The Haystack Reader: Collected Essays on Craft, 1991-2009

by Stuart Kestenbaum (Editor)

This dictionary of Passamaquoddy-Maliseet, an aboriginal language spoken in New Brunswick and Maine, is the result of more than thirty years of collaboration among native speakers, educators, and linguists. The first of its kind in Canada, the volume contains more than 18,000 entries over 1,200 pages, including a comprehensive English index that will guides readers to discover shades of meaning and to better understand pronunciation and grammatical structure. This unprecedented book is, in many ways, more than a dictionary. An important cultural document, it contains detailed knowledge of the physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, and emotional environments of the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy people. Sample sentences, taken from both oral tradition and contemporary conversation, reveal details of Passamaquoddy-Maliseet thought and culture, personal attitudes, and humour as well as a linguistic ingenuity.

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Stuart Kestenbaum of Deer Isle, Maine, is the state's poet laureate and senior advisor at Monson Arts. Formerly the director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Kestenbaum has authored five poetry collections as well as The View from Here, a collection of essays.