Sonja Boon

@storiedselves.bsky.social

1099 Followers 1500 Following

writer. researcher. flutist. teacher. stitcher of stories. https://linktr.ee/sonjaboon

Poster reads A Mudlarker's Diary Zoom Launch. Ariel Gordon will read form her new chapbook joined by guests Sonja Boon & Sally Ito & featuring a special mudlarked giveaway Wednesday August 12th 6 :00 pm Central Daily Time. email pinholepoetry @ gmail.com for the zoom link. The image is the cover of Ariel's book which features a drawing of blue willow pottery shard and the title and author name.
a two-page magazine spread. On the left hand side, the title reads "Paper Trails: Reading the letters to Smallwood as material objects" by Vicki S. Hallett and Sonja Boon. The two page spread includes a collage that features a range of excerpts from handwritten and typewritten letters and telegrams.
a stack of handwritten eighteenth-century letters. Text superimposed over them reads: politics, histories, and the personal: thinking with letters
a poster featuring colourful details from twelve different textile works. The text reads: Textiles as Resistance: Contemporary Textiles from the Atlantic Region. June 26 to November 4, 2026. Opening Reception June 26 at 7 pm. Artists: Sonja Boon, Alexandrya Eaton, Murray Gibson, Hannah Genosko & Sarah Mosher, Michelle MacKinnon, Shawn O'Hagan, Allyson Rousseau, Daniel Rumboldt, Jennifer Lee Wiebe. Acadia University Art Gallery, Wolfville, NS. Summer Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 12-4.
a poster that features a design of tall tulips along the bottom and three photographs of writers Sonja Boon, Kim Echlin, and Amanda Peters. The text of the poster reads: Saturday Night Social Readings by Sonja Boon, Kim Echlin, and Amanda Peters. Spring ForeWord. Where Writers and Readers Meet. April 25.
an image with a series of nested net bowls in oceanic blues and greens with a text superimposed on them. The text reads: "Stitching Stories; or, Imagining the Biography of Those who did not write."
detail from a Dutch civic record entry that reads: "van beroep" followed by what looks like Bouweresse
a set of letters attached to a fence. The letters read: TIM OUSTHIM.
a red poster with black glasses frames running along the left hand side. Text on the right hand side reads: Sonja Boon. Vicki S. Hallett. Dear Mr. Smallwood: Confederation in the words of those who lived it.
A black poster with white and yellow text. The text reads: All hands on deck. We won't stop singing. Friday, March 27 - Noon. Province House. 1726 Hollis St, Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Raising our voices together. We are all treaty people. There is a graphic of the province of Nova scotia in the middle.
poster that reads: ALL HANDS ON DECK. LAST CHANCE BEFORE THE BUDGET VOTE FRIDAY MARCH 27 NOON PROVINCE HOUSE 1726 HOLLIS STREET, KJIPUKTUK/HALIFAX HOUSTON'S GOVERNMENT MUST LISTEN. WE ARE ALL TREATY PEOPLE. There is an outline of the province of Nova Scotia in teh niddle of the poster.
A graphic in bright colours with text in the centre that reads: FACT: Nova Scotia's per-capita investment in Arts and Culture is the third lowest in the country. In fact, it's less than half the average Provincial and TErritorial investment. It also represents less than 1% of the total provincial budget.
poster featuring four portraits of different scholars and activists. The text reads Feminists Tackle AI SEries: 12 Problems with AI. The Nexus Centre SN4022 23:0-4 pm Friday March 27 Hybrid Event. Dr. Mel Hogan, Dr. Carol Lynne D'Arcagnelis, Dr. Julia Polyck-O'Neill, Rhea Rollmann. This talk surveys the main critiques of artificial intelligence (AI) by looking beyond marketing hype to the material, political and social harms caused by the industry (Big Tech). From the vast energy demands and environmental toll of large-scale computation to AIT's entanglement with military research, surveillance, and extractive labour in the global south, AI needs to be understood as a deeply political project rather than as a technological advancement. Together, we will consider how these critiques unsettle dominant narratives of I as inevitable and situate it within broader histories of politic power and planetary-scale developments.
A group of people gathered in front of a building with tall columns. A large sign reads "Equal rights, liberty, democracy takes work!" There are also some papier mache rats.
poster featuring a photo of several people drumming. The text reads: Shoulder to shoulder to shoulder. New Budget Now Rally. Tuesday March 10 at noon. Province House. 1726 Hollis St. Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Culture is Critical. We are all treaty people.
colourful poster that reads: Nova Scotia Communities United. New Budget Now Rally. Tuesday March 10 at noon Province House, Halifax 1726 Hollis Street. Urgent! Advocate to your ML: Tools at NSARTS.ca.
a cardboard sign that reads: We are our stories
Letters tied to a high cast iron fence. They read "TIM OUSTHIM", a play on the name of the NS premier, Tim Houston.
A screen capture of posters for ten different rallies to protest the NS budget. Details for each rally can be found at the link in this post.
red text inside a red border. The text reads: "Arts, culture, and heritage are the lifeblood of a place. Through them, we know who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be in the future. They are the stories of us."
Poster features large green text in the middle that reads: SEEDS. Below it is an imge of a book, with a seedling sprouting out of the centre. The rest of the text reads: Draft Readign Series and Inkspire present: Via Zoom Saturday, Feb 21 2026 11 am to 5:30 pm. In person St. Mattehw Clubhouse 450 Broadview Toronto Sunday, Feb. 22 2026 11:00 am to 7 pm. SEEDS FESTIVAL. Whether travelling, germination, or lying dormant, seeds embody possibility. On the weekend of February 21-22, 2026, the Draft Reading Series will invite writers to meditate on the metaphorical and physical seeds that animate their lives.
A poster with a blue background that features a photo of the Halifax Central Library. Superimposed on it is a red book, with the title Dear Mr. Smallwood: Confederation in the words of those who lived it. A white circle with the text: Open to the Public. Below this, text reads: MFA Author Talks Sonja Boon on Dear Mr. Smallwood. February 3, 2026, Halifax Central Library, BMO Room.
Poster text reads: HSS ON OUR WORLDS. Friday Jan 9th 12:00-1:15 Newfoundland Standard Time SN4022 and online. Politics, (Best) Practices, Pitfalls and Pleasures at the MUNL Archives. A roundtable discussion with the editors and contributors to Dear Mr. Smallwood: Confederation int he Words of Those who Lived it (Memorial UP, 2025). There are photos of five participants: Sonja Boon, Heidi Cooms, Vicki Hallett, Daze Jefferies, and Amy Sheppard, and on the right hand side of the page, an image of the book cover, which is red with white text. Along the left side of the book are two pairs of glasses.
excerpt from an article in the Guardian. The excerpt reads: "Anthropic’s chief scientist says AI autonomy could spark a beneficial ‘intelligence explosion’ – or be the moment humans lose control Robert Booth UK technology editor Tue 2 Dec 2025 12.37 GMT Humanity will have to decide by 2030 whether to take the “ultimate risk” of letting artificial intelligence systems train themselves to become more powerful, one of the world’s leading AI scientists has said. Jared Kaplan, the chief scientist and co-owner of the $180bn (£135bn) US startup Anthropic, said a choice was looming about how much autonomy the systems should be given to evolve. The move could trigger a beneficial “intelligence explosion” – or be the moment humans end up losing control. In an interview about the intensely competitive race to reach artificial general intelligence (AGI) – sometimes called superintelligence – Kaplan urged international governments and society to engage in what he called “the biggest decision”. Anthropic is part of a pack of frontier AI companies including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, xAI, Meta and Chinese rivals led by DeepSeek, racing for AI dominance. Its widely used AI assistant, Claude, has become particularly popular among business customers."
a long table with copies of Dear Mr. Smallwood stacked across it. Behind the table is a glass display case.
red berries along a riddle fence
a handmade face mask created from black and white polka dot flannel.
a picture of Dear Mr. Smallwood: Confederation in the words of those who lived it, edited by Sonja Boon and Vicki Hallett. The cover is red with white text and features two and a half pairs of black glasses running along the left hand side
this image features the cover of Sharon Bala's forthcoming novel: an orange/red fire-like background with Good Guys superimposed over it. The main text for this image is the same as that found in the post.
this image features the cover to Hawthorn's book: a styllized landscape with water, land and a big red/orange sky. The text is the same as the text for this post.
this image features the cover of Lori Doody's book, which is a painting of an island surrounded by water. The text on this image is the same as the text for this post.
image features the cover of Tomova's book. One half of the cover is grey and monochrome and reads "The Wall"; the other half is colourful, and features a person on a hill painting the sky. The text on thiis image as a whole is the same as the text for this post.
this image features the cover of Porter's book, a stylized almost geographical map rendering of a river. The text is the same as the text for this post.
this image feature the cover of Walbourne-Gough's collection, as well as the same text as this post.
an image featuring the cover of Duley's book. The cover includes a photograph of Margaret Iris Duley super imposed on a wavy blue-grey background, with the title presented in white text. the rest of the text is the same as that on this post.
this image features the cover for Rollmann's book, which is a collage of several photographs, some of which are rendered in rainbow colours. The text on this image is the same as that in the post
an image of the bookcover for Antle's book, which is a collage of a face and house. the text is the text of this post.
the cover of Leahdawn Helena's book, which features a landscape in rich colours. Also included is the text for this post.
A list of books titled "Reading Newfoundland and Labrador: a bunch of books I have gifted (or will gift) to others, and a few that i'm gifting myself. The list that follows includes all the titles in the coming linked posts. At the end of the list, I note a caveat that the list is in no particular order and I could have included many more.
book page that reads: Family REunification and Citizenship: The Meaning of Confederation for Chinese Immigrants in Newfoundland by Miriam Wright and Robert Hong
book page that reads: Medicine and Health Care in Pre- and Post-Confederation Newfoundland: Results of a Preliminary Medico-historical Checkup by J.T.H. Connor
a book page that reads: Fortune Bay & Hermitage. Yours truly, yours very truly. Andreae Callanan.
a book page featuring a transcribed letter outlining some of the debates about joining confederation with Canada.
A book page featuring a transcribed letter about the price of cod.
A page from a book featuring a transcribed telegram congratulation Joey Smallwood on his economic analysis.
A book page with a letter from 1949 detailing a man's economic situation, which is dire.
a page from a book titled Dear Mr. Smallwood. This page is the opening page of a chapter. It reads: Bonavista South: Confederation Promises, Confederation Prayers" and the author is Julia Laite
a poster with a red strip along right hand side, with black glasses inside it. The text of the poster reads: Dear Mr. Smallwood: The Game Show, with your hosts Sonja Boon and Vicki Hallett.
a late nineteenth-century advertisement for Freeman's Face Powder featuring quotes from famous women users, Scalchi and Marie Toulinguet, both of whose photos are in the ad. Marie Toulinguet's blurb reads: "I am delighted with Freeman's Veloutine Face Powder. It is the most satisfactory Complexion Powder I have yet found."
a museum panel that reads: "If a woman is not a person, then what in the name of common sense is she?" from The Daily News, March 10, 1925.
a book with a red cover featuring two pairs of black glasses running along the left hand side. The title reads Dear Mr Smallwood. Confederation in the words of those who lived it.
the cover of a program, with the title: Up She Rises! http://nlhistory.ca. It is red/orange on the left with historical photographs of women. On the right, it's blue, with the text: A public forum presented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Historical society about women and gender in Newfoundland and Labrador history.
an image featuring a red book cover with the title Dear Mr Smallwood and a row of black glasses on the left hand side of the book cover. On the left hand side of the image the text reads: Join Sonja Boon, Vicki Hallett, and contributors of Dear Mr. Smallwood for the official laund. Nov. 26 7:00 pm The Great Hall, Queen's College, Memorial University, 210 Prince Philip Drive. Readings Discussion Merriment Refreshements Everyone welcome.
A screenshot of a message in Adobe Acrobat that reads: "This appears to be a long document. Save time by reading a summary."
a full page advertisement that shows an image of a red book cover with black glasses running down the left side of it. The text on the book cover reads: Dear Mr. Smallwood. Beside the book cover is text that reads: The lives and stories of everyday Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at the time of Confederation - told through letters written to J. R. Smallwood. Edited by Sonja Boon & Vicki Hallett. There is also a list of 35 contributors. At the bottom of the page, the logo for Memorial University Press and text that reads: Available November 2025.
scan of a book catalogue page. In top left there is a book cover that reads Dear Mr. Smallwood in white letters on a red background. There is a row of black glasses down the side. Below the image is a list of over 30 contributors to the book project. On the right hand side is an extended description of the book that begins with: The lives and stories of everday Newfoundlanders and Labradorians form a collective autobiography through letters written to J. R. Smallwood. Dear Mr. Smallwood considers the lives and stories of everyday Newfoundlanders and Labradorians as they navigated what was arguable the biggest political transition of their lifetimes: the entry of the former nation of Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada. Drawing on one of the province's richest archival treasures, the letters written to J.R. Smallwood before and during his time as premier, contributors unearth the hopes, dreams, discontents, and desires of ordinary people living in an extraordinary time. A collaborative project that brings together archival materials, personal reflections, scholarly essays, and poetic and visual responses, Dear Mr. Smallwood moves discussions beyond the polarising figure of J.R. Smallwood and recentres the conversation about Confederation to consider how Newfoundlanders and Labradorians understood themselves and their world at the time of Confederation. Together, these letters, reflections, and essays can be seen as a layered patchwork quilt. The letters to Smallwood - a small sampling of 250 chosen by contributors from an archival collection of thousands - are the colour swatches that reveal not just the individual voices of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of all ages at mid-century, but also the beating life narrative - the collective autobiography - of this place itself.
a bust of J.R. Smallwood, first premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. It features a balding man wearing blasses and a bow tie.
a white cloth bag on a stone block. The bag reads King's Co-op Bookstore and it features a green bridge sagging under the weight of a rainbow of books.