Sharon McCutcheon - AX, the Arts and Culture Centre of Sussex

AX Literary Series:
Dr. Sharon McCutcheon

July 30, 2026

AX Literary Series:

Dr. Sharon McCutcheon

Thursday, July 30, 6pm
FREE Event. Donations welcomed and appreciated.

Join us on Thursday, July 30 at 6:00pm in the AX Gallery (12 Maple Ave, Sussex, NB) for a special evening with local author Dr. Sharon McCutcheon. Moderated by Beth Powning, McCutcheon will launch her memoir Brain Storms.

This free event is part of the AX Literary Series—donations are welcomed and appreciated.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from this up and coming local author.

About the Author

Dr. Sharon McCutcheon is a retired family physician living in Sussex, N.B. She received her medical degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 1996. Her writing has been published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal and in an anthology titled From Band-aids to Scalpels – Motherhood Experiences in/of Medicine.

About the Book

BRAIN STORMS is the story of a female doctor attempting to reconstruct her life after the diagnosis of a brain tumor. Her sudden transformation from doctor to patient provides glimpses of medicine from both sides. When complications after brain surgery lead to more surgeries, and seizures affect her ability to practice medicine, she questions why being a good doctor means putting her medical career first, her family second and her own health last.

With insight and surprising humor, she examines the childhood roots of her anxiety and perfectionism that affect her recovery. Using excerpts from personal journals, some of them written while a patient in Neuro ICU after brain surgery, she confronts her past experiences with grief, not only from personal losses but the vicarious trauma doctors experience in a medical career. Ultimately, she realizes that recovery from a brain tumor leads to resilience and self-compassion.

About the Moderator

Beth Powning lives in New Brunswick. She has published seven books: Home – Chronicle of a North Country Life; Shadow Child; The Hatbox Letters; Edge Seasons; The Sea Captain’s Wife; A Measure of Light and The Sister’s Tale. Her books have been long-listed for the Dublin International Fiction Award, and been short-listed for numerous awards such as the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and The Edna Staebler Award, as well as being Globe and Mail Best Books. She has attended literary festivals in England, Ireland, the USA, and across Canada. Her latest novel, The Sister’s Tale, was an immediate Canadian best-seller.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Thank you to the New Brunswick Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture for their support of this event.