Blockade

by Christine Lowther

240 pages, Paperback

Published June 3, 2025

Reviews

[Trystan Vaillancourt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Christine at the Tofino public library the other day. She’s a truly inspiring poet-activist. This book should be read by anyone wanting to visit Clayoquot Sound and even Vancouver Island in general.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the recency of Fairy Creek I wanted to learn more about the tireless forest defence efforts of the 90s. Hearing firsthand accounts from someone who was part of the blockades was inspiring and very eye-opening. Lowther’s prose was beautiful and this was a great read!

[Genevieve Lussier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thrilled to see this book on my local library's new releases shelf. As someone who has been fighting for natural spaces locally, it was a very insighful look into the battle save old growth in BC, more specifically on Vancouver Island, in the early 90s. Blockade may not be the most beautifully written book I've ever read but I don't think that's the point. It's an important record of the struggle, of the actions and of the events that surrounded the fight to protect that needed to be protected. It is also a record of the beautiful places that the author was a part of fighting for, that have, heartbreakingly, since been destroyed.

Blockade is an activist's love story for the wild spaces that surround her, without it being overtly romanticized. It was also often a frustrating read because it becomes clear that the colonial system of law enforcement serves the corporate world over Indigenous land rights and environmental protection regulations. More than anything though, this story of the fight to save Old Growth and its biodiversity, is a story of resilience.

With the ongoing protest in Ada'itsx (Fairy Creek), it is clear that the fight against big business, the logging industry and the government is sadly not over. As the author mentions at the end of the book, 'Blockade' is a verb as much as a noun. 'Blocking' destruction can take many forms and we owe it to ourselves and future generations to act accordingly.