In House with Nightwood Editions for Indigenous History Month

Nightwood Editions has been around, in one form or another, since 1963, when bill bissett founded blewointmentpress and began publishing mimeographed magazines of experimental poetry. It has been through various owners and names, and is currently run from the Sunshine Coast of B.C.Nightwood’s mandate is to publish dynamic, necessary voices in new Canadian literature, whether fiction, memoir or poetry. These voices include, consistently, some to the best emerging—and seasoned—Indigenous voices. Here are some of the Indigenous-authored books that we have published in the past year.

Check out some recent books by Nightwood

Photo credit Ali Lauren Creative Services 

Tara Gereaux’s novel, set in small-town Saskatchewan in the ’90s, dissects themes of Métis identity, female identity and motherhood, aging and regret, and finally, acceptance. The tragic event that sets off a chain of change with each of the characters is a result of the difficulty in accessing gender-affirming supports in Canada–and specifically in rural areas. The author is donating 10% of her proceeds to a local non-profit agency or agencies that provide this crucial service to transgender or gender-diverse individuals. 

Photo credit Peter Arkell

Joseph Dandurand was recently shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize, one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the country, as well as the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. The winner will be announced on June 23. The East Side of It All is a collection about a broken man in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side who finally accepts his storytelling gift. 

Photo credit Divya Nanray

This collection of poetry and prose about Indigeneity and queerness has had a lot of award recognition recently, including being shortlisted for the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award and a ReLit Award. jaye simpson was also shortlisted for a 2021 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers. 

Photo credit Conor McNally

These are poems concerned with notions of home and the quotidian attachments we feel to them. Even in an area such as Treaty Eight (northern Alberta), a geography decimated by resource extraction and development, people are creating, living, laughing, surviving and flourishing—or at least attempting to. 

Photo credit Kayla MacInnis

A debut collection, these poems consider the various ways we undo, inherit, reclaim and (re)learn. Boan’s poems emphasize sound and breath. They tell stories of meeting family, of experiencing love and heartbreak, and of learning new ways to express and understand the world around her through nêhiyawêwin.

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Thanks to Annie at Nightwood Editions for sharing this great roundup of books with us!