Reading the Rural

Local authors Barbara Palmer Rousseau and Roderick MacDonald of St. Peters Harbour will be reading from their recent collections on July 5 at 2 pm at the Rossiter Park Pavilion in Morell. The event is free and all are welcome. Books will be available for cash sale. 

Rousseau will be reading from Finding Home at the Harbour published by Island Studies Press. This evocative collection of illustrated essays about St. Peters Harbour, won a PEI Museum and Heritage Award for Creative Publication of the Year. Her essays reflect on the seasonal rhythms of spring peepers and barefoot beach walks, fall hurricanes and winter freeze-up. Her original illustrations feature her fox family neighbours, the nearby dunes, and the sand-locked lighthouse. Rousseau is currently completing a Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) at UPEI, studying the environmental history of the north shore dunes and the resulting implications for the future of the Island. 

Roderick MacDonald will be reading from Here and There: Poetry of Rural Prince Edward Island (Acorn Press) and Spells Against the Darkness (forthcoming with Pownal Street Press). Inspired by the places, people, and sounds around Morell and St. Peters Harbour, MacDonald’s lyrical poetry evokes feelings and memories of Island days spent whiling away at the beach, breathing in the salty air and listening to the sound of the waves. Roderick MacDonald is retired from a career in the alternative education system. Depending upon the season, he can be found snowshoeing or bicycling through the countryside that inspires so much of his writing. 

For more information, contact Bren Simmers at Island Studies Press, 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.