and that's it for this year
“A fast-paced, funny and at times powerfully poignant chronicle of a city and its environs, and a reminder of the vital importance of a local and independent press, Midnight Light brings the Northwest Territories and its remarkable and proud people to vivid life.”
“With a novelist’s eye for nuance, detail and character, Bidini has done the country an immense favour bringing our wild North to life in this exquisitely evocative book.”
“[north of 60] is an area where, unlike the rest of the country, truth and reconciliation is not an ever-ready political buzzword; rather, it’s a work in progress. One of Bidini’s strengths as a writer is his reportorial skill, and the book includes many voices, including a First Nations writer, Tim Querengesser. His take on the city reflects its essence: “‘Yellowknife just kinda works. Indigenous people come here because they’re respected. They aren’t segregated the way we are elsewhere.’””
our last event of the year is on monday may 6 at public kitchen with best-selling and beloved author, dave bidini, with us to talk about his latest book, ‘midnight light: a personal journey to the north”.
in ‘midnight light’ dave uses his stint as guest columnist at the Yellowknifer newspaper to explore the "Gateway to the North," the meaning of community, and the issues facing residents and their daily lives.
As a journalist, author and founding member of the trail-blazing band Rheostatics, Dave Bidini has had the privilege to explore Canada's immense geography. Yet, in all his many travels, he'd never visited the Northwest Territories. After an all-too-brief visit to a literary festival in Yellowknife, Bidini was hooked on the place and its people. When he returned home, all he could do was think about going back to the North.
Facing a career crossroads and with memories of his recent visit to the Northwest Territories still fresh, Bidini, in a bold move, contacts the Yellowknifer, one of the last truly loval and independent newspapers, and signs on as a guest columnist for an unforgettable summer.
The Yellowknifer, like the city it serves, bucks all trends as a completely community-focused newspaper. Bidini's new position gives him access to a region that is on the one hand lost in time, and on the other faced with the stark realities of poverty, racism and addiction. Along the way, Midnight Light introduces readers to an extraordinary cast of Dene elders, entrepreneurs, artists, politicians and law enforcement officers as well as an assortment of complicated souls from the South who are looking for a chance to rebuild their lives and who face the same harsh economic realities as their new neighbours.
A fast-paced, funny and at times powerfully poignant chronicle of a city and its environs, and a reminder of the vital importance of a local and independent press, Midnight Light brings the Northwest Territories and its remarkable and proud people to vivid life.