There’s something truly magical about how language not only fuels our passions, like reading, but also preserves cultures and heritage. International Mother Language Day is a time to celebrate linguistic diversity and encourage the ongoing pursuit of multilingualism for all. Each of these selections honours this, diving into the journey of learning, development, and the importance of diverse languages in our society. Let your language learning journey begin!
Uiesh / Somewhere by Joséphine Bacon, translated by Jessica Moore (Talonbooks)
The poems in this dual-language edition of Uiesh / Somewhere are rooted in Innu Elder Joséphine Bacon’s experiences of moving between the nomadic ways of her Ancestors in the northern wilderness of Nitassinan and the clamour of the city. From her quiet centre, she listens to the voices of the Old Ones, whose stories are alive within her, and reflects on the beauty and the pain of her long life.
“A song bathed in light and wisdom, in one moment, true, embodied, powerful, with no secrets … the moment is the whole book. I opened the book at the end of the day, I began the song until the end of the night, I was guided to somewhere in the Nutshimit …” (trans.) —Mylène Bouchard on Uiesh / Somewhere, in Le Libraire, no. 109
Out now
pêyak little duck by Sandra Lamouche (Orca Book Publishers)
In a celebration of the connection between language learning and the land, a young child enjoys a walk in nature to spot different birds while practicing counting from one to ten in Plains Cree with English text translations. pêyak little duck also includes labels for birds and other natural objects, which are an opportunity for additional language learning for readers.
Start learning to count in cree using the pêyak little duck poster here!
Out March 11, 2025
Conversations with the Kagawong River by sophie anne edwards (Talonbooks)
In Conversations with the Kagawong River, author sophie anne edwards uses cut-out letters in nature and allows the flora and fauna to participate in the creation of language systems. sophie anne spent several years learning to listen to the Gaagigewang Ziibi (Kagawong River) and to follow the rhythms and patterns of its flora and fauna, the weather and the water. The resulting poems, supported by local Elders, language speakers, and historians, make visible the colonial, environmental, and social processes that construct an ecosystem and (settler) relationships to it.
“The Gaagigewang Ziibi ecosystem speaks through poetry, through Sophie. Readers will be inspired to slow down, examine their environment, engage with nature, and maybe even learn a language. Perhaps inspired by this work we will all have conversations with a river, or a lake, or forest. True deep observant conversations.” —Shelley Pearen, The Manitoulin Expositor
Out now
Nucleus: A Poet’s Lyrical Journey From Ukraine to Canada by Svetlana Ischenko (Ronsdale Press)
Author Svetlana Ischenko tackles the creative tension between her identity as a Ukrainian poet with deeply Ukrainian sensibilities and an immigrant poet enthused by her adopted country. Nucleus: A Poet’s Lyrical Journey From Ukraine to Canada illuminates Ischenko’s transformation from a heroic crown of sonnets to freer, lyrical pieces, all within the dynamic of Ukrainian and Canadian subject matter and sensibilities. By slowly beginning to write in Canada in English, she achieves a sense of centeredness beyond language and culture.
“The heroine in Nucleus views the world through the lenses of two homelands, one native and one acquired, and this gives her poetry depth, subtlety, and a polyphonic quality, turning it into a bird of lyrical utterance winging over an ocean between beloved shores and releasing its coded feathers across the waves.” —Teodozia Zarivna, Ukrainian poet, novelist, playwright, and journalist, author of the novels Willow Board and Hunting for Birds of the Sky
Out now
One Arrow Left: The Memoir of Secwepemc Knowledge Keeper Cecilia DeRose by Cecilia Dick DeRose with Sage Birchwater (Caitlin Press)
One Arrow Left is a celebration of Secwépemc culture, language and the importance of passing on this knowledge to future generations. Secwépemc elder, matriarch and knowledge-keeper Cecilia DeRose presents her powerful, heartfelt and inspiring memoir of overcoming racism and adversity. Navigating the complexities of being a mixed-race family, both within and outside of the Secwepemc community and a residential school survivor. Despite later losing her Indigenous status due to marriage to a non-Indigenous person, Cecilia remained true to her Secwepemc roots and traditions. She eventually regained her status and became a teacher and ambassador of Secwepemc language and cultural practices, passing on the cultural teachings of the Secwepemc identity and language to her own children and students.
Learn more about Secwépemc culture and language from Thompson Rivers University here.
Out March 21, 2025