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Jacqueline Halsey launches “Joe and the Wreck of the Tribune”

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Alderney Gate Public Library
Location:
60 Alderney Drive, Dartmouth. More info
Calendar:
Member event

Join us for the book launch of Jacqueline Halsey’s new middle-grade historical fiction, Joe and the Wreck of the Tribune, and maybe learn to sing a Sea Shanty.

It’s 1797. Joe has lived with Gram ever since the crusty old midwife found him on her doorstep thirteen years ago. He must now earn his keep working as a fisher boy for her bad-tempered bully of a son, Eli. Joe loves the ocean, with its unpredictable moods and rolling waves. Could the Atlantic Ocean be his ticket to freedom? The battered, abandoned rowboat he finds could be his chance to break free from his miserable life and earn his own living. But mysteries surround the boat. The local carpenter is upset at the sight of it, and the initials carved on the boat match those on an old sea chest hidden in the back of Eli’s shed. Could this have anything to do with what happened to Joe’s parents?

Joe spends his time fixing up the boat and trying to solve these mysteries until a cold, stormy November day when a frigate wrecks at the mouth of the harbour. Joe’s neighbours don’t dare launch their boats into the raging storm to save the survivors. Can Joe stand by and listen to the desperate cries of the exhausted sailors, or should he brave the wild Atlantic in his patched-up rowboat and attempt to rescue them?

Inspired by the true story of the shipwreck of the HMS Tribune on the Herring Cove cliffs and the heroism of a boy known as “Joe Cracker,” this exciting coming-of-age adventure story is brimming with rich detail and captivating suspense.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing from Dartmouth Book Exchange.

About the Author: Jacqueline Halsey, originally from the UK, Jacqueline has lived in Nova Scotia, for over thirty years. She has written six highly acclaimed books, mostly inspired by her love of history, the ocean, and all things maritime.

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca