3 Nations Anthology: Native, Canadian & New England Writers

by Valerie Lawson

While much attention is focused on the border between Mexico and the US, the poems, essays, and short stories in this anthology focus on the northeast, unique for its shared borders and boundaries, the bridges between, the blood and heritage people share and the things that divide them. Some of the world's highest tides surge in and out every day in this place where waves of people have come and gone; Native and First Nations people have been here for ten thousand years. The land is disputed in places, in others the US and Canada share responsibility, and Native Lands reside as sovereign nations within these borders.

Edited by Valerie Lawson, authors of 3 Nations Anthology range from those for whom this book will be their first publication to a Pulitzer Prize nominee. They include: Kathleen Ellis, Stephanie S. Gough, Grey Held, Leonore Hildebrandt, Carol Hobbs, Paul Hostovsky, J. Kates, Michele Leavitt, Carl Little, Donna M. Loring, Mark Melnicove, Sarah Xerar Murphy, Susan Nisenbaum Becker, Fredda Paul, John Perrault, Bruce Pratt, Patricia Ranzoni, JD Rule, Cheryl A. Savageau, Catherine Schmitt, Lee Sharkey, Karin Spitfire, Elizabeth Sprague, David R. Surette, Jeri Theriault, Danielle Woerner, and many others.

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2017

About the author

Valerie Lawson's work has been published in Main Street Rag, BigCityLit, About Place Journal, The Catch, Ibbetson Street, and others. Lawson has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize three times.

With her partner, Michael Brown, Lawson co-edited Off the Coast literary journal for eight years and teaches poetry workshops in New England. She studied Electronic Publishing and Book Arts at the University of Maine in Machias. Lawson served on the board of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance from 2013-2015.

Valerie has worked as a bookseller, once worked as a security guard at a Rolls Royce show in Newport, coordinated a literacy program, organized poetry readings and writing groups in Massachusetts and Maine, co-hosted the Boston Poetry Slam, emceed the National Poetry Slam in Sweden, helped create a network of youth poetry slams in southern New England, was invited as a Legacy Poet to the first Women of the World Poetry Slam, and participated in cultural exchanges with Ireland.

Most recently, Lawson edited 3 Nations Anthology: Native, Canadian & New England Writers, which features poems, essays, and fiction from 58 writers, ranging from a nominee for the Pulitzer Prize to those for whom this is their first publication.

Lawson lives on Passamaquoddy Bay in the tiny downeast town of Robbinston Maine with her partner, Michael and a couple of retired sled dogs.

Reviews

[Ace Boggess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of poetry and prose with a regional flavor. Unfortunately, there's no introduction by the editors to give any insight into the book beyond what can be gleaned from the title, which makes it feel more like a literary journal than an anthology. Still, most of the selections are sharp and insightful. That makes the book well worth reading.

[Rhonda Gregware · Rating 4 out of 5]

:)