Displaced
with Zeina Sleiman, Aaron Kreuter and Brian Thomas Isaac
Hosted by Kagiso Lesego Molope
Brian Thomas Isaac is one of the most authentic voices among Indigenous authors in Canada. In Bones of a Giant, he spins a complex yet navigable tale that opens a window onto a time of struggle, privation and an undying determination to survive and thrive despite the powerful forces of colonialism that pressed for an opposite result.
Novelist and playwright Kagiso Lesego Molope hosts a conversation with three remarkable novelists whose works grapple with the struggle for dignity and agency in the wake of colonial displacement and inter-generational trauma. If home can be stolen, how can we ever be safe?
Set amid the arid glamour of Lebanon’s beaches and urban landscapes, Where the Jasmine Blooms by Zeina Sleiman is at once a political historical thriller and a Muslim feminist love story. Yasmine enters Lebanon escaping a messy divorce and seeking the family, culture, and connection that her Palestinian mother hid during their life in Toronto. It’s 2006, and she’s meeting her cousin Reem for the first time after connecting over social media. When she receives a package of mysterious letters suggesting her father might still be alive, the cousins embark on a discovery of political secrets no one in the family wants them to know.
Lake Burntshore by Aaron Kreuter is social satire, romance, and political commentary all in one. It’s the summer of 2013 and 21-year-old Ruby can’t wait to supervise a rowdy cabin of 11-year-olds. But when the camp hires Israeli soldiers to deal with a staffing shortfall, Ruby, a committed anti-Zionist, must decide if she’s willing to jeopardize her place at Burntshore. Soon it becomes clear that the conflict is also about Burntshore’s relationship with the neighboring Black Spruce First Nation. Now she has to contend with her feelings for one of the soldiers while simultaneously trying to save her beloved camp from greed and colonialism.
From the award-winning, bestselling author of All the Quiet Places, comes Bones of a Giant, Brian Thomas Isaac’s highly anticipated return to the Okanagan Indian Reserve. Summer, 1968. For the first time since his big brother disappeared two years earlier, sixteen-year-old Lewis Toma has shaken off some of his grief. Everywhere he looks, women are left to carry the load, sometimes with kindness, but often with the bitterness, anger and ferocity of his own mother. Now, his dad is back in town and scheming on how to use the Indian Act to steal the land Lewis and his mom have been living on. With so many traps laid around him, how will Lewis find a path to a different future?
Books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival is supported by generous individuals like you. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter and making a donation to support our programming and children’s literacy initiatives.