Island Lecture Series and book launch at UPEI on October 22
Finding Home at the Harbour, a collection of illustrated essays by Barbara Palmer Rousseau, will be launched at the Institute of the Island Studies’ Island Lecture Series on October 22, from 7:00–8:30 pm, in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building (Room 201), University of Prince Edward Island.
Weaving natural history with her own story and illustrations, Rousseau highlights the resilience of the Island and its inhabitants to ongoing environmental change in this collection, published by Island Studies Press.
A frequent summer visitor to PEI, she moved from Ontario to the Island in 2020 to attend school after a 30-year career in the software development industry in Ottawa. At her cottage in St. Peters Harbour on the northeast shore, she learned the seasonal rhythms of spring peepers and barefoot beach walks, fall hurricanes and winter freeze-up. Her creativity returned as she began to sketch her fox family neighbours, the nearby dunes, and the sand-locked lighthouse. Her essays reflect on the fluid nature of the shore and tell a story of adaptation and hope.
Rousseau is currently completing a Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) degree at UPEI, studying the environmental history of the north shore dunes and the resulting implications for the future of the Island.
The event is free, and all are welcome. Books will be available for purchase. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at Island Studies Press, 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.
