An Abbotsford writer and high school teacher has released a memoir centred on Sumas Mountain.
Natalie Virginia Lang’s book Remnants: Reveries of a Mountain Dweller (published by Caitlin Press) offers a vision of Sumas Mountain throughout the seasons to expose the impacts of toxic progress.
“Through poetic prose, Lang meditates on the social, historical, cultural and environmental losses suffered at the hands of infringement upon natural areas,” reads a description of the book.
“Remnants ventures into the natural spaces on Sumas Mountain, illuminating the errors of the modern colonial approach to progress and posing philosophical queries for alternate pathways into the future.”
Lang was born and raised in Abbotsford, and she said her early life was coloured by the nature of Sumas Mountain, where her family has lived since 1986.
She grew up exploring the woods and creeks of the forest and getting to know and connect with the plants and animals that also called the mountain home.
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Lang earned a bachelor of arts in 2010 at University of the Fraser Valley and a bachelor of education in 2012 from Simon Fraser University. She received a master of arts in 2022 from SFU.
Lang has reviewed multiple books for The BC Review (formerly Ormsby Review), where she has also published several of her own essays.
She has won many awards for her work in the graduate liberal studies program at SFU, including the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Award, the Julie Andreyev – Animal Lover Scholarship, the Ewan Clark Memorial Award, and a graduate fellowship.
Lang has travelled across the world and has lived in B.C.; Chongqing, China; and Oaxaca, Mexico.
She hosts a book launch in Abbotsford on Saturday, May 6 from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sumas Mountain. Everyone is welcome and details can be obtained by emailing Natalie.v.lang@gmail.com.
She will also be doing a reading at the Vancouver Public Library on Tuesday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. as part of their ongoing Writers’ Showcase.
Remnants can be purchased or ordered through any local bookstore or online at Chapters-Indigo, Amazon.ca, Barnes and Noble, and Caitlinpress.com.