I was honoured to have my poem “Dérangement: Île St. Jean” included in PrairieFire‘s Roots and Routes issue. This poem tells of the Acadian Expulsion from the perspective of my ancestor Louis Longuepee, during which time thousands of Acadians had their homes seized and were deported “back” to France, a country to which he had never been. Although Louis died in France, his grandson Jean Pierre would eventually return as one of the founders of the town of Rolo Bay, PEI.

I was absolutely blown away to discover that this poem was selected for inclusion in Biblioasis’ Best Canadian Poetry 2023 anthology, edited by John Barton and Anita Lahey. A massive thank you to PrairieFire and the entire team at Biblioasis!

“Dérangement: Île St. Jean” is part of a larger project I’m working on following the lives of my Acadian relatives, exploring cycles of displacement.