StFX adjunct English professor and author Anne Simpson will be celebrating her two latest works, her most recent novel, Speechless and her book of essays, Experiments in Distant Influence: Notes and Poems, when Red Sky Gallery hosts a book launch on Friday, Oct. 2 from 7-9 p.m. at Justamere Café & Bakery.
Ms. Simpson’s novel, Speechless, was published in May 2020. It was a book, she says, that was 10 years in the making. She has written a story in which A’isha Nasir, a Nigerian teenager, has been charged with adultery. Sophie MacNeil, a young Canadian journalist who is living in Nigeria, publishes an impassioned article about her plight. When the article sets off a wave of outrage, Sophie must come to terms with the naivete with which she approached the article.
Speechless is a novel about justice, witness, and courage in which Ms. Simpson explores the power of words, our responsibility for them, and the ways they affect others in matters of life and death.
Alexander MacLeod calls Speechless “a global narrative about gender and race, about words and actions and reactions, with tough female characters who will not back down and instead stand together against injustice. Simpson is a beautiful writer and this is a bold, brave book.”
Experiments in Distant Influence: Notes and Poems is a book of essays that investigate such issues as collaboration, courage, and community. Ms. Simpson says she approaches her subjects with intense curiosity and a deep empathy for both the human and non-human phenomena she encounters, recognizing the complex ecology of our communities and how, through practicing the attentiveness poetry fosters, we might help each other flourish.
Along with her book of essays, Ms. Simpson is the author of five collections of poetry, one of which, Loop, won the 2004 Griffin Poetry Prize. She also writes fiction. Her recent novel, Speechless, was preceded by Falling, longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and winner of the Dartmouth Book Award. Her mentorship of other writers has taken her to libraries and universities across Canada.
For more on the Oct. 2 book launch, please contact @email or phone (902) 863-8000.
This research is, in part, made possible by the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.
