Book Review- Read.Listen.Tell

Review-Read, Listen, Tell

Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island

Edited by Sophie McCall, Deanna Reder, David Gaertner and Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill

Reviewed By: Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith

Read, Listen, Tell is an anthology of short stories written by Indigenous authors from all over Turtle Island (North America). Each story told in this compilation are unique in the sense that they bring together different voices in various genres, whether it is short fiction, as told to narratives, illustrated stories or personal essays.

The anthology builds on two decades of scholarly work and includes works by some of my most favorite authors-Thomas King, Sherman Alexie, Eden Robinson, Lee Maracle. It also includes work from French and Spanish speaking writers who are often excluded in the literary canon of who we usually hear from. Though there are many authors to draw from in this anthology, my most favorite piece in this anthology is Thomas King’s “You’ll Never Believe What Happened” Is Always A Great Way to Start because it challenges you to think of the responsibilities stories have on the reader and the writer, and they challenge you to think of what stories really mean to you, and what you can do with stories once they are told. Stories can control you if you let them, and I ask you like Thomas King does-what do you do with stories once they are told to you?