Featuring Joanne Culley, Dena Jackson, Shelagh Meagher, and Dr. Jacques A. Frigault
Joanne Culley, author of Kate and the Composers (FriesenPress, August 2025)
Kate and the Composers was inspired by my discovery of some musical scores written by my great-grandfather, Henry Teck Culley, who was one of the most prominent flautists in Canada. My father and I were going through some boxes of printed sheet music in his basement (he came from a long line of musicians), and we came upon some handwritten compositions at the bottom of one box, including three flute trios. Teck had played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, taught at the Royal Conservatory and was a founder of the musicians’ union where he fought for fair pay, job security and established a benevolent fund for injured and sick members. But we didn’t know he had been a composer.
As I delved more into the time period of the late 19th century, I discovered that life was not only difficult for musicians, but also for women, who at that time didn’t have the vote and were not considered persons under the law. I decided to focus my story on a young Irish girl newly arrived in Canada who is trying to find her voice and place in the world. The beloved familiar melody of “The Flight of Ages,” a song by her famous uncle, helps her deal with the setbacks in her life. When she marries an older widower, a flautist named Teck, loosely based on my great-grandfather, with whom she shares her love of music, she discovers that sometimes music can express emotions better than words.
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Joanne Culley is an award-winning writer and documentary producer whose books are Kate and the Composers, Claudette on the Keys, and Love in the Air: Second World War Letters. Her work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Peterborough Examiner, Legion Magazine, Canada’s History, and Our Canada, as well as on CBC, TVO and Bravo Network. She has an MA in English from the University of Toronto and a Certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College. She grew up in Toronto and now lives in Peterborough, Ontario. Visit her at joanneculley.com.
Dena Jackson, author of Self Help Me (self-published, October 2025)
The idea for Self Help Me was initially an inspired idea for a comedy and storytelling show that incorporated wellness practices like breathwork, meditation, and mindfulness. I had been working as a comedian and speaker at this point for twelve years while also teaching these wellness practices and was itching to find a way to combine it all. I dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome while attempting to write the show, but I used the practices I teach to work through the imposter syndrome and just create. The show ended up being a success and audiences responded beautifully by sharing that it helped them.
The success of the show encouraged me to start a podcast about wellness. On it, I share these tools and some personal stories while interviewing experts about how to process emotions like doubt, fear, vulnerability and more. The past two years have been a creative progression from the show to the podcast and now the book, which encompasses all these things; my own story dealing with tough emotions, the tools I’ve used to work through them and advice from experts on each practice. It also includes an online workbook with journaling prompts and meditations to give readers an opportunity to try the tools and see what works. This is the type of book I was looking for ten years ago when I began my own journey with healing. I wanted every tool and piece of advice for how to work through a specific emotion to be all in one place. I also wanted a few different suggestions and evidence from someone I can relate to on how they work.
I’m also always looking for humour and honesty when it comes to wellness because that is how I relate to others. This book includes both of those components based on my background in comedy but also because I believe that healing and wellness can be lighthearted and funny too. This book was written to share this intention, and it also asks readers to be accountable for their well-being in a supportive way.
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Dena Jackson is a stand up comedian who has performed throughout North America including Just for Laughs, Winnipeg Comedy Festival, New York Comedy Festival and Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club in Las Vegas. She also had the opportunity to perform multiple shows in Alaska for the United States Armed Forces. Dena completed her Bachelor of Arts, Sociology and Gender Studies at Queen’s University, her teacher training at Kashish Yoga School in Goa and her instructor certification at the Mindfulness Society of Canada. She is also a Certified Reiki Master and Breathwork Facilitator who hosts the Self Help Me podcast on The Sonar Network.
Shelagh Meagher, author of On Hammet Shore (Askance Publishing, August 2025)
In 1976, at the age of 86, my great-uncle Henry ended his life by his own hand. He wasn’t depressed, or lonely, or broke, he was just done and wanted to determine his own exit. Born a Mennonite, this wasn’t a snap decision. Ten years ago, I came upon some pages from the journal he’d written in the months leading up to his death.
His notes were fascinating to me. There’s no sense of a tragic suicide in them, just careful planning for a graceful departure. I loved his writing. He had a very particular voice and an unexpected sense of humour, given what he was writing about.
The journals rattled around in my head for several years, until the second inspiration came along. I paddled out to an island I can see from my living room. On it I found three feral sheep, an old foundation whose house had been floated to the mainland, a little cabin with a cot, a tiny woodstove, a sweater, a half mickey of rum — and a single decoration tacked on the wall: a brief newspaper piece about a hermit who’d recently died in Mahone Bay.
The island felt like a perfect place to set a fictional Henry and tell a story of his last days. I set out to explore what kind of life could bring a man to that point of calm acceptance. What would he want to do in his final time, what would he be remembering with joy or regret, trying to resolve or forgive? My uncle’s voice is very much present in On Hammet Shore, sometimes verbatim.
I started writing a novel about dying but it turned out to be, equally, about living and deeply loving. Which feels only right, since all that comes before we go is what gives us meaning at the end.
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Shelagh Meagher is the author of three novels; Colour Studies, Pearls in the Ashes, and her most recent, On Hammet Shore (Askance Publishing), as well as the non-fiction Gumption: The Practical Woman’s Guide to Living an Adventuresome Life. She lives on the South Shore of Nova Scotia.
Dr. Jacques A. Frigault, author of Whispers from the Shadow: Confronting the Call of Suicide (Icy Peaks Publishing, May 2025)
After many years of struggling with two forces that have been present within me and realizing that many have encountered the same struggle as mine, it was my purpose to share with people and those who live with them that they are not alone. Many like me have battled with the inner language of the ego. Some have lost the battle while others have fought the good fight throughout their lives.
The struggle is between the power of living against the force of wanting to die. There are many forms of dying: taking one’s life physically or emotionally, abusing alcohol or drugs, of gambling. Often we just encourage bad habits or conducts by nourishing them.
This book reveals the hidden struggle within us and how the whispers of our shadow operates within us. This is to somewhat better understand why the person suffers from this struggle. Having accompanied many such sufferings throughout my fifty years of practice as a Doctor of Psychology and psychotherapist, these people never knew that I was a warrior of the same battle within myself. My only advise to all is to Fight the good Fight as long as you can against the Whispers from the Shadow.
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Dr. Jacques A. Frigault is a Doctor of Psychology and author. With a career spanning over 50 years, he has dedicated his life to advancing psychological care and well-being.
He began his professional journey as a social worker. He earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in psychology, specializing in intensive psychotherapy. In 2009, his commitment to holistic health was recognized with the title of Doctor of Naturotherapy in both New Brunswick and Quebec.
Dr. Frigault’s private practice, established in 1981, served as a cornerstone for mental health care in his region until his retirement in 2023. Alongside his practice, he taught university courses on addiction and mental health and delivered lectures across Canada, sharing his expertise with diverse audiences.
As an author, he has published 12 books in French and several research papers, contributing valuable insights to the fields of psychology and each reflecting his profound understanding of the human mind and spirit. Beyond his written work, he has been instrumental in founding organizations, associations, and businesses that continue to enrich his community.
Dr. Frigault was born and continues to reside in Tracadie, in New Brunswick, Canada.
