Audiobooks Narrated by Michaela Washburn

Voices from Hudson Bay: Cree Stories from York Factory, Second Edition

In Voices from Hudson Bay Cree elders recall the daily lives and experiences of the men and women who lived and worked at the Hudson’s Bay Company post at York Factory in Manitoba. Their stories, their memories of family, community, and daily life, define their past and provide insights into a way of life that has largely disappeared in northern Canada. The era the elders describe, from the end of World War I to the closing of York Factory in 1957, saw dramatic changes – both positive and negative – to Indigenous life in the North. The extension of Treaty 5 in 1910 to include members of the York Factory band, the arrival of police and government agents, and the shifting economy of the fur trade are all discussed. Despite these upheavals, the elders’ accounts demonstrate the continuity of northern life in the twentieth century, from the persistence of traditional ways to the ongoing role of community and kinship ties. Perceptions of Cree life have been shaped largely by non-Native accounts that offered limited views of Indigenous history and recorded little beyond the social and economic interaction that was part of life in the fur trade. The stories in this collection provide Cree perspectives on northern life and history, and represent a legacy bequeathed to a younger generation of Indigenous people. This second edition includes updates to the original text and a new preface.

Mcgill-Queen’s University Press (Author), Michaela Washburn (Narrator)

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In Search of April Raintree

Two young sisters are taken from their home and family. Powerless to change their fortunes, they are separated, and each put into different foster homes. Yet over the years, the bond between them grows. As they each make their way in a society that is, at times, indifferent, hostile, and violent, one embraces her Métis identity, while the other tries to leave it behind. In the end, out of tragedy, comes an unexpected legacy of triumph and reclamation. Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country's greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

Beatrice Mosionier (Author), Michaela Washburn (Narrator)

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I Become a Delight to My Enemies

Dark, cutting, and coursed through with bright flashes of humour, crystalline imagery, and razor-sharp detail, I Become a Delight to My Enemies is a gut-wrenchingly powerful, breathtakingly beautiful meditation on the violence and shame inflicted on the female body and psyche. An experimental fiction, I Become a Delight to My Enemies uses many different voices and forms to tell the stories of the women who live in an uncanny Town, uncovering their experiences of shame, fear, cruelty, and transcendence. Sara Peters combines poetry and short prose vignettes to create a singular, unflinching portrait of a Town in which the lives of girls and women are shaped by the brutality meted upon them and by their acts of defiance and yearning towards places of safety and belonging. Read by a multi-voice ensemble cast, with original vocal accompaniment, I Become a Delight to My Enemies is a hybrid in form and an awe-inspiring example of the exquisite force of words to shock and move.   The 15-person cast includes: Angela Asher Amanda Cordner Tess Degenstein Pearl Harbour Maggie Huculak Pam Hyatt Jani Lauzon Justin Miller Amy Nostbakken Paloma Nuñez Martin Roach Norah Sadava Amelia Sargisson Nicole Stamp Michaela Washburn

Sara Peters (Author), Amanda Cordner, Amelia Sargisson, Amy Nostbakken, Angela Asher, Jani Lauzon, Justin Miller, Maggie Huculak, Michaela Washburn, Nicole Stamp, Norah Sadava, Paloma Nuñez, Pam Hyatt, Pearl Harbour, Tess Degenstein (Narrator)

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