Wilfrid Laurier University Press Spring/Summer 2017 TransformingIdeas Cultural Studies Indigenous Studies ing in the field of memory representa- Imprint Cultural Studies is the multi- and inter- The Indigenous Studies series seeks to tion, this series undertakes comparative Laurier Digital disciplinary study of culture, defined be responsive and responsible to the explorations in the contested interpreta- The Laurier Digital imprint publishes anthropologically as a “way of life,” per- concerns of the Indigenous community tions of remembering and forgetting in groundbreaking scholarly work, crafted formatively as symbolic practice, and at large and to prioritize the mentorship relation to traumatic history. expressly for digital media. The imprint ideologically as the collective product of emerging Indigenous scholarship. Series editors Marta Marín-Dòmine is open to works from all disciplines of varied media and cultural industries. Series editor Deanna Reder and Colman Hogan in the humanities and social sciences, Wilfrid Laurier University Press invites though it aims to publish projects that submissions of manuscripts concerned Laurier Poetry Studies in Childhood and showcase the power inherent in digital with critical discussions on power rela- Laurier Poetry brings the excitement Family in Canada media and that seek to revolutionize tions concerning gender, class, sexual of contemporary Canadian poetry to Topics included in this interdisciplinary the reading experience, pedagogy, and preference, ethnicity, and other macro an audience that might not otherwise series are theoretical investigations of scholarly communication in general. and micro sites of political struggle. have access to it. Selected and intro- gender, race, sexuality, geography, lan- duced by a prominent critic, each vol- guage, and culture within the experi- Early Canadian Literature Series ume presents a range of poems from ence of childhood and family. The Early Canadian Literature series across the poet’s career and an after- Series editor Cynthia Comacchio Canadian Commentaries returns to print rare texts deserving of Published in conjunction with the Liter- word by the poet. Economically priced. restoration to the canon of Canadian ary Review of Canada, Canadian Com- works in English. Comprising novels, Series editors Neil Besner and Studies in International mentaries features prominent writers periodical pieces, memoirs, and creative Brian Henderson Governance exploring key issues affecting Canadi- non-fiction, the series showcases texts Studies in International Governance is a ans and the world. A lead essay com- by Indigenous peoples and immigrants Laurier Studies in Political research and policy analysis series that missioned by the LRC becomes the from a range of ancestral, language, and Philosophy provides timely consideration of emerg- ground for responses by others, open- religious origins. Each volume includes Globalization has given birth to a new, ing trends and current challenges in the ing a place for a spectrum of views and an afterword by a prominent scholar smaller world producing new mixtures broad field of international governance. debate. providing new interpretations for all and struggles. From many quarters Representing diverse perspectives on readers. comes a call to build a sense of political important global issues, the series will New belonging in a diversity of voices that be of interest to students and academ- Series Editor Benjamin Lefebvre Canadian Unit, Formation, requires a rethinking of the philosophi- ics while serving as a reference tool for and Command Histories cal paradigms guiding our relationships. policy-makers and experts engaged in Units – regiments, corps, squadrons, Environmental Humanities The series is dedicated to exploring key policy discussion. Features research that adopts and and ships – form the foundation of challenges to our changing world and adapts the methods of the humanities the Canadian military. This series criti- its needs. TransCanada to clarify the cultural meanings asso- cally explores the organizational, per- The study of Canadian literature can no ciated with environmental debate. It Series editor Ashwani K. Peetush sonal, societal, and cultural themes longer take place in isolation. Pressures addresses the way film, literature, televi- of those units by blending traditional of multiculturalism put emphasis upon sion, Web-based media, visual arts, and Life Writing operational history with innovative discourses of citizenship and security, physical landscapes reflect how ecolog- This series includes autobiographical approaches in military scholarship. while market-driven factors increasingly ical relationships and identities are lived accounts, diaries, letters, and testimo- shape the publication, dissemination, and imagined. nials by (or told by) individuals whose CMTS Dialogues and reception of Canadian writing. The philosophical or political beliefs have The CMTS Dialogues are short, thought- Series editor Cheryl Lousley goal of the TransCanada series is to pub- driven their lives. Life Writing also provoking texts that analyze a specific lish forward-thinking critical interven- includes theoretical investigations in work related to memory and testimony tions that investigate these paradigm Film and Media Studies the field. in the contemporary world. These texts, Critically explores cinematic and new- shifts in interdisciplinary ways. each accompanied by a set of questions Series editor Marlene Kadar media texts, their associated industries, Series editor Smaro Kamboureli addressed to the author by a respon- and their audiences. The series also dent, seek to engage a community of examines the intersections of effects, Memory and Testimony readers in a virtual debate about salient nature, and representation in film and Studies aspects of our here and now. new media. As a catalyst for interdisciplinary research and a space of confluence for scholars, Series editors Philippa Gates, Russell artists, and community agencies work- Kilbourn, and Ute Lischke Wilfrid Laurier University Press is grateful for the support it receives from Wilfrid Laurier University; the Canada Council for the Arts; the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (with funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada); and the Ontario Arts Council. The Press acknowledges the financial sup- port of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and Livres Canada Books. The Press acknowledges the assistance of the OMDC Book Fund, an initiative of the Ontario Media Development Corporation. LIFE WRITING Bird-Bent Grass A Memoir, in Pieces Kathleen Venema Bird-Bent Grass chronicles an extraordinary mother–daughter relationship that spans distance, time, and, eventually, debilitating illness. Personal, familial, and political narratives unfold through the letters that Geeske Venema-de Jong and her daughter Kathleen exchanged during the late 1980s and through their weekly conversations, which started after Geeske was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease twenty years later. In 1986, Kathleen accepted a three-year teaching assignment in Uganda, after a devastating civil war, and Geeske promised to be her daughter’s most faithful correspondent. The two women exchanged more than two hundred letters that reflected their lively interest in literature, theology, and politics, and explored ideas about identity, belonging, and home in the context of cross- cultural challenges. Two decades later, with Geeske increasingly beset by Alzheimer’s disease, Kathleen returned to the letters, where she rediscovered the evocative image of a tiny, bright meadow bird perched precariously on a blade of elephant grass. That image – of simultaneous tension, fragility, power, and resilience – sustained her over the years that she used the letters as memory prompts in a larger strategy to keep her intellectually gifted mother alive. Deftly woven of excerpts from their correspondence, conversations, journal entries, and email updates, Bird-Bent Grass is a complex and moving exploration of memory, illness, and immigration; friendship, conflict, resilience, and forgiveness; cross-cultural communication, the ethics of international development, and letter-writing as a technology of intimacy. Throughout, Print | July 2017 | 300 pages | 5¼ x 8 | paper | $24.99 Life Writing series | 978-1-77112-290-0 | ebook available it reflects on the imperative and fleeting business of being alive and loving others while they’re ours to hold. Kathleen Venema spent several years as a junior-high teacher in northern Manitoba before joining a teacher-training college in post-civil-war Uganda. Now an associate professor of English at the University of Winnipeg, she publishes on early Canadian exploration texts and imperial women’s letters; researches narratives of conflict, aging, disability, and care; and pursues a lifelong interest in transformative pedagogy. Also of interest Motherlode A Mosaic of Dutch Wartime Experience Carolyne Van Der Meer Print | Life Writing series | 110 pages | $19.99 paper 978-1-77112-005-0 | ebook available Spring / Summer 2017 1 INDIGENOUS STUDIES Read, Listen, Tell Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island Sophie McCall, Deanna Reder, David Gaertner, and Gabrielle Hill, editors Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island is the first critical reader of Indigenous literatures to feature contributions from authors from across Turtle Island (North America). The book explores core concepts at the