Stay tuned for more info about our upcoming author event!
Dal Reads Title Announcement!
We are excited to announce that the 2023-2024 book title for Dal Reads is The Boat People by Sharon Bala!
- Free copies of the book will be available at Dalhousie Libraries next week – look for our book stations to grab your copy.
- eBook and audiobook copies are available by searching Novanet or the Libby app. To borrow materials, log in with your Dalhousie NetID and password. Get more information and guidance about borrowing eBooks.
About The Boat People:
In the tradition of Lawrence Hill’s The Illegal, Chris Cleave’s Little Bee, and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, and inspired by a real incident, this high-stakes and increasingly timely novel powerfully evokes what it means to leave behind everything you have ever known to seek out a better life in a strange land.
When the rusty cargo ship carrying Mahindan and five hundred fellow refugees reaches the shores of British Columbia, the young father is overcome with relief: he and his six-year-old son can finally put Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war behind them and begin new lives. Instead, the group is thrown into prison, with government officials and news headlines speculating that hidden among the “boat people” are members of a terrorist militia. As suspicion swirls and interrogation mounts, Mahindan fears the desperate actions he took to survive and escape Sri Lanka now jeopardize his and his son’s chances for asylum.
Told through the alternating perspectives of Mahindan; his lawyer Priya, who reluctantly represents the migrants; and Grace, a third-generation Japanese-Canadian adjudicator who must decide Mahindan’s fate, The Boat People is a high-stakes novel that offers a deeply compassionate lens through which to view the current refugee crisis. Inspired by real events, with vivid scenes that move between the eerie beauty of northern Sri Lanka and combative refugee hearings in Vancouver, where life and death decisions are made, Sharon Bala’s stunning debut is an unforgettable and necessary story for our times.
About Dal Reads:
Dal Reads is designed to encourage people in the Dalhousie community to share their love of books. Launched in 2009, the program brings the Dalhousie community together through the shared experience of reading the same book and taking part in programming related to the book.
Dal Reads 2018/19: Brown Girl in the Ring
We are pleased to announce the Dal Reads selection for 2018/19 is the sci-fi novel Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson.
Set in the near future in a dystopic Toronto, Brown Girl in the Ring contains themes of folklore, feminism, and magic realism steeped in Afro-Caribbean culture. The novel won multiple awards around the time of its release in 1998 and was a Canada Reads finalist in 2008. It’s an important book to explore as we celebrate Dalhousie’s 200th year.
Dal Reads is the unity reading program at Dalhousie, designed to encourage community engagement and thought-provoking dialogue among readers. Pick up a free copy at one of the five Dalhousie Libraries and watch for an announcement regarding public events with the author later this year. You’ll also be able to follow any conversation about Brown Girl in the Ring on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using #DalReads. This will be a great place to post your thoughts or any questions you might have about the book.
Looking forward to reading and discussing Brown Girl in the Ring with you!
Lecture By Dr. Daniel Paul
Dr. Daniel Paul, Mi’kmaw historian and elder, will discuss his landmark book, We Were Not the Savages, this year’s official Dal Reads selection. We Were Not the Savages is a history of the near demise, from a Mi’kmaq perspective, of ancient democratic North American First Nations, caused by the European invasion of the Americans, with special focus on the Mi’kmaq.
Free copies of We Were Not the Savages will be available at the lecture. All are welcome.
Link to Eventbrite (free tickets): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dal-reads-lecture-with-dr-daniel-paul-tickets-43898702200
Friday, March 16, 10:15 a.m.
Haley Institute of Animal Science and Aquaculture, Room 200
58 Sipu Awti, Dalhousie’s Agricultural Campus, Truro
Lecture by Dr. Daniel Paul, 2017 Dal Reads Author
Dr. Daniel Paul, Mi’kmaw historian and elder, will discuss his landmark book, We Were Not the Savages, this year’s official Dal Reads selection.
Free copies of We Were Not the Savages will be available at the lecture. All are welcome.
Monday, October 23, 7 p.m.
Room 1009
Kenneth C. Rowe Building (6100 University Avenue)
Book Launch: Daniel Paul, Mi’kmaw Elder
Join Jon Tattrie and Daniel Paul for the launch of Dr. Paul’s biography. Dr. Paul is the author of this year’s Dal Reads book, We Were Not the Savages.
The event will be opened by HRM Poet Laureate, Rebecca Thomas.
Wednesday, October 18/12:30 p.m.
University Hall, MacDonald Building (6300 Coburg Road, also accessible from University Avenue)
The Hermit of Africville: Author reading & panel discussion in Truro
Join author Jon Tattrie; activist and Truro native Lynn Jones; and Truro resident Tawnya Barrington for a reading and panel discussion about this year’s Dal Reads selection, The Hermit of Africville. Published in 2010, The Hermit of Africville is the story of Eddie Carvery and his struggle for justice.
This event will also feature a solo a capella performance by Truro native, Ashton Jacklyn.
Free copies of the book will be available at the event.
Monday, March 27, 3 p.m.
Riverview Room,
Jenkins Hall, Agricultural Campus
Everyone is welcome to attend.
This event is presented by Dal Reads, the unity reading program of Dalhousie. Dal Reads is designed to encourage people in the Dalhousie community to share their love of books. Launched in 2009, the program brings the Dalhousie community together through the shared experience of reading the same book and taking part in programming related to the book.
Dal Reads Author Reading & Panel Discussion
Join us on Wednesday, November 23 for a reading with author Jon Tattrie followed by a panel discussion with Faculty member and Director of Dalhousie’s Transition Year Program, Dr. Isaac Saney* and Executive Director of the Africville Museum Sunday Miller. This year’s book selection is The Hermit of Africville. Free copies of the book are available at all five Dal Libraries and at the front desks of the residences.
Details:
Wednesday, November 23
3:30 p.m.
Cameron Dining Hall, Howe Hall (6230 Coburg Road)
*With thanks to Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard, who was originally scheduled to be on our panel but has a scheduling conflict with her new duties as a recently sworn-in Senator in Ottawa. Thanks to Dr. Isaac Saney for stepping in.
Dal Reads news: Lawrence Scanlan coming to Dal on October 14!
Lawrence Scanlan, the author of the Dal Reads 2015 selection A Year of Living Generously, is coming to Dalhousie!
When: Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Special Collections & Archives Reading Room, fifth floor, Killam Library
Lawrence has been a journalist for almost four decades – with daily newspapers (editor of The Nelson Daily News in B.C., literary editor of The Whig-Standard in Ontario), magazines (managing editor of Harrowsmith), and in radio with two national CBC programmes (producer on Morningside and Writers & Company). He has won numerous prizes for his writing, including three National Magazine Awards.
A Year of Living Generously, follows Lawrence as he volunteers with 12 different charities, among them well-known institutions Habitat for Humanity, the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Canadian Crossroads. Drawing from first-hand experiences, he tests the ideas and theories on global aid and charity and makes a compelling case for greater commitment and real connection, in the form of on-the-ground volunteer work, from us all.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see Lawrence Scanlan in person as he reads from A Year of Living Generously.
You can pick up your free copy at any of our five libraries!
Dal Reads 2009
This summer Student Services has suggested to all Dal students that they read Lawrence Hill’s award-winning novel The Book of Negroes, winner of this year’s CBC “Canada Reads” competition. On September 9th there will be a series of group discussions of the book held around campus, including one at the Killam Library. This will be the first of what will hopefully will be an annual “Dal Reads” event.
Check out the new Dal Reads blog and view the video of Jian Ghomeshi’s interview with Lawrence Hill. Read the actual text of the original Book of Negroes online at Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People. If you’ve read Hill’s The Book of Negroes or are reading it right now, tell us what you think of it!