March 2024 | The Miramichi Reader

a blue background with a white circle to the right hand side. Inside the white circle is "The Miramichi Reader."

Happy National Poetry Month!

March 31, 2024 by Emma Rhodes, Nicholas Selig, Carrie Stanton, Sue Slade and Alison Manley

April is National Poetry Month! What are you reading? If you’re looking for ideas, here are some excellent poetry collections to get you started!

A cranky chicken stands under a raincloud. A small blue worm is on the chicken's right wing, holding a tiny umbrella. The title is in the dark raincloud.

The Cranky Chicken

March 30, 2024 by Melanie Métivier

The Cranky Chicken collection by Katherine Battersby includes three hilarious stories

A silhouette of a canoe with two people in it, in the middle of a lake at night. The title is in white scripted letters at the top of the image.

Muskoka by Julian Samuel

April 2, 2024March 30, 2024 by Laurie Burns

This is a real fever trip of a book.

April’s “Blind Date with a Book” Giveaway!

April 1, 2024March 30, 2024 by Emma Rhodes, Alison Manley, Nicholas Selig, Bill Arnott, Carrie Stanton and Sue Slade

April’s “Blind Date Book” is from OC Publishing!

A yellow background with an orange kitty in the center of the image. The orange kitty looks up at a cupcake on its head. The title is in orange letters and curves above the kitty's head.

Orange Kitty and the Mouse Parade written and illustrated by E.M Gales

March 30, 2024March 30, 2024 by Sue Slade

Orange Kitty and the Mouse Parade is a playful, colourful, vibrantly illustrated, counting and rhyming children’s picture book about a sleepy cat that snoozes through a lively parade with fifty-five marching, cheering, trumpeting, baton-twirling mice — who tumble out from a “little blue door just an inch from the floor.”

A painting with black, blues, and whites that looks like a mountain range. The title is in cursive writing at the top of the image, and the author's name is in cursive across the black section near the bottom of the image. The translator's name is at the very top of the image.

Your Absence is Darkness by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, translated by Philip Roughton

March 30, 2024 by Alison Manley

Some of the most exciting, mind-bending, innovative literature these days comes out of the Nordic countries, in my humble and slightly pretentious opinion.

A woman in a red dress stands on a stool at the front of the image, to the right side. Behind her is an old farm house, on a farm. The title is in white letters above the roof of the farm house. The author's name is at the bottom of the image, by the stool that the woman stands on. She is barefoot and has long brown hair. She looks to the left with a slight tilt to her head.

Finding New Rooms to Grow: Moving to Delilah by Catherine Owen

March 30, 2024 by Bryn Robinson

If one were to dissect a “home”, what would be found?

A big black board is on the side of a tall brown building. The title "Work Less" is in blue with clouds and looks like it is part of the sky behind the board. The subtitle and author's name are just below the title, on the board.

Work Less: New Strategies for a Changing Workplace by Jon Peirce

March 30, 2024 by Sarah Butland

This is a book that is a must read for anyone who is employed and wants to create change, and any employer who wants to improve their business and employees lives.

Bertie Stewart is Perfectly Imperfect by Melanie Mosher

December 28, 2024March 29, 2024 by Sue Slade

I was pleased as punch and over the moon to be given an advanced copy of Melanie Mosher’s upcoming middle-grade release, Bertie Stewart is Perfectly Imperfect!

A beige cover with an axe laid on an angle, on its side. The head of the axe is on the left side of the image. There is a blurb just above the axe, the title is just below, and the author's name is at the bottom of the image.

The Blades of Wrath: Into the Continent by Emily McGiffin

March 26, 2024 by Michael Greenstein

Axe and rifle with bayonet: these two weapons form the inverted and reversed covers of Into the Continent, Emily McGiffin’s latest collection of poetry.

A red cover with some grey scale abstract faces in the centre, framed by a white border. The title is in white letters on top of the framed portion, and the author's name is below.

Richard-Yves Sitoski, Wait, What?

March 26, 2024 by Susan Wismer

Wait, What? is a spare book of rigorously chosen words and white space.

A watercolour image of a man in a blue shirt walking a dog by some shops in a brick building. On the side of the building is a "Back Street Records" graffiti. There is lots of greenery on the left hand side. The man's back is to the viewer. The title is at the top of the image, and the author's name at the bottom.

These Are the People In Your Neighbourhood by Jordan Trethewey

March 26, 2024March 25, 2024 by Mala Rai

The beauty of this 2021 – 2024 poet laureate’s work is that it is accessible to all — not just a love letter to Fredericton, but a gift for anyone to pick up and feel seen.

Black and white photo of Ben Robinson leaning against a wooden ladder in a garden. There is a fence behind him, and a small wagon. He is wearing a dark button up top and light coloured jeans. His hands are in his pockets. He is bald with a mustache.

The Ben Robinson Interview Part the Second

March 24, 2024 by Kevin Andrew Heslop

The second of two parts, this conversation took place online between Hamilton and Montréal on November 6th, 2023 on the occasion of the publication of The Book of Benjamin (Palimpsest Press, 2023). It has been edited for clarity.

An off white image with a + sign. Inside the + sign is an image of a large hospital ship on the ocean. The title is in large blue letters at the top of the image, outside of the +. The author's name is at the bottom of the image. A blurb is tucked into the outside left hand corner of the +.

Atrocity On The Atlantic by Nate Hendley

March 24, 2024 by Heather McBriarty

It was the greatest Canadian naval disaster of the First World War.

A blue background with a red anatomically correct heart shrowded in red flowers. The title is in white cursive text and overlays the image. The author's name is in white text just below, and the translator's name is in red text just below that.

Blue Notes by Ann Cathrine Bomann, translated by Caroline Waight

March 23, 2024 by Alison Manley

Blue Notes crams a fast-paced, heavily layered story into 242 pages. I was glued to it from the start.