Church Point (NS), April 22, 2021- Université Sainte-Anne professor Dr. Darryl Whetter's climate-crisis novel Our Sands, set in and around Canada's contentious tar sands, is now available here in Canada and is published by Penguin Random House.
Whistleblowing NASA climate scientist James Hansen has publicly described Canada's continued mining of Alberta's tar sands as “game over for the climate.” Noam Chomsky rightly calls Canada's heavily subsidized tar-sands oil “the dirtiest on the planet.” To his shock, novelist and poet Dr. Whetter has never once seen Canada's national industry reflected in CanLit. “University researchers of all sorts,” Whetter notes, “are encouraged to look for gaps, to fill in what hasn't been covered. Amazingly, landscape-obsessed CanLit had no novels devoted to what is arguably the most significant Canadian landscape.”
Professor Whetter teaches Creative Writing and English literature here at Sainte-Anne, including a course he created called “Literature of the Climate Crisis.” He was once the Coordinator of the Creative Writing program at Dalhousie University and recently returned to Church Point after directing the first master's Creative Writing program in Singapore. His ‘cli-fi' novel Our Sands was first published there in 2020 and is just now available in Canada and America. Excerpts and essays about the novel have been published by The Brooklyn Rail, The Fiddlehead and Oxford University Press. In addition to his teaching and writing, Professor Whetter was the 2008 federal Green Party of Canada candidate in Halifax.
The striking cover for Professor Whetter's new climate-crisis novel Our Sands was designed by a Sainte-Anne alumnus, his wife, Dr. Gisèle Thériault.
For more information, visit Our Sands - Penguin Random House or www.darrylwhetter.ca.
About Université Sainte-Anne
Université Sainte-Anne, the only French language post-secondary institution in Nova Scotia, offers university and college-level courses as well as a French immersion program and customized training in French as a second language. Recognized for its excellent programs as well as its unique and exceptional living environment, Sainte-Anne offers experiential learning opportunities that promote student engagement and success, and an atmosphere which encourages a culture of excellence in research and development. Solidly established in its community, Université Sainte-Anne is a partner of choice for all those who wish to strengthen the vitality of the regions surrounding its 5 campuses as well as all of Acadie throughout Nova Scotia.
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