October Readings in Newton by Canada’s first indigenous Poet Laureate

Canadian Poet Laureate Louise Bernice Halfe (aka “Sky Dancer”) will be making two appearances in Newton as part of the week-long celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day. Invited by the Newton-based Poets’ Theatre in collaboration with the Canadian Consulate, Sky Dancer will appear at the third annual Indigenous Newtonians event on Monday October 9 at 4pm at the Albemarle Field. She will also have a reading and discussion at the Newton Free Library’s Druker Auditorium on Friday October 13 at 3pm. As well as making appearances at Simmons and Tufts Universities, she will also be featured at a gala event at the Museum of Science on Wednesday October 11 at 7pm. (This event is free but requires registration at MOS.org). As a child Ms. Halfe was taken away from her family by the Canadian government and placed in a series of Catholic-run “Residential Schools,” where indigenous children suffered not just sexual and physical abuse, but also cultural abuse, being forbidden to speak their native languages, and essentially being taught that indigenous life was worthless in modern Canada. Her traumatic ordeal lasted seven years, and is a major influence on her poetry. For more information contact david.gullette@simmons.edu.