kate beaton ducks two years in the oil sands

So the island started sending its people out to wherever jobs were.īeaton's new book follows her journey as she deals with her own sense of isolation, while having to put up with constant sexism and misogyny. For a while it was home to various industries – steel, coal, fishing. It's a beautiful place that's long been economically disadvantaged. The book starts over on the east coast, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, where Beaton is from. 'I lived in the camps, and that was hard. 'I didn't have a good time there,' said Beaton. Specifically the years she spent working at the oil sands of Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. But while her comic is known for its funny and exuberant takes on historical figures, with Ducks, Beaton uses her talents to examine her own life. It's from Kate Beaton, author of the popular webcomic Hark! A Vagrant, as well as a number of children's books. The new book, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, is about the latter.

And then there are jobs you take for the money. There are jobs you take because you might find them fulfilling, or they're a stepping stone to a career you see for yourself.

Roach is an avid fan of graphic novels and felt instantly connected to Beaton's story as a young person navigating a post-university world and as someone who also migrated from the Maritimes.Kate Beaton's new graphic memoir, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, focuses on her time working at the oil sands of Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. In the lead up to Canada Reads debates, Roach and Beaton spoke in conversation about their shared love of comics as a medium and both being from Cape Breton. In 2022, Ducks was named one of CBC Books' top Canadian comics and was also one of two Canadian books on Barack Obama's list of favourite books of 2022. Highlighting the ways in which humanity is often messy and vulnerable. She recounts her experiences with economic migration, sexism and environmental destruction through an illustrated narrative. Mattea Roach, championing Ducks by Kate Beaton, wins Canada Reads 2023ĭucks follows Beaton's two years working in the Albertan oil sands to pay off her student debt. ET, ahead of the general festival's hybrid virtual and in-person programming at the Toronto Reference Library from April 28-30.īeaton made history earlier this year when the book Ducks, championed by Jeopardy! star Roach, became the first graphic memoir to win Canada Reads. In collaboration with Montreal-based comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly, Beaton and Roach will be speaking virtually on the TCAF YouTube channel Monday April 24 at 7:30 p.m.

The 2023 edition of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) kicks off with a virtual event where Canada Reads winners Mattea Roach and Kate Beaton reunite on April 24, 2023. The Jeopardy! champion Mattea Roach won Canada Reads 2023 championing the graphic memoir. Kate Beaton, left, is the author of the Canada Reads-winning Ducks.

Kate beaton ducks two years in the oil sands