Monique Polak

If Kangiqsualujjuaq is too hard for you to pronounce, you can just call it George River. I'm here, in this lovely peaceful town in Nunavik, where my new novel, The Middle of Everywhere, is set.

Today has been a very special day. This morning, I worked with Secondary II students, and this afternoon, I worked with students in Secondary III and IV. I didn't tell the students this afternoon what my new book was about; instead, I just started reading from it. Well, you should have seen their faces when they realized my story is set in their town! Even the ones who looked a little bored at first suddenly got excited! My prize student was Melissa, who, by the end of my talk, was lying on a couple of desks, engrossed in one of my books!!

Tonight there's a party here at Ulluriaq School to celebrate my visit. I smell Arctic char baking in the school kitchen!! And tomorrow, I'll be doing a launch/reading for the entire school.

I have many people to thank for bringing me up here: the Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Quebec, the Kativik School Board, especially Daniel Lafleur at the board, the Blue Metropolis Literary Foundation, and Mark and Nancy, the principal and vice-principal here at Ulluriaq School.

Everywhere I look, I can see snowy open space. The air smells fresh and everyone smiles and says hello. The kids in the street all ask, "What's your name?" Can you see why I like it here so much? It's a balmy minus five this afternoon, unusually warm for this time of year -- so my long underwear is still in my suitcase. Hope you're keeping warm wherever you are. PS: I promise to post pics to go with these blog entries once I'm home.