SACKVILLE, NB — Mount Allison University’s annual President’s Speakers Series will begin on September 16 with a reading by award-winning Stō:lō poet, novelist, and essayist Lee Maracle.

Maracle’s reading will be held on campus on Friday, September 16 at 12:30 p.m. in Tweedie Hall (Wallace McCain Student Centre) and is part of the University’s Year of Indigenous Knowing celebrations on campus.

“Lee Maracle is a significant voice in Indigenous Canada,” says Mount Allison University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Robert Campbell. “We are thrilled to welcome her to campus as the first President’s Speaker Series guest for this important Year of Indigenous Knowing on campus.”

An award-winning author and teacher, Lee Maracle is a member of the Stō:lō Nation. Her works include the novels: Ravensong, Bobbi Lee, and Sundogs: a short story collection, A Sojourner’s Truth; a poetry collection, Bentbox; and the non-fiction work I Am Woman. She is co-editor of My Home As I Remember and Telling It: Women and Language Across Cultures; editor of a number of poetry works, Gatherings Journal, and has published in dozens of anthologies. She is currently a mentor for Indigenous students, a teacher at the University of Toronto, and the traditional cultural director and part-time instructor at the Indigenous Theatre School.

Maracle will also be speaking as part of the new Indigenous course offered at Mount Allison University. Her talk is co-sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts and Mount Allison’s Centre for Canadian Studies.

Mount Allison’s Year of the Indigenous Knowing will encourage the campus and wider community to explore Indigenous issues relating to their historical and current surroundings through several lenses — societal, cultural, and humanitarian on a local, national, and international scale.

The Year of Indigenous Knowing will see several noted speakers, activists, and artists visit campus through the annual President’s Speakers Series as well as other related activities and events such as University Commencement, welcoming new students to Mount Allison and the annual Mansbridge Summit, bringing the Chancellor and special guests to Mount Allison to discuss the Indigenization of campus.

For updates and a full list of President’s Speakers Series events please visit mta.ca/pss