NAC Indigenous Theatre has started a book club, and you’re invited to join in!

In partnership with the Ottawa Public Library, Our Stories: Indigenous Book Club will run from January - June 2021, with monthly books including poetry, fiction, memoirs and plays. At the end of each month, join us for an online conversation with each book’s author on Facebook live.

Our January book is the play bug by Yolanda Bonnell. On January 27 at 7pm EST, join us for this live, online discussion with author Yolanda Bonnell (Ojibwe/South Asian) in conversation with researcher and theatre-worker Jill Carter (Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi) to discuss the book. 

This livestream video will stay online to watch on NAC Indigenous Theatre's Facebook page for 1 year after it has taken place.

We’ll be sharing reflection questions in our book club Facebook event throughout January. Feel free to engage and share your thoughts about the book throughout the month!

Click here to borrow the book from the Ottawa Public Library. 

And here you can register for a reminder about this event on the Ottawa Public Library’s website.

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January’s Book - bug by Yolanda Bonnell

Content Warning: this play contains harsh language, sexual content/violence, mentions of self-harm and colonialism.

This book is intended for adult readers.

About the book

The Girl traces her life from surviving the foster care system to her struggles with addictions. She fights, hoping to break the cycle in order to give her daughter a different life than the one she had. The Mother sits in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, recounting memories of the daughter that was taken from her, and the struggles of living on the streets in Northern Ontario. They are both followed by Manidoons, a physical manifestation of the trauma and addictions that crawl across generations.

bug is a solo performance and artistic ceremony that highlights the ongoing effects of colonialism and intergenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous women, as well as a testimony to the women’s resilience and strength.

About the author

Yolanda Bonnell (She/Her) is a Queer 2-Spirit Ojibwe/South Asian performer, playwright and poet from Fort William First Nation in Thunder Bay, Ontario (Superior Robinson Treaty Territory). She is now based in Tkarón:to. Yolanda’s Dora-nominated solo show bug had its world premiere at the Luminato Festival in 2018, followed by a national tour and a remount at Theatre Passe Muraille in February 2020. She was also a part of Factory Theatre’s The Foundry, a creation program for new career writers, where her play Scanner continues to be developed towards production.