Jesse Thistle
Join students, staff and faculty for an on-campus screening of the first debate of Canada Reads 2020 and cheer on Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Assistant Professor Jesse Thistle and his memoir From the Ashes.
The screening of the debate will take place Monday, March 16 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Sound & Moving Image Library screening room located on the first floor of the Scott Library at the Keele Campus.
Described as a literary “Survivor-styled” program, Canada Reads is CBC’s annual Battle of the Books, where celebrity panelists debate and “eliminate” books until the one that is left is considered the book all of Canada should read.
One of only five books shortlisted in this year’s competition, From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way is Thistle’s personal story of resilience, which he uses to explore difficult topics including racism, homelessness and addiction.
“My elder reminded me to present the book in a way that reflects that we are strong people; we resist,” Thistle said of the memoir when he delivered the 2019 Kitty Lundy Memorial Lecture at York University and spoke to his understanding of storytelling as a means of preserving culture, memory and identity.