With winter upon us, what better time to cuddle up with a cup of cocoa and a good book?
Western News suggests the following titles by faculty and alumni, from history, hockey and current events to politics, poetry and picks for the kids.
At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage
Carol Off, BA’88, LLD’17
In her instant #1 national bestseller At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, award-winning author and broadcast journalist Carol Off explores the “mutated meanings and changing political impact” of these six words: freedom, democracy, truth, woke, choice and taxes.
The former host of CBC’s As It Happens unpacks how forces from the right and left have weaponized these terms, altering them beyond recognition.
As “both an elegy and a call to arms,” At a Loss for Words shows what happens when we lose our shared political vocabulary. In Off’s view, “we stop being able to hear each other, let alone speak with each other in meaningful ways.”
“A gifted storyteller, Carol Off brings a wealth of analysis, reporting and first-hand knowledge to At a Loss for Words. Absolutely compelling.” – Michael Milde, philosophy professor and former dean, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
The Country and the Game: 30,000 Miles of Hockey Stories
Ronnie Shuker, MA’08
While pursuing his master’s in journalism in Western’s Faculty of Media and Information Studies, Ronnie Shuker won the Norman Jewison Award for Creative Writing. His subject? Hockey.
Now, in his first book, The Country and the Game: 30,000 Miles of Hockey Stories, the freelance writer and editor-at-large for The Hockey News takes readers on “the road trip of a lifetime,” showing the many ways the sport touches the lives of Canadians.
Highlights include heli-hiking to the Bill Barilko crash site deep in the Northern Ontario bush, driving the ice roads of James Bay to learn about Cree hockey and playing on an outdoor rink at a Hutterite colony in southern Manitoba.
From St. John’s, N.L., home of hockey’s most colorful father-son combo, to a frigid barn in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., and the world’s largest hockey stick in Duncan, B.C., Shuker finds the people and places that make hockey an indelible part of the Canadian experience.
Because This Land is Who We Are: Indigenous Practices of Environmental Repossession
Professor Chantelle Richmond, department of geography and environment
As Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health and the Environment, professor Chantelle Richmond (Biigtigong Anishinabe) is working to broaden ideas of the place-based nature of Indigenous identity, rights and belonging.
In her book Because This Land is Who We Are: Indigenous Practices of Environmental Repossession, Richmond and co-authors Brad Coombes and Renee Pualani Louis, explore environmental repossession through a collaborative case study approach, engaging Indigenous communities in Canada (Anishinaabe), Hawai’i (Kanaka Maoli) and Aotearoa (Maori).
Their open access book “celebrates Indigenous ways of knowing, relating to and honouring the land.”
“This book is a true gift, rich in philosophy, story and practical wisdom – expressing a powerful message about the meaning of care, protection and joy in relation to our lands.”– Kyle Whyte, University of Michigan
The Wampum Learning Lodge is hosting a book launch and discussion by Richmond, Dec. 4 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Ukraine, not ‘the’ Ukraine
Marta Dyczok, professor, departments of history and political science
In Ukraine, not ‘the’ Ukraine, professor Marta Dyczok leads a historical tour of the country, from the medieval Kyivan prince Volodymyr the Great through to Ukraine’s “twenty-first-century rock star” president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Her book presents Ukraine as an actor, not a pawn, in international history. And it focuses on people, including her former student, Maxim Sviezhentsev, PhD’20.
“On 22 June 2022, Max was somewhere on the front line in Ukraine. He posted a photo of himself video-chatting with his two-year-old son on Facebook…They were both smiling. A week earlier he had written, ‘The hardest thing so far is not the routine, not the patrolling, not even the shelling although that is frightening, but not being able to see my little boy.’ When Russia escalated its war against Ukraine, Max volunteered to defend his country. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine did not exist as a nation. But Max, and tens of thousands like him who were willing to risk their lives to protect Ukraine, showed the world that it did.”
Dyczok’s book is available as a free download until Dec. 13.
Here Before Us: A Neighbourhood History of Oxford Park
Lorraine Tinsley, BA’76, MA’20
In her first book, The Uncrowned King & the Desert Queen: T.E. Lawrence & Gertrude Bell—A Friendship, Lorraine Tinsley told the story of the First World War collaboration of two British imperial actors, instrumental in the Arab Revolt and postwar peace settlements in the Middle East.
Tinsley’s latest release is rooted closer to the local author’s home and the area of Oxford Park in London, Ont.
Here Before Us: A Neighbourhood History of Oxford Park is “set against the backdrop of the ancient geological formation of the Forks of the Thames River, and the early pre-contact Indigenous presence in the area.”
The book traces the Euro-Canadian settlement of London Township and London West in the early 19th century, leading to the establishment of the adjacent subdivisions of Kensington Heights (1884) and Oxford Park (1901), on the border between township and city.
Tinsley presents stories related by Black American freedom seekers, such as John Holmes, who farmed the park lots in Oxford Park in the mid-1800s, and those of early families, including H.R.K (Harry) Tozer, who built many of its landmark houses. Oxford Park veterans of the First and Second World Wars are honoured and residents of the area recount key events, such as the catastrophic gas explosions of 1973.
Under Cover of Darkness: Murders in Blackout London
Amy Bell, professor of history, Huron University College and professor of public history, department of history, Western
In her latest book, historian Amy Bell visits the haunting streets of London, England during the Blackout of the Second World War, showing readers a rarely discussed side of wartime history.
Under Cover of Darkness: Murders in Blackout London exposes the stories of murder and violence, once hidden amongst the chaos of battles and bombs.
“Mass displacement, the anonymity of shelters, and the bomb-scarred landscape offered unprecedented opportunities for violent crime,” Bell writes, as she examines crimes from domestic violence in the home to robberies in the blacked-out streets to fights in pubs and clubs.
“I focus on those often forgotten in wartime histories: women, children and the elderly, and explore the lives of the victims, as well as their deaths. These stories transform our understanding of how war made people vulnerable ─ not just to the enemy, but to each other.” – Professor Amy Bell, author of Under Cover of Darkness: Murders in Blackout London
Bell will share personal accounts of victims and perpetrators at a “History Now!” book launch and lecture Dec. 11 from 3 to 4 p.m. at Museum London.
Dotted Lines
Stephanie Cesca, BA’00
With her debut novel, Dotted Lines, former newspaper editor Stephanie Cesca brings “to brilliant light the vital but underrepresented perspective of a non-traditional family, where the stepparent is the hero, and where the person who owes you nothing gives you everything.”
Cesca, who worked for the Gazette while earning her bachelor’s degree in English language and literature, incorporates aspects of her own Western experience into that of her main character, Melanie.
While launching her book at Brown and Dickson Bookstore in London, Ont. in the fall, Cesca said “it was so great to be back and talk about how my years in London were formative to me as a person and writer.”
Cesca’s work has been shortlisted for the Penguin Random House Canada Student Award for Fiction and The Marina Nemat Award for Creative Writing.
Oh Witness Dey!
Shani Mootoo, BFA’80, DLitt’21
When internationally acclaimed multimedia artist and award-winning author Shani Mootoo arrived at Western, it was her first time in Canada. Born in Dublin, Ireland, and raised in Trinidad, she was also a long way from home, where her great-great-grandparents arrived as indentured labourers by the British.
In her poetry collection Oh Witness Dey! Mootoo expands the questions of origins, from ancestry percentages and journey narratives, through memory story and lyric fragments.
“These vibrant poems transcend the tropes of colonial violence through saints and spices, rebellion and joy, to reimagine tensions and solidarities among various diasporas,” inviting the reader to “witness history, displacements and the legacies of our inheritance.”
Maya Plays the Part
Calyssa Erb, BA’15
Maya is convinced she’ll get the lead role in the summer musical program at her community theatre. No one knows the show better than she does, and after all, she’s used to playing a part since receiving her autism diagnosis. However, things don’t turn out exactly as Maya has planned.
Heralded as a “heart-warming middle-grade” book, Calyssa Erb’s Maya Plays the Part is drawing rave reviews for representing autism authentically.
Erb, who is also autistic, writes as an empathetic storyteller, with her debut work named as a Children’s Book Council Spotlight selection and nominated for a 2025 IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities award.
With This Note
Annalice Hayes, EdD’18
With over a decade of experience as a school counsellor, Annalice Hayes knows talking to children about personal safety and consent is important. As a parent of two young children, she also knows it can be overwhelming.
Through her book With This Note Hayes brings a thoughtful and easy way for parents, educators, counsellors and trusted adults to teach young children they have autonomy over their bodies and to trust their instincts when things “don’t feel quite right.”
The book has drawn top reviews from child psychologists and readers worldwide, earning gold level recognition from the Mom’s Choice Awards, which honours “excellence in family-friendly media, products and services.”
“This is a powerful and caring book for parents and educators alike as they guide children to protect themselves, trust their body and speak up.”– Brooke Fezler, associate executive director, International School Counselor Association
