Alice Burdick

Simple Master (Pedlar Press, 2002) $19.95, ISBN 0-9686522-7-1.

Carmine Starnino wrote about Burdick's collection of poems: ' A surprising new voice is hard to come by in a poetry, particularly for a first book. Alice Burdick, however, has chanced on an idiom, rhythm and attitude that genuinely catch us off guard. Her debut, Simple Master, somehow manages to amalgam aspects of Sylvia Plath, Stevie Smith and John Ashbery into a lyricism that is unsentimentally fierce, energetically unpredictable and full of ingenious obliquities. Frankly, I'm not sure what sleight-of-hand Burdick is using to make these wily and eccentric poems work - these poems that try to "Tackle the air/with air" - but right now, it's enough that they do.'

Alice Burdick moved to Halifax from Toronto in January 2002. Her poetry has been published by small and independent presses and in various magazines.

Alain Raimbault

L'absence au jour (Éditions David, 2002) $14.00, ISBN 2-922109-64-X

L'écriture du poème est un nomadisme aux sanctuaries insaisissables, une quête de la mémoire toujours hésitante. Contre l'habitude de tout laisser, la mer et ses promesses jamais tenues, l'errance du mot, parfois jusqu'à la parole. C'est dans l'étonnement de l'absence que se tapit le jour qui nous tutoie.

Alain Raimbault est né à Paris en 1966. Il s'installe au Canada en Nouvelle-Écosse, en 1998. Il enseigne principalement le français dans une école francophone de la Vallée d'Annapolis. Il écrit de la poésie depuis toujours, et des romans pour la jeunesse depuis la naissance de sa fille en 1996.

Kathy Mac

Nail Builders for Strength and Growth (Roseway Publishing, 2002) $12, ISBN 1-896496-33-4

Here's what Spider Robinson had to say about Kathy Mac's collection of poetry: "Poets with Kathy Mac's impeccable technical skills are not too hard to find, but very few can touch her for emotional power, thematic range, gentle humour or quiet courage. As Robert Heinlein said of another writer, these poems should be served with a whisk broom, so that the customer may brush the sawdust off himself when he gets back up."

Kathy Mac, ronin romantic and Hunderfräulein Emeritus, is often spotted striding across the barrens around Nova Scotia's Sambro Head with a variable number of dogs in sight. Her fiction, poetry and art have appeared in numerous journals and magazines.

Joan Taylor, with illustrations by Susan Tooke

Full Moon Rising (Tundra, 2002) $19.99, ISBN 0-88776-548-3

Through the centuries people have measured time by the phases of the moon. From January's Wolf Moon to June's Honey Moon, and from September's Harvest Moon to December's Long-Night Moon, Joanne Taylor introduces the names of each full moon in a gentle narrative that follows the rhythms of a farm family's life. Folklore and real life blend in a beautiful new book about the seasons. The lyrical text is perfectly complemented by Susan Tooke's gorgeous paintings.

Winner of the 2000 Joyce Barkhouse Prize for Children's Writing, Joanne Taylor has also done freelancing and broadcasting. Writing for children has been her main interest for several years. Full Moon Rising is her first book.

Susan Tooke's illustrations are based on real-life images and scenes that she sets up for her pictures. A multi-talented artist, Tooke creates murals, landscapes, portraits, as well as digital imaging. She lives in Halifax.

Budge Wilson

The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (Penguin Books, 2002) $7.99, ISBN 0-14-100272-7

It's Christmas 1941 and Izzie and her family prepare to celebrate the holiday together. The World War II seems especially close at hand with soldiers, sailors, and ships crowding the streets of nearby Halifax. Izzie, her little brother, and their best friends are put in charge of Christmas decorations. When a terrible storm threatens to spoil everything, Izzie is bound and determined to save Christmas for everyone.

Budge Wilson lives and writes in a small fishing village on the South Shore and in Halifax. The author of picture books, young adult novels and short story collections, Budge had published more than twenty books in Canada, the United States, Finland, Denmark, Italy and Australia.

Douglas Arthur Brown, with illustration by Bruce John Brown

Archibald's Boo-boo (Solus Publishing, 2002) $14.95, 1-896792-08-1

Archibald is a young troll, about three hundred and some years old. He has big ears and a long tail. He's covered from head to foot with bristly fur and his nose is as round and red as a large cranberry. In this engaging follow-up to The Magic Compass, readers are reunited with this lovable troll who must face his fear of the screaming giant ear of corn with hundreds of eyes and two feet!

Douglas Arthur Brown is the author of three books and the publisher and managing editor of the Pottersfield Portfolio. His short stories and translations have appeared in magazines, anthologies and newspapers in Canada and Europe.
Bruce John Brown is a visual artist and illustrator. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, Bruce resides with his family in Halifax.

Denise DeMoura

Break the Silence (Broken Jaw Press, 2002) $13.95, ISBN 1-896647-87-1

Carmelita McGrath wrote about DeMoura's poetry collection: 'Poet/performer Denise DeMoura considers hitch hiking one of the safer things to do. She writes out of a world of abuse and danger, hers and others, claiming not only survival but celebration. Rhythmic and rich in sound, her poems ask you to read them aloud - declaim, chant and fill up the silence of what is often unsaid.'

The author of three poetry chapbooks, Denise De Moura's articles have appeared in newspapers in Canada and her native Bermuda. Break the Silence is her first full-length poetry collection.

Lynn Turner

Cutter's Wake (Avalon Mysteries, 2002) $19.95 (US), ISBN 0-8034-9528-5

Susan intervenes on a kidnapping attempt only to be taken herself. After she escapes, she goes to the police, but they don't believe her because the parents refuse to admit that their child is missing. Susan knows Amy will be killed in one week's time so she's desperate to find her. She enlists the help of Danny, a Coast Guard skipper, and the two delve into the lives of coastal fishermen and big city oil guys to find the child in time.

Lynn Turner is the author of magazine articles, film and television scripts and several mystery books. She won a number of awards for her work, including the CBC Writer's Award. Lynn lives in the Annapolis Valley.

Sally Ross

Les digues et les aboiteaux: Les Acadiens transforment les marais salés en prés ferties
Dykes and Aboiteaux: The Acadians Turned Salt Marshes into Fertile Meadows
(Société Promotion Grand-Pré, 2002) ISBN 0-9730865-0-5

En juin 1997, la Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada a recommandé que les aboiteaux soient désignés d'importance nationale. En plus de l'installation d'une plaque à Memramcook, la Commission a suggéré que le rôle important des aboiteaux dans l'agriculture acadienne soit interprété au lieu historique national du Canada de Grand-Pré.

In June 1997, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada recommended that aboiteaux be designated nationally significant. In addition to the installation of a plaque at Memramcook, the Board suggested that the critical role of the aboiteaux in Acadian agriculture be interpreted at Grand-Pré National Historic Site. This publication documents an important part of Acadian history and shows how Acadians transformed salt marshes into fertile soil.

Sally Ross taught the history and culture of French Canada for ten years. She has translated several books and co-wrote The Acadians of Nova Scotia Past and Present with Alphonse Deveau.