : FICTION
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Longlisted for the 2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction A riveting exploration of the complexity within mother-daughter relationships and the dynamic vitality of Vancouver's former Hogan's Alley neighbourhood. 1930s, Hogan's Alley--a thriving Black and immigrant community located in Vancouver's East End. Junie is a creative, observant child who moves to the alley with her mother, Maddie: a jazz singer with a growing alcohol dependency. Junie quickly makes meaningful relationships with two mentors and a girl her own age, Estelle, whose resilient and entrepreneurial mother is grappling with white scrutiny and the fact that she never really wanted a child. As Junie finds adulthood, exploring her artistic talents and burgeoning sexuality, her mother sinks further into the bottle while the thriving neighbourhood--once gushing with potential--begins to change. As her world opens, Junie intuits the opposite for the community she loves. Told through the fascinating lens of a bright woman in an oft-disquieting world, this book is intimate and urgent--not just an unflinching look at the destruction of a vibrant community, but a celebration of the Black lives within.
Publisher: Book*hug Press
ISBN: 9781771667685
Category : FICTION
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Longlisted for the 2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction A riveting exploration of the complexity within mother-daughter relationships and the dynamic vitality of Vancouver's former Hogan's Alley neighbourhood. 1930s, Hogan's Alley--a thriving Black and immigrant community located in Vancouver's East End. Junie is a creative, observant child who moves to the alley with her mother, Maddie: a jazz singer with a growing alcohol dependency. Junie quickly makes meaningful relationships with two mentors and a girl her own age, Estelle, whose resilient and entrepreneurial mother is grappling with white scrutiny and the fact that she never really wanted a child. As Junie finds adulthood, exploring her artistic talents and burgeoning sexuality, her mother sinks further into the bottle while the thriving neighbourhood--once gushing with potential--begins to change. As her world opens, Junie intuits the opposite for the community she loves. Told through the fascinating lens of a bright woman in an oft-disquieting world, this book is intimate and urgent--not just an unflinching look at the destruction of a vibrant community, but a celebration of the Black lives within.
Gold Pours
Author: Aurore Gatwenzi
Publisher: Latitude 46
ISBN: 9781988989372
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
In this debut collection by emerging poet Aurore Gatwenzi, a stunning new voice emerges as she shares the experience of being young and Black in northern Ontario. Gold Pours is a collection of poems that talk about God, identity, heartbreak and passion. Gatwenzi's honest approach to writing exposes readers to humility, surrender and lessons learned from courageous acts of vulnerability.
Publisher: Latitude 46
ISBN: 9781988989372
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
In this debut collection by emerging poet Aurore Gatwenzi, a stunning new voice emerges as she shares the experience of being young and Black in northern Ontario. Gold Pours is a collection of poems that talk about God, identity, heartbreak and passion. Gatwenzi's honest approach to writing exposes readers to humility, surrender and lessons learned from courageous acts of vulnerability.
Double Melancholy
Author: C.E. Gatchalian
Publisher: arsenal pulp press
ISBN: 1551527545
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 121
Book Description
According to Didier Eribon, melancholy is where it all starts and where it also ends: the lifelong process of mourning that each homosexual experiences, and through which they construct their own identity. In this beguiling book, an introverted, anxious, ambitious, artistically gifted queer Filipino-Canadian boy finds solace, inspiration, and a “syllabus for living” in art—works of literature and music, from the children’s literary classic Anne of Green Gables to the music of Maria Callas. But their contribution to his intellectual, emotional, and spiritual edification belies the fact that they were largely heteronormative and white, which had the effect of invisibilizing him as a queer person of color. Part memoir, part cultural commentary, and a hybrid of besotted aesthetic appreciation and unsparing critique, Double Melancholy is by turns a passionate love letter to art and an embattled examination of its oppressive complicity with the society that produces it, and the depths to which art both enriches and colonizes us. This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A Simple book with few images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.
Publisher: arsenal pulp press
ISBN: 1551527545
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 121
Book Description
According to Didier Eribon, melancholy is where it all starts and where it also ends: the lifelong process of mourning that each homosexual experiences, and through which they construct their own identity. In this beguiling book, an introverted, anxious, ambitious, artistically gifted queer Filipino-Canadian boy finds solace, inspiration, and a “syllabus for living” in art—works of literature and music, from the children’s literary classic Anne of Green Gables to the music of Maria Callas. But their contribution to his intellectual, emotional, and spiritual edification belies the fact that they were largely heteronormative and white, which had the effect of invisibilizing him as a queer person of color. Part memoir, part cultural commentary, and a hybrid of besotted aesthetic appreciation and unsparing critique, Double Melancholy is by turns a passionate love letter to art and an embattled examination of its oppressive complicity with the society that produces it, and the depths to which art both enriches and colonizes us. This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A Simple book with few images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.
The Shell Game
Author: Kim Adrian
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496206274
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
Within the recent explosion of creative nonfiction, a new type of form is quietly emerging, what Brenda Miller calls "hermit crab essays." The Shell Game is an anthology of these intriguing essays that borrow their structures from ordinary, everyday sources: a recipe, a crossword puzzle, a Craig's List ad. Like their zoological namesake, these essays do not simply wear their borrowed "shells" but inhabit them so perfectly that the borrowed structures are wholly integral rather than contrived, both shaping the work and illuminating and exemplifying its subject. The Shell Game contains a carefully chosen selection of beautifully written, thought-provoking hybrid essays tackling a broad range of subjects, including the secrets of the human genome, the intractable pain of growing up black in America, and the gorgeous glow residing at the edges of the autism spectrum. Surprising, delightful, and lyric, these essays are destined to become classics of this new and increasingly popular hybrid form.
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496206274
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
Within the recent explosion of creative nonfiction, a new type of form is quietly emerging, what Brenda Miller calls "hermit crab essays." The Shell Game is an anthology of these intriguing essays that borrow their structures from ordinary, everyday sources: a recipe, a crossword puzzle, a Craig's List ad. Like their zoological namesake, these essays do not simply wear their borrowed "shells" but inhabit them so perfectly that the borrowed structures are wholly integral rather than contrived, both shaping the work and illuminating and exemplifying its subject. The Shell Game contains a carefully chosen selection of beautifully written, thought-provoking hybrid essays tackling a broad range of subjects, including the secrets of the human genome, the intractable pain of growing up black in America, and the gorgeous glow residing at the edges of the autism spectrum. Surprising, delightful, and lyric, these essays are destined to become classics of this new and increasingly popular hybrid form.
Pandemic Spotlight
Author: Ian Hanomansing
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
ISBN: 1771622938
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
Eminent CBC journalist Ian Hanomansing profiles the Canadian doctors who stepped up to guide the nation through its worst medical crisis in a century. Most medical doctors, are accustomed to living lives of quiet dedication far from the public eye. What is it like for conscientious professionals like them when a country panicked by pandemic is suddenly beating down their doors desperate for answers? One of the remarkable features of the Covid-19 pandemic is the strength and compassion of the previously low-profile doctors who took to the public stage to lead the bewildered nation through the pandemic, counteracting misinformation and articulating the most up-to-date medical advice on avoiding infection and reducing viral transmission. British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry attracted international attention for her calm, empathetic and evidence-based approach. Ontario infectious disease specialists Dr. Zain Chagla and Dr. Sumon Chakrabati advocated passionately for effective measures within the South Asian community disproportionately affected by the virus. Dr. Lisa Barrett and her infectious disease colleagues at Dalhousie University lobbied to set up rapid testing in places like bars, sports centres and university campuses in order to detect those unwittingly spreading the virus and to provide an early warning of potential outbreaks. Hanomansing captures the perspective and insights of doctors from coast to coast who accepted roles as public advocates and advisors, exploring the impact of unaccustomed celebrity as well as the skepticism, resistance and even hostility that sometimes went as far as death threats from Covid-deniers. Few of the stories to come out of the pandemic are as inspiring as this one of the doctors, scientists and health officials who transcended their accustomed roles to become public symbols of trust and hope. As they prepare to return to their private careers, they respond to Hanomansing’s invitation to detail lessons learned and measures that need to be taken to improve the response to future deadly pandemics. All author royalties from sales of the book will go to UBC’s Centre for Health Education Scholarship.
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
ISBN: 1771622938
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
Eminent CBC journalist Ian Hanomansing profiles the Canadian doctors who stepped up to guide the nation through its worst medical crisis in a century. Most medical doctors, are accustomed to living lives of quiet dedication far from the public eye. What is it like for conscientious professionals like them when a country panicked by pandemic is suddenly beating down their doors desperate for answers? One of the remarkable features of the Covid-19 pandemic is the strength and compassion of the previously low-profile doctors who took to the public stage to lead the bewildered nation through the pandemic, counteracting misinformation and articulating the most up-to-date medical advice on avoiding infection and reducing viral transmission. British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry attracted international attention for her calm, empathetic and evidence-based approach. Ontario infectious disease specialists Dr. Zain Chagla and Dr. Sumon Chakrabati advocated passionately for effective measures within the South Asian community disproportionately affected by the virus. Dr. Lisa Barrett and her infectious disease colleagues at Dalhousie University lobbied to set up rapid testing in places like bars, sports centres and university campuses in order to detect those unwittingly spreading the virus and to provide an early warning of potential outbreaks. Hanomansing captures the perspective and insights of doctors from coast to coast who accepted roles as public advocates and advisors, exploring the impact of unaccustomed celebrity as well as the skepticism, resistance and even hostility that sometimes went as far as death threats from Covid-deniers. Few of the stories to come out of the pandemic are as inspiring as this one of the doctors, scientists and health officials who transcended their accustomed roles to become public symbols of trust and hope. As they prepare to return to their private careers, they respond to Hanomansing’s invitation to detail lessons learned and measures that need to be taken to improve the response to future deadly pandemics. All author royalties from sales of the book will go to UBC’s Centre for Health Education Scholarship.