The writer Susan Musgrave discusses her new book which celebrates the food, people and history of the place she calls home, A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World (Whitecap, 2015), with Joseph Planta.

A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World by Susan Musgrave (Whitecap, 2015). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

Susan Musgrave’s A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World is already a bestseller and just a marvellous book that’s so much more than a cookbook. It’s a chronicle of life in a place in the world that those who’ve gone to love, and those who haven’t long to. Haida Gwaii once known as the Queen Charlotte Islands fosters a sort of community that’s unique. Geography and isolation force you to do that, I suppose, but what emerges is a resourcefulness and practicality that is borne in consuming the food that’s around you. And what one can find in and around Haida Gwaii is not only fascinating, but delicious. It looks delicious at least, and having not been there, reading the book, and talking to Susan again shortly, will certainly want to make you go there. The book features stories about the people and places in Haida Gwaii that give the region a character to itself. The book is often funny, and the recipes can be made wherever you are. I’ll be trying a couple over the holidays myself. The history of the community is also fascinating. You’ll read this book and not only be entertained, but informed about this part of the world. Susan Musgrave has published nearly thirty books. She’s been acclaimed for her work as an editor, as well as for her poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. She is the 2014 recipient of the Matt Cohen Award in Celebration of a Writing Life from the Writers’ Trust, among many other accolades. She teaches in the Creative Writing Department at UBC. She has lived on Haida Gwaii since the early 1970s, and owns and manages the Copper Beech Guest House there, which you can find out more about at www.copperbeechhouse.com. This new book is published by Whitecap. Visit www.susanmusgrave.com for more. @musgravian is her Twitter handle. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, from Masset, British Columbia today, Susan Musgrave; Ms. Musgrave, good morning.

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