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Local author talks about award for her book

Yarmouth resident and author Sharon RobartJohnson's historical fiction novel Jude and Diana, through Fernwood Publishing, recently won the Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Prize at the Nova Scotia Book Awards.

A description of the book notes the only mention of Jude in Nova Scotia's official history relates to her death when a slave-owning family was brought to trial for her murder in 1801. They were acquitted despite overwhelming contrary evidence. Robart-Johnson pays tribute to enslaved people by re-creating the story of sisters Jude and Diana's survival, emphasizing their joys alongside their hardship.

In this Q&A she talks about the book and the award.

Q: You’ve said the seed was planted for this book the day you found scant information about Jude’s death. Had you been intentionally looking for this information or was it something you stumbled upon?

A: I wasn't looking for that information specifically, I found it when I was doing research for my first book Aftica's Children: A History Of Blacks In Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The story of Jude's untimely death three days after Christmas December of 1800, was always at the back of my mind. I knew that someday I would do something with the information I found. It wasn't until I had finished Africa's Children that I began seriously thinking about writing a novel about what her life may have been like before her death. Jude became almost an obsession with me. Although her life was indicative of how many slaves lived and died during that time period, for some reason I didn't want her name to become just another statistic of the times.

Q: In telling the story about Jude and Diane, what do you feel are the most important messages and lessons for readers?

A: One important message is people are human beings and should be treated as such. They are not chattels to do with as you choose. Jude fought for rights she was denied and died because of it. The most important lesson

to take away from Jude and Diana is that racism in any form is unacceptable. Children are not born racist, it is taught to them by their parents, their friends or they may become radicalized later in life. Our skin may be a different colour, but our blood is red. No matter what form racism takes, it must stop.

Q: What reactions did you get from readers of the book?

A: This quote from Dr. Afua Cooper, after she reviewed my book, says it all. “Let your heart be moved by the sorrow and pain that is continuously braided through the story. Weep for the lost lives of these two women. And be outraged. Let your anger move you to commit to creating a world of justice and beauty.” These are the emotions I wanted people to feel, and they did. All of them.

Q: What type of research went into this project?

A: For a large portion of the story I called upon the court records that I received from Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management (NSARM). In the trial section of the story, evidence given came from the depositions of the family, coroner Nehemian Porter, surgeon Dr. Joseph Norman Bond and

Jude's sister, Diana. Because there are only a few fictional names in the story, I had to research others that are real. At the back of the book are two pages of reference notes used for other historical facts.

Q: What does it mean to have won the Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Prize with the Nova Scotia Book Awards?

A: I was short-listed for two awards: The Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Award for Fiction which is for Nova Scotia authors only. And the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, which is for authors from the Atlantic Provinces. Both prestigious

awards. To have your work recognized by your peers and then to win an award for it … I still find it hard to believe. It was such an honour. It meant the world to me the night I received it and it always will.

Q: Where can people purchase the book?

A: My book is available at Coles, the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives gift shop, Fernwood Publishing website, Chapters/Indigo website and Amazon. It is also available as an e-book and audiobook. Also, I have been told that I was the first Yarmouth author to have had a book nominated and win an award.

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2022-06-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

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