Bodies of Art, Bodies of Labour by Kate Beaton, award-winning author of Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands and Hark! A Vagrant, explores connections between class, literature, and art from Cape Breton Island. In this thought-provoking book, Beaton addresses the often overlooked impact of class on the Canadian arts scene. The book highlights the reality that people from poor or working-class backgrounds face significant barriers to becoming artists, limiting their ability to share their stories and contribute to the collective culture. This lack of representation in art, music, and literature can empower or stereotype, edify or diminish, or worse, erase entire communities. Beaton emphasizes that if working-class and poor people do not write themselves into stories, others will, often with damaging results. Drawing on examples from work published about Cape Breton, Beaton sheds light on the portrayal of working-class lives. She juxtaposes this with her personal experiences, her family's stories, and the inspiring work of other Cape Bretoners. Despite economic hardships, her community has long valued and created art: art for no money, for each other, for themselves, for memory, for joy. Bodies of Art, Bodies of Labour thoughtfully examines personal and working class legacies, celebrating the authenticity and power of truly seeing ourselves and each other in the art that we create.

With an introduction by Julie Rak.

Kate Beaton est auteure de Diantre! un manant, un recueil de bandes dessinées classé au palmarès du New York Times et de l'album illustré La princesse et le poney. Elle est lauréate de nombreux prix Harvey et ses dessins ont paru dans le New Yorker. Kate a grandi sur l'île du Cap-Breton, en Nouvelle-Écosse.

Kate Beaton is the author of The Princess and the Pony, which received four starred reviews and was selected as an ALA Notable Children's Book, and Hark! A Vagrant and Step Aside, Pops!, both #1 New York Times bestselling comics collections. Kate is the recipient of multiple Harvey awards, and her cartoons have been featured in the New Yorker. Kate lives in Canada, and you can find her online at www.beatontown.com, or on Twitter and Tumblr as @beatonna.

Kate Beaton's profile page

"A beautiful, hilarious, and revelatory look at working-class culture in Nova Scotia. From the music, to the humour, to the heart-ache, to the myths, Beaton celebrates the community from which her imagination springs. She shows us the value of art coming from far-flung and idiosyncratic corners and communities of Canada. As with anything she touches, Beaton's honesty and candour makes this an unforgettable and illuminating read." Heather O'Neill, author of Wisdom in Nonsense