Join us for the launch of One Second at a Time: My Story of Pain and Reclamation (UBC Press) by Diane Morrisseau, with Elisabeth Brannigan, in conversation with Nancy Cooper.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Bullied and abused at the Fort Alexander Indian Residential day school, Diane Morrisseau fought back and left school at the age of fifteen. Despite her strength, a childhood of trauma and abuse led her into the arms of Edgar Olson, and by sixteen, the young Ojibway-Anishinabe woman had given birth to her first child and married the man who would become her tormentor for the next eighteen years.

Notoriously violent, her abuser was aided and abetted by the systems of colonialism that failed to protect Diane during her childhood. Edgar was able to keep Diane and her children trapped in a cycle of violence for years, without being held accountable by law or society.

What could have been a chronicle of unrelenting hardship instead becomes a narrative of how, in horrific circumstances, Diane found the strength to survive, reclaim her life, and eventually thrive. Today she draws meaning from her painful past, counseling women, children and men experiencing similarly difficult circumstances.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Diane Morrisseau is an Elder and counsellor from Sagkeeng First Nation and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Elisabeth Brannigan is an elementary school teacher who lives with her family in Toronto, Ontario.

ABOUT THE HOST:

Nancy Cooper is a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation. Nancy is a Children's author and is working on her third book at the moment.