Megan Gail Coles' debut novel is a tough-love letter to Newfoundland

Originally published on February 19, 2019

What does hometown love look like for you? For author Megan Gail Coles, the answer can be found in her writing.

Coles was born and raised in Savage Cove on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. She's spent a lot of her career thinking about the province she calls home, but her stories aren't usually warm and nostalgic. She writes about the stuff we don't always want to talk about, like the systemic tensions and traumas that underpin the lives of many Newfoundlanders.   

Her debut novel Small Game Hunting At The Local Coward Gun Club centres on a cast of flawed characters who are implicated in each other's hopes, dreams and pains. It's a sombre and at times harrowing story that speaks to larger issues Coles feels Newfoundland needs to face.

She joined Tom Power from Newfoundland to tell us why she needed the book to be a tough-love letter to the place she says she could never leave. 

Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation.

— Produced by Tyrone Callender