THIRD new book for Charles R. Saunders in 2025 as Black and Bluenose hits the bookshelves

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π‘Ύπ’“π’Šπ’•π’† π‘΅π’π’˜! π‘Ύπ’Šπ’•π’‰ 𝑱𝒐𝒏 π‘»π’‚π’•π’•π’“π’Šπ’† π’Šπ’” π’…π’π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ $πŸ“πŸŽ 𝒂 π’Žπ’π’π’•π’‰ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝑭𝑡𝑺’𝒔 π‘ͺ𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑹. 𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 π‘·π’“π’Šπ’›π’†.Β 

This week I got a copy of Pottersfield Press’s beautiful new edition of Charles Saunders’s landmark nonfiction book, Black and Bluenose: The History of a Nova Scotian Community. I wrote the introduction to this second edition, explaining how it represents the only decade of Charles’s writing life where his nonfiction outpaced his fiction.

George Elliot Clarke, the poet laureate of Africadia, wrote the foreward. Here’s how he describes his first meeting with Charles: “Though Charles had already published three celebrated fantasy novels in New York City, he had no time for airs. This big, big-hearted, big-laughing, bushy-afro’d man was gracious, erudite, and wittyβ€”the quintessence of bonhomie. Charles was an instant inspiration.”

Charles wrote this book as columns for the Halifax Daily News, rather as his fantasy often started as short stories that built into something more. I think this book would be a great edition to journalism programs, especially in Atlantic Canada, as it contains a concise history of the Black North Atlantic that you will not find anywhere else.

Charles writes about education, health, communities, and racism. If you report on any of these areasβ€”or find them important to your lifeβ€”Charles will give you the details about specific incidents, and offer ways forward that are still futuristic today.

I got some extra good news recently: McLelland & Stewart will publish an audiobook version of To Leave A Warrior Behindβ€”and I get to voice it! I was a little nervous at the idea, as I’ve heard some authors turn great books into audio duds. I worried I’d do the same. But 15 years at CBC did teach me a few things about lifting words off the page and into the ear, and they will pair me with a great producer.

I start recording in a few weeks and the books will be out in January.

Alsoβ€”if you hurry, you can still apply for the Charles R. Saunders Prize for Emerging Writers thorugh the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia.