We have many trails in Canada--- The Fundy Trail, the Confederation Trail, the Castor River Trail, Le P’tit Train du Nord, the Bruce Trail, to name a few. There are trails for hiking, biking, snowmobiling, ATVing, canoeing, skiing, dogsledding, horseback riding, motoring and more.
The Fundy Trail, New Brunswick
But did you
know that Project Bookmark Canada is creating
a literary trail from coast to coast to coast in Canada?
The Literary Trail
The idea of
this project is “to place fiction and poetry in the exact Canadian locations
where literary scenes are set.” When you visit a Bookmark, you will find
an excerpt from a story or poem on a large plaque that you can read "while
standing in the characters’ footsteps.” You will also find information on the
author.
Bookmark for Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief
Port Hastings, Nova Scotia
What is the
value of a Literary Trail? It will bring attention to our literature in which
we will recognize ourselves and gain new perspectives of each
other. In addition to supporting literacy, Project Bookmark fosters literary
tourism by encouraging international readers to explore Canada through our
fiction and poetry.
Bookmarks
This project
was launched in April 2009 and currently has 23 bookmarks in place across
Canada, 17 of which are in Ontario. At this point, there is no Bookmark in our province! Come on,
New Brunswick! We should have no problem in coming up with 23 New Brunswick Bookmarks
from our rich literary landscape!
New Brunswick's Literary Landscape
Bookmark for Nackawic
I see a Bookmark at Walton’s Lake, celebrating the fiction of Susan White, author of seven books!
Bookmark for Walton's Lake
I picture a Bookmark in Oromocto, highlighting the mystery series of Mary Sawyer.
Bookmark for Oromocto
And let's not forget these New Brunswick nuggets:
Tantramar Revisited by Sir Charles G.D. Roberts
The Ships of Saint John by Bliss Carman
In the Hainesville Cemetery by Alden Nowlan
Low Tide at St. Andrews by E. Pauline Johnson
In the Hainesville Cemetery by Alden Nowlan
Low Tide at St. Andrews by E. Pauline Johnson
Low Tide at St. Andrews
Because the
winter was long, April was hard, and tomorrow is May, let’s conclude this trail talk with the evocative
and hopeful images in Sir Charles G. D. Roberts’ poem,
To Fredericton in
May-Time
Charles G.D.
Roberts
This morning, full of breezes and
perfume,
Brimful of promise of midsummer weather,
When bees and birds and I are glad together,
Breathes of the full-leaved season, when soft gloom
Chequers thy streets, and thy close elms assume
Round roof and spire the semblance of green billows;
Yet now thy glory is the yellow willows,
The yellow willows, full of bees and bloom.
Under their dusty blossoms
blackbirds meet,
And robins pipe amid the cedars nigher.
Thro' the still elms I hear the ferry's beat.
The swallows chirp about the towering spire;
The whole air pulses with its weight of sweet,
Yet not quite satisfied is my desire!
Odell Park
You can help build Canada’s Literary Trail! Go
to this site and make a suggestion. (https://www.projectbookmarkcanada.ca/suggest-a-bookmark-form)
...Until Next Time...
