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We are Very Much Here: Music and Conversation

With Rebecca Thomas, Amanda Peters, Mercedes Peters, and Raymond Sewell

 

Monday, November 2, 2026
7:00 pm
to 8:30 pm
Doors Open: 6:30 pm
Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre
$0.00

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Description

The evening starts with live music by Raymond Sewell. Then, we celebrate two new books: Blended by Rebecca Thomas and The Birthing Tree by Amanda Peters. Rebecca and Amanda join Mercedes Peters in conversation about these new works.

Speakers

  • Rebecca Thomas is an award winning Mi'kmaw writer of things. Sometimes they are poems, sometimes they are childrens’ books and sometimes they are love notes for family and friends. But they are always done with purpose and intention. She is a registered band member of Lennox Island First Nation in Epekwitk. Her ultimate goal is to take up space as an Indigenous woman in a world where they aren’t as valued or worthy as other groups of people. Rebecca dares you to tell her to be smaller and see what happens. She has been the Poet Laureate of Halifax and caregiver to her father who is a survivor of the Shubenacadie Residential School. She has performed with the Halluci Nation, Symphony Nova Scotia, and has spoken and lectured at conferences and coffee houses from coast to coast. Her first book I'm Finding My Talk has been shortlisted for the First Nations Community Reads Award. Her most recent collection of poetry called "I place you into the fire" was listed as one of CBC's top 20 books of 2020. Her book "Swift Fox All Along" was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Award for children's literature. She has an upcoming children's book called "Grampy’s Chair" is set to be released in September of 2024. She pays her bills by helping students who are overwhelmed with life and studies as a Student Services Advisor at the Nova Scotia Community College.

  • Amanda Peters is a writer of Mi’kmaq and Settler ancestry living and working in the Annapolis Valley. Her debut novel, The Berry Pickers, won the Carnagie Medal of Excellence for Fiction, the Barnes and Noble Discover Prize, the Darthmouth Book Award and the Crime Writers of Canada First Crime Book Award. Her work has been translated into 25 different languages. She is also the author of a short fiction collection, Waiting for the Long Night Moon and her second novel, The Birthing Tree was released in September 2026. She teaches at Acadia University in Wolfville and writes alongside a grumpy cat named Pook and a happy sheepdog named Holly.

  • Mercedes Peters (she/her) is a Mi’kmaw PhD Candidate in History at the University of British Columbia. Mercedes is a band member of Glooscap First Nation. While her research focuses on Mi'kmaw and Wolastoqey women's grassroots activism, she has a passion for all things horror.

  • RAYMOND SEWELL - (Pipukwes Latto’law) is an L'nu (Mi'kmaw) academic, multi-genre musician, and poet from Pabineau First Nation, New Brunswick. Deeply committed to Indigenous excellence, he serves as an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Literature and Culture at Saint Mary’s University (SMU) in Halifax, where he previously made a profound impact as the campus's first full-time Indigenous Student Advisor. Sewell holds a Master of Arts in Atlantic Canadian Studies from SMU. Alongside his academic contributions, he is a celebrated artist, operatic lyrical tenor, and multi-instrumentalist who performs under the name Red Suga. His work blends traditional storytelling, drumming, and poetry, capturing award nominations and bringing cultural history to the stage.