Anishinaabe and Portuguese-Canadian writer Cody Caetano was thrilled to have his book, "Half-Bads in White Regalia," included in the most recent installment of the Owen Sound Memoir series.
He said the book is the story of his childhood with his Indigenous mother and Portuguese father, as well as the effects of the Sixties Scoop and alcoholism.
"The narrator's mother discovers where she came from and that culminates in a divorce with the narrator's father," he explained. "And so the book kind of takes readers on a adventure of sorts, all the way up until the narrators 18."
Caetano pointed out the title is a bit ambiguous for a reason.
"You pick the book up and you can go like, OK it explains what half bad is," he said. "It half kind of explains or has a non-explanation of what white regalia is, and that's to give the reader the option to see into it, whatever that means for them."
The book was an instant national bestseller and won the 2023 Indigenous Voices Award for Best Published Prose.
"We're coming up on two years since it was published and the reader reception and response across Canada and beyond has been really heartwarming and gratifying," revealed Caetano. "Not that any sort of validation really matters, but it's really nice to see how readers have responded to it in many different ways but overall, pretty positive."
Caetano added it was the love and support of those around him that gave him the tools to survive.
"The power of subjectivity in our world, and, you know, the beauty and grandeur of language and how that can be used, not as a weapon, but as a shield. It's a tool to navigate the world," he continued. "And so many people don't have access to language in a way that enables them to make life affirming choices."
Caetano hopes the book sparks conversation, especially in light of recent government initiatives addressing equity for First Nation people.
"Which a lot of that stuff is good, but it's the first step," he continued. "In a lot of ways that equity initiative doesn't necessarily solve problems. So for me, rather than being like what's the message I give to those people, I just want them to pick the book up and enjoy it. And maybe get excited and to keep reading, to promote literacy, but also to just keep people engaged in that level."
Caetano read from his book, and offered tips on writing memoirs April 19 and 20 in Owen Sound.