Ed MacDonald Book Launch: The Geography of Home
In his new book, The Geography of Home: Poems for a Lost Time, Edward MacDonald traces the rural Prince Edward Island where he grew up from the late 1950s through the early 1970s, a landscape on the cusp of far-reaching change. Published by Island Studies Press, the book will be launched on September 7, 2025, at 2 pm, in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, Room 201.
In the introduction to the book, MacDonald writes that 鈥渉ome is a place in the heart. It is part actual and part invented, part remembered and part reconstructed, part learned and part inherited.鈥� He goes on to say the depiction of an era offered here is a mixed-media portrait, combining prose and poetry, history and memory. Each poem takes as its touchstone a place, person, or practice and is paired with a short reflection that unpacks facets of the culture being explored. Archival photos woven throughout add another layer to this portrait. MacDonald writes that while history attempts to trace changes over time, 鈥渕emories are the little, coloured stones that we collect to assemble a mosaic of our lived past.鈥�
The Geography of Home was published with the support of a SSHRC Exchange Publication Award from the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Research at 海角社区. Island Studies Press thanks Dr. Marva Sweeney-Nixon, associate vice-president research and dean of graduate studies at 海角社区, for supporting faculty publications.
Dr. Edward MacDonald is a professor emeritus of history from the 海角社区. He is the author of If You鈥檙e Strong-hearted: Prince Edward Island in the Twentieth Century and co-author of The Summer Trade: A History of Tourism on Prince Edward Island, and has written, compiled, or co-edited nine other books. In 2023-24, he was appointed to the Order of Canada and then the Order of Prince Edward Island for his work as an Island historian and teacher.
The event is free, and all are welcome. Thanks to Bookmark, books will be available for purchase. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at Island Studies Press, 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.
