JUBILANT JULY!!

One day it was cold and rainy, the next it was summer. Welcome to Newfoundland and Labrador! Whether you're enjoying a long weekend away somewhere by the water or a quick relax in the hammock at home, Breakwater has your summer reading covered. 

In this issue:

• News (our authors breaking waves)
• Upcoming Events (join Breakwater to celebrate books)
• On the Nose Books (books that tie-in directly to the time of year)
• Dropping Soon (see what's about to appear on shelves near you)

WHAT'S IN THE NEWS?

• Larry Mathews's The Gull Workshop gets some love in the Telegram
• Some Father's Day action from Breakwater authors: 
  • Here's Let It All Fall author Mike Heffernan talking about Gen X dads and the music scene
  • Here's Eyes in Front When Running author Willow Kean writing about great literary dads at All Lit Up
• Speaking of Heffernan:
  • Here he is on VOCM talking about Let It All Fall
  • And here is the book being covered in The Telegram
• Beth Ryan on a roll: 
  • An interview with If We Caught Fire author Beth Ryan at the Newfoundland Quarterly
  • And here she is talking to Anthony Germain on CBC's On the Go
• The Riddle Fence pop-up bookstore held during the Lawnya Vawnya festival was a grand success for us and other NL publishers! Further proving we need a local bookstore here!  

          

INTERNATIONAL SALES: DANKE SCHOEN! 

   

A FABULOUS BOOK TIME

We partnered with Writers NL (formerly WANL), Quadrangle, and NL Public Libraries to hold a Drag Story Time at the AC Hunter Children's Library, featuring our latest book on inclusion and diversity, The Ewe Who Knew Who Knit You, by Cara Kansala. Thanks to Cara and Stella Starlet for the "stellar" story! 
 

   

KEEP CONNECTED

Check out Breakwater's social media channels lately? Follow all our channels to make sure you don't miss out on any crucial book news. Be the first to get event and book announcements, author signing times, reels and videos, and more! (Note the TIkTok! Our latest new channel! Check it out.)

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mark your calendars: the summer is gonna rock at Breakwater. 

• Signings at the Downhome Shoppe at 303 Water Street in St. John's
  • July 4^th, 1-3 pm: Beth Ryan with If We Caught Fire
  • July 6^th, 1-3 pm: Maggie Burton with Chores
  • July 10^th, 1-3 pm: Willow Kean with Eyes in Front When Running
  • July 13^th, 1-3 pm: Larry Mathews with The Gull Workshop
• Signings at The Bees Knees at 199 Water Street in St. John's
  • Aug 6th, 1-3 pm: Beth Ryan with If We Caught Fire
  • Aug 12th, 1-3 pm: Maggie Burton with Chores
  • Aug 14th, 1-3 pm: Larry Mathews with The Gull Workshop
  • Aug 16th, 1-3 pm: Willow Kean with Eyes in Front When Running
  • Aug 23rd, 1-3pm: Leah Lewis with The Dialysis Project
  • Aug 28th, 1-3pm: Mike Heffernan with Let It All Fall
• July 7 - 9 OchreFest
  With: Peter Wilkins, Michelle Porter, Bridget Canning, Shelly Kawaja, Maggie Burton, Robert Chafe, and Leah Lewis
  Church at Oche Pit Cove
• July 16 SJFM Queer Market
  St. John's Farmer's Market
• July 20, 7pm Summer Launch Party
  With: Mike Heffernan, Willow Kean, Larry Matthews, Maggie Burton, Ted Rowe, Ting Ting Chen, and more
  St. John's Farmer's Market
• August 20, 8pm Celebration of Breakwater Books 50th Anniversary
  Writers at Woody Point
  With: Des Walsh, Shelly Kawaja, Paul Dean, and Andy Jones

WHAT'S UP NEXT? 

Books! Also: more books. 


Mischief in High Places: The Life and Times of Sir Richard Squires
Ted Rowe
(Coming July 15)

Mischief in High Places examines the spectacular career and personal life of the man who, in 1919, first became elected prime minister of Newfoundland.

The political successes of Sir Richard Squires' career are overshadowed by a legacy of scandal and deceit that paved the way for Newfoundland’s loss of democracy in 1933. Perhaps best known for slipping out of the Colonial Building during the 1932 riot, Squires had survived three corruption-ridden terms in office in the final decades of responsible government while living a high-flying lifestyle with his wife, Helena.


Impressions of Newfoundland
Ting Ting Chen
(Coming August)

Impressions of Newfoundland showcases the island’s landscape and people through Chen's fine art, revealing the stories behind the images.

Impressions of Newfoundland selects from the works of photographer Ting Ting Chen’s landscape photos and fine art portraits. As a newcomer to Newfoundland, she uses her unique perspective in photography to show her impressions of this province, to reveal the bonds between people and places, and to tell the story of how she found her home and muse in Newfoundland.


Soft Serve
Allison Graves
(Coming in September)

Allison Graves’ edgy debut collection of short fiction scrutinizes unconventional and confused attachments between people and the reasons they last. The extraordinary becomes the ordinary as people navigate the weird, the quirky, and the sad aspects of everyday life.

Through encounters in retail and fast food chains, on highways and dating apps, the characters in this collection wander through the non-places of our modern lives. The stories connect readers to the spaces that ultimately make them feel lost—zones for reconsideration. Delving into the confusion and boredom of everyday life, Graves’ fiction documents the emotional experiences and disillusionment of middle-class millennials seeking a meaningful life in both the isolating and the ordinary.  


Sulieway: The Sequel to My Indian
Mi'sel Joe and Sheila O'Neill 
(Coming in September)

Suliewey: The Sequel to My Indian continues the story of Mi’kmaq guide Sylvester Joe, whose traditional name is Suliewey, as he seeks out the last remaining Beothuk community.

In My Indian, Sylvester was hired by William Cormack in 1822 to guide him across Newfoundland in search of Beothuk encampments. In fact, he followed the advice of his Elders and guided Cormack away from the Beothuk. In this sequel, having parted ways with Cormack at St. George’s Bay, Sylvester decides to go out on his own, in search of the winter camp of the last of the remaining Beothuk. 

Written as fiction, by two Mi’kmaq authors, Suliewey: The Sequel to My Indian supports Mi’kmaq oral history of friendly relationships with the Beothuk. The novel reclaims the settler narrative that the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq of Newfoundland were enemies and represents an existing kinship between the Mi’kmaq and the Beothuk.

Rich in oral history, the descriptions of traditional ceremonies and sacred medicines, the use of Mi’kmaw language, and the teachings of two-spirit place readers on the land and embed them in the strong relationships described throughout the book.