Publications

Order The Sustainability Communication Reader here.

It’s always exciting to see my byline in a shiny new textbook. This time I share the byline for “Communicating Climate Change to Alberta’s Youth: Lessons learned from the Alberta Narratives Project” with three students from my Sustainability Communications class: Katrina Atkinson, Jacqueline Ohm, and Michaela Bishop. It’s been three years [from publication] since we sat together in a small room and listened to an intimate discussion about climate change and energy in Alberta. The roundtable was part of a series — the Alberta Narratives Project — with each roundtable consisting of a specific demographic: teachers, energy workers, Conservatives, and others. Our roundtable was hosted by Sustainability Department of MacEwan University, so it seems appropriate that the demographic we hosted was “Youth.”

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The Rhetoric of Oil in the 21st Century: Government, Corporate, and Activist Discourses examines mass communication and civic participation in the age of oil, analyzing the rhetorical and discursive ways that governments and corporations shape public opinion and public policy and activists attempt to reframe public debates to resist corporate framing.

You will find my chapter “Still Ethical Oil: Framing the Alberta Oil Sands” in the section titled “A Closer Look at the Oil Sands of Alberta.” I spent the summer of 2016 writing that chapter. Every day, I was a fixture at the Jasper Public Library, sucking off their internet connection. Three years and many edits later, the work has finally paid off. Here it is available on the Routledge Taylor & Francis website. This feels like a fairly largish accomplishment. I’m one of the few authors who is not a phd, and honestly, I didn’t know what I was doing half the time. But now I’m just so excited to be a part of this important ground-breaking publication.

“The ‘ethical oil’ frame is effective for another reason: it speaks to self-interest. It gives Canadians the solution to a daunting quandary: how do we make the choice between short-term economic prosperity and long-term environmental sustainability? ‘Ethical oil’ supplies the answer. We pay cursory attention to long-term environmental dilemmas and instead focus on Canadian ethics and values…The ‘ethical oil’ frame simplifies the issues, allowing us to avoid difficult discussions.”

“Still Ethical Oil: framing the Alberta oil sands” Roberta Laurie

In November 2015, the University of Alberta Press released my book, Weaving a Malawi Sunrise, the story of one woman’s determination to educate Malawian girls and change the future of a nation.

That’s me with Weaving a Malawi Sunrise — eight years in the making

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RECENTLY PUBLISHED WORKS

Allegory Ridge Anthology

Forthcoming — “Under the Bodhi Tree“

On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic

(in an ongoing capacity since 2009)

Forthcoming — “It’s the Zombie Apocalypse with Carolyn Watson”

Summer 2023 — “Brittany Amos: Texting the Apocalypse”

Spring 2023 — “Nicole Luiken: 14 Years Later”

Winter 2022 — “Liz Westbrook-Trenholm: Botman’s Tale”

Horseshoe Literary Magazine

Spring 2023 — “Grandma Is Another Word for Mom”

Beyond Words Literary Magazine

June 2023 — “Refuge” [winner of 250-word writing challenge]

WestWord Magazine

July/Aug 2022 — “Sustainability Communications”

Nov/Dec 2015 —         “Plan to Write: Creating an Effective Writing Strategy”

The Sustainability Communication Reader: A Reflective Compendium (contributing author)

2021 (Routledge VS) — “Communicating Climate Change to Alberta’s Youth: Lessons Learned from the Alberta Narratives Project” (written in collaboration with three outstanding students from my Sustainability Communications class: Katrina Atkinson, Jacqueline Ohm, and Michaela Bishop) 

The Rhetoric of Oil in the 21 Century: Government, Corporate, and Activist Discourses (contributing author)

2019 (Taylor & Francis) — “Still Ethical Oil: Framing the Alberta Oil Sands”

PoLAR: Political Legal Anthropology Review

September 2016 — “What Does Climate Change Demand of Communications”

The Yards

Summer 2016 —       “Hidden Gem of the Season: Get Cooking”

Weaving a Malawi Sunrise: A Woman, a School, a People

October 2015 — Published by University of Alberta Press

SNAPLine             Society of Northern Alberta Print Artists

Winter 2015 —          “The Way of the Book: A Look Inside Antiquarian Book Restoration with Alex McGuckin”

fillingStation

#60 —       “Telegram Memories”

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If you are in the Edmonton, Jasper, McBride, or Valemount area, I will come to speak at your book club, Rotary Club, school, library, or service club. If you’re outside these areas, I’ll Zoom. Contact me for details.

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REVIEWS of Weaving a Malawi Sunrise

“Roberta Laurie, a former Rotarian, has written a book that is both heart warming and sobering. On the one hand, we read about young women experiencing life changing educational success. On the other hand, we read about the challenges girls and women experience in rural Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world…. [The book] portrays the development of a courageous, visionary leader…. In addition, the book is rich with the history, culture, geography, and politics of Malawi. This material is deftly presented as the context for the development of [the school]…. The emphasis on the stories of Memory, Christie, and the students move the narrative forward and capture and hold readers’ interest.” [Full article at http://bit.ly/1ZBUFAm%5D

Dean Wood, ClubRunner

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“Most everyone has a place that inspires reflection and contentment: a Paris café, a salmon run on the Miramichi River, your grandmother’s kitchen table. Roberta Laurie is an Alberta Rotarian who finds her place at a Malawian school for girls. The result is intriguing and joyful. “Weaving A Malawi Sunrise” never patronizes. Laurie is a delightful writer…. “Weaving A Malawi Sunrise” is kind and eloquent, by turn angry and evocative…” [Full article at https://www.blacklocks.ca/review-one-day-at-the-rotary-club%5D

Holly Doan, Blacklock’s Reporter

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“…very highly recommended for academic library Contemporary African Studies reference collections…”

Julie Summers, Reviewer’s Bookwatch

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“Laurie’s moving book about gender and education in Malawi chronicles the construction of a girls’ school through the heroic efforts of educator Memory Chazeza and her Canadian collaborators (including the author). The book’s chapters alternate between stories of women the author met in Malawi while working alongside Chazeza, vignettes from Chazeza’s life, and essential sociopolitical context about Malawi. With a gripping narrative and touching personal stories, the book is very accessible… Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates.” [Full review at http://bit.ly/1NGTES5%5D

C. Pinto, Choice Magazine

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“Your skillful blending of historical background and personal stories made for enlightening and inspirational reading. Of course, I especially appreciated learning of Memory’s long, heartbreaking and ultimately successful journey, and the accounts of many other young women associated with APU.”

JKK

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INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards / Foreword Reviews, United States
Bronze
2016

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Watch the In Their Own Words Trailer.