Words and music

Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in economic history, William J. Buxton, professor in Concordia’s Department of Communication Studies, examines the role of biographer in Harold Innis on Peter Pond: Biography, Cultural Memory, and the Continental Fur Trade (McGill-Queen’s University Press, $39.95).

Addressing Innis’s engagement with the legacy of fur trader and adventurer Peter Pond, a frequently overlooked historical figure, Buxton explores changing political and intellectual circumstances throughout Canada’s confederation. 

Richard Stanford, BFA 79, tells a multi-layered family saga spanning 100 years in The Sentinel (Eta Carinae, $24.50).

Beginning in 1884, the novel follows the Lloyd-Craigs, a family of reporters and artists from the Eastern Townships who will go to any length in pursuit of a story. Covering major 20th-century events such as the two world wars and the Russian Revolution, Stanford’s tale is a deep dive into the morals of journalistic inquiry. 

Seeker: A Sea Odyssey (Guernica Editions, $25), a memoir by Rita Pomade, Cert 92, begins as a dream of paradise; a fantasy shattered along the way due to a disintegrating marriage.

Spanning six years and a dozen countries, Pomade recounts venturing into an unknown and more exciting life, and the heartbreak and growth that comes with the risks. 

Brigitte Huppen, BFA 89, has written her second French-language young-adult novel. Dix jours (Bayard Canada, $19.95) is a throwback to the aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s.

After a trip to Vancouver with her father in 1978, Anya is tasked with writing about the best memory of her summer upon her return to school. She recalls the 10-day journey and her discovery of the Sex Pistols, learning to redefine and assert herself in the process.

Peter Graham, GrDip 05, Cert 09, MA 10, 14, examines the relationship between bodies, environment and biodiversity in his newest book, Traces of (Un-) Sustainability: Towards a Materially Engaged Ecology of Mind (Peter Lang, $129.95).

A specialist in sustainable development, Graham critiques marketbased economic systems and highlights the outcomes of changing minds collectively. 

Long-time French editor of Les cahiers de la femme, Jeanne Maranda, BA 87, challenges the demeaning portrayal of women in advertisements and details the quarter-century-long fight for change in What’s wrong with this picture? 25 years against sexism in advertising (Tellwell Talent, $11.99). Maranda further points out the progress that has been made for women in professional spaces and the measures that still need to be taken.

Professional artist and public speaker Guy Giard, BFA 83, tells his story in the autobiography Le grincement des balançoires (Self-published, physical $19.99, ebook/audiobook $9.99).

Sharing his experience of overcoming abuse and PTSD, Giard hopes to provide healing to those on the path to recovery. 

Poet and freelance critic Keith Garebian, MA 71, showcases a mix of short reviews in his new collection, Mini Musings: Miniature Thoughts on Theatre and Poetry (Guernica Editions, $20).

In his blurb of the book, former Concordia professor Henry Beissel writes: “Mini Musings has a richness that belies its title. The mix of observations, anecdotes and reflections presented in terse, witty prose, is consistently entertaining, informative and deliberately provocative.”