Lezlie Lowe
Lezlie Lowe is a Canadian writer and journalist from Nova Scotia. She is the author of two books: No Place to Go: How Public Toilets Fail our Private Needs (2018), and The Volunteers: How Halifax Women Won the Second World War (2022). She teaches journalism at the University of King's College, and has written an extensive body of articles for The Chronicle Herald since 2009.
Biography
[edit]Lowe is from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She teaches journalism at the University of King's College.[1]
Lowe began writing for the Halifax newspaper The Chronicle Herald in 2009. She resigned from her position as a columnist with the newspaper in 2016, following the publication of a controversial story concerning refugee children attending the Chebucto Heights Elementary School in Cowie Hill.[2]
In 2018, Lowe published an article in The Chronicle Herald detailing three men who had caused harm to her in the past, referred to in the article as her "MeToo stories". While she did not name the three men discussed in the article, one chose to contact her following its publication, apologizing for his inappropriate actions when they were teenagers. Lowe stated that his apology was "exceptional", and that the man took full responsibility for his prior actions.[3]
Lowe released her first book in 2018, titled No Place to Go: How Public Toilets Fail our Private Needs. The book was published by Coach House Books of Toronto, Ontario. It discusses the importance of public bathrooms in urban planning, arguing that city planners have historically neglected to provide adequate public bathroom facilities when designing city spaces.[4] No Place to Go was listed amongst "25 works of Canadian nonfiction to watch" by CBC Books in 2018,[5] and was a finalist for the Dartmouth Book Award for Non-fiction at the 2019 Atlantic Book Awards.[6]
Her second book, The Volunteers: How Halifax Women Won the Second World War, was published in 2022 by Nimbus Publishing. The book concerns the role of women volunteers in Halifax during the Second World War, at a time when housing and commodities were in short supply in the city.[7]
In 2023, Lowe led a walking tour in Halifax with fellow Nova Scotia author Rebecca Rose, intended to highlight landmarks of historical significance to the LGBT community in the city. Locations in the tour included those mentioned in Lowe's book The Volunteers and Rose's book Before the Parade.[8]
Publications
[edit]- Lowe, Lezlie (2018). No Place to Go: How Public Toilets Fail our Private Needs. Toronto, ON: Coach House Books. ISBN 978-1-5524-5370-4. OCLC 1022779702.[9]
- — (2022). The Volunteers: How Halifax Women Won the Second World War. Halifax, NS: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-7747-1054-8. OCLC 1286373255.[10]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (2022) .
- ^ McMillan (2016); Shaw (2016).
- ^ CBC Radio (2018) .
- ^ Hoang (2018); Wold (2019).
- ^ CBC Books (2018b).
- ^ van Koeverden (2019).
- ^ Cook (2022); Hudson (2022).
- ^ CBC News (2023) .
- ^ CBC Books (2018a); Hoang (2018); Wold (2019).
- ^ Cook (2022); Gow (2022); Hudson (2022); Mullin (2022).
Sources
[edit]- [CBC Books] (31 July 2018). "No Place to Go". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- [CBC Books] (8 August 2018). "25 works of Canadian nonfiction to watch for this fall". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 May 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- [CBC News] (24 March 2023). "Halifax walking tour highlights hidden histories of women, LGBTQ community". CBC News. Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- [CBC Radio] (23 October 2018). "Halifax columnist describes her #MeToo moments and gets an unexpected apology". CBC Radio. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- Cook, Tim (13 September 2022). "How Halifax Women Won the Second World War". Canada's History. Winnipeg, MB: Canada's National History Society. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- Gow, Steve (8 March 2022). "New book honours women who quietly helped win the Second World War". CityNews. Halifax, NS: Rogers Communications. Archived from the original on 22 June 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- Hoang, Cindy Lam (15 November 2018). "You go, I go, we all go: Toilet talk with Lezlie Lowe". Capital Current. Ottawa, ON: Carleton University. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- Hudson, Allan (8 September 2022). "The Volunteers: How Halifax Women Won the Second World War by Lezlie Lowe". The Miramichi Reader. Miramichi, NB. Archived from the original on 22 March 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- McMillan, Elizabeth (15 April 2016). "Lezlie Lowe, Chronicle Herald columnist, quits after Chebucto Heights school article". CBC News. Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 December 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- Mullin, Morgan (4 March 2022). "The story of the Second World War wouldn't be the same without the women of Halifax". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, ON: The Woodbridge Company. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- Shaw, Kyle (15 April 2016). "Lezlie Lowe quits Chronicle Herald over refugee school story". The Coast. Halifax, NS. Archived from the original on 22 June 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- van Koeverden, Jane (2 May 2019). "Lisa Moore, Elisabeth de Mariaffi & Sharon Bala shortlisted for $25K prize for Atlantic Canadian fiction". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
- Wold, Mike (3 April 2019). "Book Review: 'No Place to Go: How Public Toilets Fail Our Private Needs'". Real Change. Seattle, WA: Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project. Archived from the original on 14 April 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- [Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia] (2022). "Author spotlight: Lezlie Lowe". writers.ns.ca. Interviewed by Byggdin, K.R. Halifax, NS: Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on 26 March 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- [ABC Radio National] (31 May 2019). "Public toilet design disadvantaging women, elderly and most vulnerable, says author Lezlie Lowe". Blueprint For Living. Australia: ABC Radio National. Archived from the original on 19 May 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- [CBC News] (5 July 2022). "Century-old Easter egg needs new home as Halifax resident declutters". CBC News. Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- [CBC Radio] (10 July 2020). "Pandemic proves Canada desperately needs more public washrooms: Author". CBC Radio. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Lezlie Lowe at Goodreads
- Lezlie Lowe at 49th Shelf, Association of Canadian Publishers