Fresh off her hugely successful launches in Nova Scotia, Chasing Freedom author Gloria Wesley will deliver a series of talks and reading in Winnipeg, beginning the week of Oct. 17. Gloria will also be signing copies of Chasing Freedom at McNally Robinson on Oct. 23 at 2pm. If that weren’t enough, she will also be speaking at several Winnipeg schools. So keep an eye out here for more information and don’t miss out!
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Poet Gloria Wesley is back — this time with a young adult historical novel that tells the story of struggle of Black Loyalists and their arrival in Canada. Wesley holds the distinction of being the first published Black Nova Scotian poet (To My Someday Child, 1975).
Wesley, a retired school teacher, found a true lack of stories reflecting the history of African Canadians during her teaching career and hopes that the publishing of Chasing Freedom will help to fill the gaps. “We seldom get resources about the African Nova Scotian experience, by those of African Nova Scotian descent,” Wesley claimed when talking about her motivation for writing the novel, “I’m happy to be part of the move to change that.”
According to writer George Elliott Clarke, “Reading Wesley, you hear that sweet, special Africadian lingo, ‘right to the marrow in the bones.’ By the end, you understand why folks’d ‘rather be ruled by the king than a bunch of rebels with nothing to offer but gab and blood.’ But you can’t gain freedom without experiencing ‘a rough tussle and a good shake.’ Grab hold of this tale: It won’t let you go.”