OTTAWA – Even though Tracey Lindberg’s first novel didn’t win this year’s Canada Reads competition, Birdie is a book for those who care about reconciliation that everyone should read.
Canada Reads is an annual battle of the books competition put on by CBC where five previously selected novels are defended by Canadian panelists. Books are voted off one-by-one over the course of a few days until one remains and is deemed the “Canada Reads Champion”.
Birdie was voted off early on into the competition, but simply making it on the competition’s shortlist is a big feat.
The novel follows a Cree woman known as Birdie on a modern-day quest from her home in northern Alberta to Gibsons, British Columbia, where she hopes to meet her teenage crush: Jesse from The Beachcombers. Birdie’s troubled childhood has left her with inner demons, and her adventures take a dark turn, forcing her to find the strength to heal old wounds and build a new life. Informed by Cree lore, Birdie is a darkly comic novel about finding out who you are and where you’re from.
Throughout the competition, Birdie was defended by Bruce Poon Tip, a social entrepreneur born in Port-of-Spain Trinidad and then grew up in Calgary, Alberta. He founded G Adventures, the largest travel adventure company in the world, when he was 22 years old and is the founder of Planeterra, a non-governmental organization that supports international communities through the tourism industry.
“For all of us who care about reconciliation, and frankly should, this book opens a path,” he said.
The Canada Reads 2016 books were all about transformation and starting over, including stories of migrants, immigrants and others who chose or were forced to make major changes in their lives.
The books author, Tracey Lindberg is a citizen of As’in’i’wa’chi Ni’yaw Nation Rocky Mountain Cree and comes from the Kelly Lake Cree Nation community. She is an award-winning academic writer and teaches indigenous studies and indigenous law at two universities in Canada.
“An indigenous woman [Birdie] has finally been captured and put on the page by another indigenous woman [Lindberg],” said Poon Tip. “No holds barred, bruises and all — and it’s beautiful.”
Poon Tip understands the necessity of indigenous education in this day and age and wants to put 10,000 copies of Birdie into the hands of Canadian high school students.
“I was so taken with Birdie — both as a piece of fiction and for what it means for Canada — that I couldn’t let it go away,” he said. “This book is a part of my life now; a powerful, transformative piece of literature that encourages all Canadians to take part in a national conversation we’ve put off for far too long.”
Throughout the competition, Poon Tip argued that Birdie gives voice to indigenous women in Canada and can help facilitate reconciliation between Canada and First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
While quantities last, Canadian high school teachers and administrators can apply to receive copies of Birdie for their school at the 10,000 Birdies website.
“My generation has taken a small step towards reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations peoples. The next generation will make the giant leap. Putting Birdie into Canadian high schools will, I fervently believe, allow us all to listen, speak, understand, and come together,” said Poon Tip.
