Dartmouth Book Exchange history within our city spans 25 years. Managed by Sue Slade, this bookstore is a pillar of support for local authors in the Dartmouth community. Specializing in new and used books, they are a gold mine of Atlantic Canadian literature, focusing not only on Dartmouth and Nova Scotia but also embracing works from Newfoundland, New Brunswick and PEI. Actively promoting local authors through weekly spotlights, a venue for events like teas and readings, fostering a symbiotic relationship between the store and the vibrant Dartmouth literary community.
In Slade’s own words, “The Dartmouth community of authors is a wonderful and supportive group, engaging in a give-and-take relationship with the bookstore.”
Despite the challenges faced by authors in an increasingly competitive landscape, Dartmouth Book Exchange plays a pivotal role in helping them overcome this obstacle. The store serves as a hub for networking opportunities, spotlighting authors through week-long features and events, creating a snowball effect of recognition within the community. As the reader base expands, Sue emphasizes that reading is an affordable form of escapism, contributing to the thriving literary scene in Dartmouth.
Presented as the perfect gift for the avid reader and Dartmouth lover in your family, 10 of the bestselling Dartmouth based authors you can find at the Dartmouth Book Exchange.
Dartmouth Book Exchange 1187 Cole Harbour Rd 902-435-1207 https://dartmouthbookexchange.ca/
Regular hours of operation are Monday-Friday 10:00am – 8:00pm. Saturday 10:00am – 6:00pm & Sunday 11:00am – 5:00pm
Ronan O’Driscoll
Originally from the West of Ireland. He lived in Chicago, Dublin, and Japan before settling in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with his wife and children.
Ronan O’Driscoll’s novel follows two people on the autism spectrum–one the child of the narrator, and the other a boy confined to a Poor Farm in Nova Scotia in the 19th century. The tale explores the attitudes and assumptions that contorted and contort the way we deal with neurodivergent people and take us into the Dickensian grimness of Victorian-era poor houses and official policies for “dealing with” the poor and the weak.
LEARN MORE: https://writers.ns.ca/member/ronan-odriscoll/
Jacqueline Halsey
Authoring six highly acclaimed books, inspired by her love of history, the ocean, and all things maritime. Jaqueline’s latest book, The Terrible Horrible Smelly Beach, co-authored by Carrie Muller, is a sequel to the Terrible Horrible Smelly Pirate and has an environmental twist.
The Terrible Horrible Smelly Pirate is back! And after discovering a secret treasure in Halifax Harbour, he’s not so smelly anymore — but Mermaid’s island is. The poor misty island is covered in people’s garbage! There are popped balloons, cups, and buoys. Lobster pots, flip-flops, and toys. Tires and straws, wrappers and strings, and lots and lots of plastic things…all tangled up in stinky dead seaweed. What’s she to do? Just when it seems all is lost, she spots a rickety rackety pirate ship through the salt spray — and a not-so-terrible, horrible, smelly pirate and his crew! What if she could trick them into cleaning up her Terrible Horrible Smelly Beach?…
LEARN MORE: https://writers.ns.ca/member/jackie-halsey/
Richard Levangie
An accomplished award-winning journalist, holding degrees in science and journalism, along with a Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction. Richard’s work has been featured in prestigious publications such as enRoute, Endless Vacation, The Globe & Mail, The Montreal Gazette, and over a dozen other magazines. Levangie latest book is, “Secrets of the hotel maisonneuve”
Adopted into a mixed family, thirteen-year-old Jacob Jollimore is having the worst summer of his life helping to care for an elderly Vietnamese woman that he ran into and injured while trying to escape a bully. Worse still, he’s Vietnamese. But a hundred-year-old letter hidden in a bureau in the Edwardian hotel his parents are renovating sends him on a treasure hunt that will require him to think like Sherlock Holmes and just may prove to be everyone’s salvation.
LEARN MORE: https://www.richardlevangie.com/
Mike Parker
A celebrated author with a knack for capturing the essence of his native province, Nova Scotia, has garnered widespread acclaim over the years. Best known as Nova Scotia’s Storyteller, Mike holds a position as a research associate at the Gorsebrook Research Institute for Atlantic Canada Studies at Saint Mary’s University. A proud graduate of Acadia University, he has called Dartmouth home for many years, passionately contributing to the literary landscape of his beloved home. His book is titled, “A little bit of everything”
Yesterday’s general store was today’s Costco, Home Depot and Superstore rolled into one — and then some. Not only was the general store a one-stop shop, it was a place to meet and greet, gossip, solve world problems and tell tales, tall and true, a pillar of rural community life until done in by the automobile, mail order catalogues, big box stores and shopping malls.
LEARN MORE: https://writers.ns.ca/member/mike-parker/
Amy Spurway
Originally from Cape Breton Island, where Amy not only grew up but also embarked on her early ventures in writing and performing for CBC radio at the age of 11. She earned a B.A. in English from the University of New Brunswick and further honed her skills with a degree in Radio & Television Arts, specializing in script writing, from Ryerson University. Her most recent book is, “The Crow”
When Stacey Fortune is diagnosed with three highly unpredictable — and inoperable — brain tumours, she abandons the crumbling glamour of her life in Toronto for her mother Effie’s scruffy trailer in rural Cape Breton. Back home, she’s known as Crow, and everybody suspects that her family is cursed.
LEARN MORE: https://writers.ns.ca/author-spotlights/author-spotlight-amy-spurway-2/
Nicola Davison
A writer and photographer residing in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Nicola has been part of the Writers’ Federation Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program and has now taken on the role of a member of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia Board of Directors. Her second novel is “Decoding Dot Grey”
Eighteen-year-old Dot Grey doesn’t hate people; she’s just not especially fond of their company. It’s 1997, and she’s just left home in favour of a dank, cold basement, where she lives with several small animals, including a chorus of crickets, a family of sowbugs (they came with the apartment), a hairless rat, and an injured crow.
LEARN MORE https://writers.ns.ca/member/nicola-davison/
Donna Jones Alward
Captivating readers with feel good endings and heartwarming reunions, earning multiple awards and translations into over a dozen languages. Throughout her career, which includes roles as an administrative assistant, teaching assistant, and stay-at-home mom, she held onto the belief that her degree in English Literature would eventually lead to something fulfilling. Now, she happily dedicates herself to being a full-time writer. Her latest book “When the world fell silent” is available for pre-order.
Nora Crowell wants more than her older sister’s life as a wife and mother. Instead, as WWI rages across the Atlantic, she trains as a nurse, becoming a proud and dedicated Bluebird—a commissioned lieutenant in the Canadian Army Nursing Corp. But she’s also in trouble and it won’t be long before she can’t hide it any longer…
LEARN MORE: https://donnajonesalward.com/
Vivien Gorham
Crafting stories, diving into books, and riding horses became her world at the age of five, and these passions continue to color her life today. Originally from Minneapolis, she now calls Dartmouth, Nova Scotia home. Together with her husband Adrian, their husky-collie mix Niska, and the incredibly fluffy cat Nico, life is an adventure. Whether she’s in the saddle at Restless Pines Farm in Hammonds Plains, working on the next chapter of her stories, or cozied up on the couch lost in a good book. Her newest book is “Spirit of Summerwood”
It’s finally summer, and for twelve-year-old Aislinn, that means two sweet, uninterrupted weeks at her favourite place in the world—Summerwood Farm. At Summerwood’s all-girl horse camp, Aislinn is surrounded by all the things she loves most: her Arabian, Firefly; her best friend, Jill; and her mentor, Grace.
LEARN MORE: https://viviengorham.com/
Paul Carberry
A strong advocate for the horror genre and its significant role in literature. Alongside his wife Leah, he is a proud parent to two children, daughter Dana and son Rick.
Paul’s literary contributions include three novels published with Engen Books: “Zombies on the Rock: Outbreak,” “Zombies on the Rock: The Viking Trail,” and “Zombies on the Rock: The Republic of Newfoundland.” He has also showcased his talent through various short stories like “The Light of Cabot Tower,” “Into the Forest,” and “Halloween Mummers,” featured in different publications. His latest book, “The Cottage across the lake”
In the small town of Crooked Creek, Newfoundland, Percy Benoit stares out towards that cottage across the lake and at the black water between them. That building calls to him. On stormy nights; in moonlight so strong the lake glows… It calls.
It calls with the voice of a loved one lost. It calls with the echoes of taunts that should long since have been taken by the wind. Percy knows he must reach the cottage, no matter what the legends say, but his imagination could never have prepared him for what he’d find.
LEARN MORE: https://www.engenbooks.com/paulcarberry
Anne C. Kelly
In addition to her role as a writer, Anne’s heart lies in teaching English. For over two decades, she dedicated herself to instructing English-as-an-Additional-Language (EAL) to adult newcomers in Canada, reveling in the opportunity to explore diverse cultures and traditions. Currently, Anne serves as the English Language Coordinator at the Bedford Public Library. Anne’s first novel, Jacques’ Escape, was published by Trap Door Books in June 2019.
Fourteen-year-old Acadian Jacques Terriot is being deported with his family to the British colony of Massachusetts. He longs to escape and join his older brother in fighting with the French. Jacques is about to set out on a journey that will teach him the true meaning of family and home, as well as what it means to be Acadian.
LEARN MORE: https://writers.ns.ca/member/anne-kelly/
I love seeing local author’s works being showcased, they all seem like amazing and talented authors!
Thank you! So much literary talent in Dartmouth, we couldn’t fit them all! ~ Frank
I had no idea there were so many local authors in Dartmouth but not surprised.
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