Íjè: An Immigrant’s Voyage into Prince Edward Island Life by Elizabeth Iwunwa has been nominated for the non-fiction category of the PEI Book Awards!
“We couldn’t be more excited for Elizabeth and the recognition of her important book, Íjè. This book gives an important voice to the expanding cultures and communities on the Island and we were so proud to publish it.”
Genevieve Loughlin, Publisher, Pownal Street Press
Taking its meaning from the Igbo word for journey, Íjè spotlights the narratives of immigrants to Prince Edward Island, shining light on their individual experiences. This collection of personal reflections, interviews, photo essays, and visual works of art includes themes of belonging, imposed and realized identities, cultural traditions, culinary symbols, living the contradictions of social norms. From chefs to hairdressers, academics to entrepreneurs, Íjè encompasses the resilience of a people inspired to innovate their own community-driven solutions.
“Elizabeth Iwunwa is the right-on-time curator of this righteous assembly of views, interviews, art, and photos, all depicting the Come-From-Far-Away Islanders who have found anchorage in the harbour of Confederation and a new homeland on soil as red and promising as the dawn. Charming and charismatic, personable and penetrating, Iwunwa maps a community of Islanders whose odysseys have taught them that all of Earth is an island, one where we all must find refuge, amid the endless, bone-chilling ocean of space.”
George Elliott Clarke, Author of Where Beauty Survived: An Africadian Memoir (Knopf Canada)
About Elizabeth Iwunwa
Elizabeth Iwunwa was born in 1997 in Lagos, Nigeria and lives in Charlottetown, PEI. After completing her primary and secondary education in her home country, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Business Administration in Global Leadership from the University of Prince Edward Island. Both a fiction and non-fiction writer, her works have been featured in PEI’s The Guardian, on CBC, and on her blog at LisaIwunwa.co. Iwunwa is interested in the intersection of culture, politics, and history on the lives and stories of everyday people, and Íjè is her first full length editorial publication.
Since 2006, the PEI Book Awards celebrate PEI’s best published writing, and include categories for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and children’s literature. Submissions in each of these categories are assessed by an independent jury for content, quality of design, and production
The awards ceremony will take place at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre on Thursday, May 30, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. You can register (for free) on Eventbrite.
For a full list of the 2024 PEI Book Award Nominees please click here.
Íjè: An Immigrant’s Voyage into Prince Edward Island Life
$26.95 CAD | Paperback
ISBN: 9781778124563
Order HERE
Pownal Street Press is PEI’s newest publishing house. Women owned and women led, friendly, warm and professional: Pownal Street Press brings an approachable perspective to publishing books. With decades’ of experience, Pownal Street Press Co-Founders, Genevieve Loughlin and Mo Duffy Cobb have extensive publishing backgrounds across editorial, book design, marketing and sales. With distribution through Raincoast Books, Pownal Street Press’ titles have national reach but local heart. For more information about the Press and its books, please visit: www.pownalstreetpress.com.