Oldfield, Sybil and Gwenyth Shaw, editors. The Old Familiar Faces 2007. Lewes, UK. ISBN 978-0-9554-114-1-0 Review and photo of Sybil Oldfield by Theresa Wolfwood
“I have had playmates, I have had companions…
All are gone, the old familiar faces…” Charles Lamb
This collection of mainly English poetry reflecting inevitably on loss, the constant of old age, has many poignant poems, but also humour, a necessity of aging well, is here also.
The editors have collected from many centuries and from the famous to the little known. They go well together; fame is not essential for enjoyment or inspiration, the experience of aging is universal.
As Frances Comford wrote: O passer-by, Read more [...]
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Filed under Book Reviews, Gwenyth Shaw, Sybil Oldfield
Watson, Raymond THE CELLWAS MY: CANVAS.2013. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Belfast, Northern Ireland ISBN-10: 1492762113 Review and author photograph by Theresa Wolfwood
Watson’s journey, from a teenage boy’s involvement in the conflict in Northern Ireland as an IRA fighter to years in a British prison to his development into an important artist today while he holds fast to his commitment to peace and social justice, is a fascinating read. Fortunately there are photographs of Watson’s many works of art throughout the book accompanied by tales of their creation.
Not least of these is the sculpture on the book cover, “The Hands of History”. The hands are those of the signers of the Good Friday Agreement Read more [...] Comments Off on Watson, Raymond THE CELLWAS MY: CANVAS.2013. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Belfast, Northern Ireland ISBN-10: 1492762113 Review and author photograph by Theresa Wolfwood
Filed under Book Reviews, Raymond Watson
BLOOD OF EXTRACTION Todd Gordon and Jeffery R. Webber. 2016. Fernwood Publishing. Halifax and Winnipeg, Canada ISBN: 9781552668306
Review and photo of author, Jeffrey Webber, by Theresa Wolfwood
“In recent years, the Canadian state has lent its support to a repressive post-coup regime in Honduras; had provided military and ideological backing for a repressive regime in Colombia, one which boasts the hemisphere’s worst human rights record; has aggressively interfered in the domestic affairs of left-of-centre Latin American governments such as that of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Rafael Correa in Ecuador; it has supported ecological destruction and the dislocation of vulnerable Read more [...] Comments Off on BLOOD OF EXTRACTION Todd Gordon and Jeffery R. Webber. 2016. Fernwood Publishing. Halifax and Winnipeg, Canada ISBN: 9781552668306
Filed under Book Reviews, Jeffrey Webber
Berkson, Sam & Mohamed Sulaiman. Settled Wanderers. 2015. Influx Press. London UK ISBN: 978-0-9927655-4-5
Review and photo of Mohamed Sulaiman by Theresa Wolfwood
Subtitled ‘The poetry of Western Sahara’, this remarkable book is far more than a collection of poetry, little-known in the English-speaking world. It is a concise history and geography of the Saharawi people, the lives of their poets, a glossary and explanation of the unique language of this nation, Hassaniya, its translation into Arabic and English and not least of all, the written words of all languages are enhanced and illustrated by the wonderful art work of Sulaiman who Read more [...] Comments Off on Berkson, Sam & Mohamed Sulaiman. Settled Wanderers. 2015. Influx Press. London UK ISBN: 978-0-9927655-4-5
Filed under Book Reviews, Mohamed Sulaiman, Sam Berkson
Soviet Princeton: Slim Evans and the 1932-33 Miners’ Strike by Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat.2015. New Star Books, Vancouver BC. .ISBN:9781554201099
Review by Theresa Wolfwood
“This is the story of a heated confrontation that took place in Princeton during the depths of the Great Depression- a struggle over coal mine owners’ attempt to roll back miners’ wages…features mounted police charging picket lines; searches of workers’ homes for subversive literature, physical assaults; the creation of a Citizens’ League to oppose the miners; union; a kidnapping; crosses burning in hills above the town…”
This is a fascinating little-known vignette of Canadian history, the story Read more [...] Comments Off on Soviet Princeton: Slim Evans and the 1932-33 Miners’ Strike by Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat.2015. New Star Books, Vancouver BC. .ISBN:9781554201099
Filed under Book Reviews, Jon Bartlett, Rika Ruebsaat
Human Rights in History by Morgan Avanti.2015. Morgan Avanti Publications. Toronto, ON ISBN978-0-9918346-0-0
Review by Theresa Wolfwood
“What are human rights? They are rights belonging to all by virtue of being human. One can say possessing human rights makes it possible to be fully human.”
Human rights have become so commonly and often carelessly discussed these days that we seldom think about the concept embedded in these words, Avanti makes it very clear.
“The concept of human rights is based on several fundamentals. One is that rights are universally held by everyone. Secondly, rights exist regardless of the legal jurisdiction in which Read more [...] Comments Off on Human Rights in History by Morgan Avanti.2015. Morgan Avanti Publications. Toronto, ON ISBN978-0-9918346-0-0
Filed under A M Elmessiri, Uncategorized
Liversedge Ronald. Mac-Pap: Memoir of a Canadian in the Spanish Civil War 2013. edited by David Yorke New Star Books, Vancouver, BC. . ISBN: 9781554200719
Review by Theresa Wolfwood
“We were the direct casualties of the “Non-Intervention Pact, “which was the most open and cynical betrayal of a nation in all of history.”
When I took recent visitors from Europe to see the memorial to the Canadians of the Mac-Pap (Mackenzie–Papineau battalion) who fought in the Spanish Civil War, they were amazed. Why would anyone travel from Canada to voluntarily fight in someone else’s civil war?
This book is one Canadian’s story of why approximately 1600 (1200 in the Mac-Pap by most estimates; Read more [...] Comments Off on Liversedge Ronald. Mac-Pap: Memoir of a Canadian in the Spanish Civil War 2013. edited by David Yorke New Star Books, Vancouver, BC. . ISBN: 9781554200719
Filed under Book Reviews, Ronald Liversedge
Engler, Yves. CANADA in AFRICA: 300 years of ad and exploitation. 2015. RED publishing/ Fernwood Publishing Canada. ISBN 978-1-55266762-0
Review and author photo by Theresa Wolfwood
“Canadian policy provides a unique window into Western exploitation of Africa and this book can hopefully contribute to overcoming widespread ignorance of African affairs.”
Engler has done it again; written another carefully documented, well-crafted history and analysis, this time about Canada’s involvement in past centuries and today in Africa. And once again he reveals the myth behind our idea that Canada and we Canadians are ‘good guys” in a bad world. With few exceptions we are right Read more [...] Comments Off on Engler, Yves. CANADA in AFRICA: 300 years of ad and exploitation. 2015. RED publishing/ Fernwood Publishing Canada. ISBN 978-1-55266762-0
Filed under Yves Engler
Deneault , Alain Canada: A New Tax Haven How the Country That Shaped Caribbean Tax Havens Is Becoming One Itself 2015. Talonbooks. Vancouver BC. Translated by Catherine Browne ISBN 13: 9780889228368
Review & author photo by Theresa Wolfwood
. “Everything was arranged to suit the interests of the powerful to facilitate the operations of the largest firms…”
Deneault, author of Imperial Canada Inc. Legal Haven of Choice for the World’s Mining Industries , published in2012, has expanded his intense research into Canada’s tax laws in his latest book. Nothing has changed since then, in fact our benefits for the rich and powerful continue unabated. Economics and tax law seem like dry, technical stuff, hard for most of us Read more [...] Comments Off on Deneault , Alain Canada: A New Tax Haven How the Country That Shaped Caribbean Tax Havens Is Becoming One Itself 2015. Talonbooks. Vancouver BC. Translated by Catherine Browne ISBN 13: 9780889228368
Filed under Alain Deneault and William Sacher, Deeault Alain
Grover, Sumeet. House Arrest & Disobedience, 2015, Smallberry Press, London. UK
Review by Theresa Wolfwood
The poems in this book are powerful messages about the cruelty and violence, often hidden and denied, in families, communities and countries. Although Grover is rooted in his own Indian culture there is a painful universality about the revelations in his poems. He travels from the intimacy of the bedroom to the assumption of male superiority in community to the cry for justice globally. Where there is violence and oppression there is always resistance and it is the power of that resistance that brings hope and redemption Read more [...] Comments Off on Grover, Sumeet. House Arrest & Disobedience, 2015, Smallberry Press, London. UK
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Guantanamo chez nous ? Editions Antidote Brussels, Belgium. 2014 ISBN : 9782930802008 in French
Review
A partir de ce court récit très bien écrit, Luk Vervaet nous amène dans le monde carcéral de la lutte ‘anti-terroriste’ de l’état Belge. Tout en présentant un bon aperçu, l’auteur mise sur le cas spécifique et très actuel d’un monsieur Nizar Trabelsi. Son présume délit fut d’avoir participé à la planification d’un attentat à la base militaire Kleine Brogel; l’attentat n’a jamais été réalisé.
Sans procès, et suite à des accusations restées secrètes, ce tunisien fut incarcéré en Belgique Read more [...] Comments Off on Guantanamo chez nous ? Editions Antidote Brussels, Belgium. 2014 ISBN : 9782930802008 in French
Filed under Luk Vervaet
HANDBOOK for NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGNS. 2014. War Resisters’ International London, UK. ISBN 978-0-903517-28-7
Dey, Andrew, coordinator.
HANDBOOK for NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGNS. 2014. War Resisters’ International London, UK. ISBN 978-0-903517-28-7
“…our working definition of nonviolence is based on a desire to end violence…without committing further violence. This handbook was written by people from around the world …” from the introduction
This is a collaborative work with many authors and contributors in itself a remarkable feat, so many stories, images and guidelines, but they all keep the focus on the importance of nonviolence. Accounts Read more [...] Comments Off on HANDBOOK for NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGNS. 2014. War Resisters’ International London, UK. ISBN 978-0-903517-28-7
Filed under Andrew Dey
