Humber’s Peta-Gaye Nash has released a new book that’s a collection of stories exploring the interactions of newcomers from the Caribbean with life in Canada.

Told Ya! Stories is the latest book by Nash, who’s a project coordinator for the OSLT Program with Community Outreach and Workforce Development. Originally from Jamaica, Nash writes about the everyday people of her home country as well as the experiences of those who have left for a new life in Canada.

One story follows a sweet Canadian senior who strikes a man in a hit-and-run and then decides there’s no way that she can come clean and hides what happened. Another follows a woman who is stealing from her employer while at the same time thanking God for providing for her.

While many of the stories are a little dark, Nash says they can be uplifting as well. 

Published by Tamarind Tree Books, the work of fiction features a dozen stories. The last six are interconnected with the characters moving through each other’s stories and influencing one another. 

By telling these stories, which albeit are works of fiction, Nash hopes to foster a deeper understanding of her home country’s culture. 

“I want readers to be transported into the world of these characters and that they can say after ‘I do understand this culture a little better now.’ Having more authors sharing their stories and people embracing those stories as well can help make Canada, and ultimately the world, a more equitable and empathic place.”

Nash has written other books including I Too Hear the Drums.  

There’s also the children’s book Bushyhead that tells the story of a young girl who’s teased at school because of her bushy hair and she wishes she had different hair. However, after a trip to a children’s hospital where some of the patients have no hair due to medical treatment, the young girl is inspired to have hers cut and donated to make wigs. 

Nash said the story is a gentle introduction to the topic of compassion, self-esteem, Black hair pride, looking for solutions that help others, and about cancer and hair loss.   

“I wrote this for young women everywhere to truly embrace who they are,” said Nash. “You have to love and accept yourself and that’s why I have written these children’s books.” 

There’s also Don’t Take Raja to School, which is the true story of a little girl Jade who loses her beloved stuffed tiger, Raja in kindergarten after taking him to class. Years later, Jade is reunited with Raja. 

Nash got her start writing short prose and short adult fiction for the Jamaica Observer before moving into the realm of books. She says her writing is influenced by her being Jamaican, a person of colour and a woman. It’s also shaped by living in a diverse city where she observes the everyday tensions of the struggle for identity, the gap between the generations (especially between immigrants and their children) and the hope for a better life. 

Find out more about the Nash by visiting her author website.