St. Catharines WWI internment presentation
Author: Marsha
I write historical fiction, mostly from the perspective of young people who are thrust in the midst of war.
London Ontario internment presentation
Kontakt NextGen
It was such an honour to be interviewed by Vladyslav Maidanskyi and Sofiia Mykhailiuk of Kontakt TV, next generation. This was Vladyslav’s first interview and he did a fantastic job.
Internment & Kidnapped at Bloor West
I did two presentations yesterday at the Bloor West Ukrainian Festival yesterday. The first was with Ryan Boyko for his podcast series on WWI internment in Canada.
I got to listen to James Motluk’s interview as it was scheduled right before mine.
James is a documentary filmmaker, and his documentary, Jajo’s Secret, uncovering his own grandfather’s internment is stunning.
I also got to meet up with my internment buddy, Borys Sydoruk, who has been in the forefront of internment recognition. During my interview, I spoke about my grandfather’s internment, and how that inspired three of my books.
My second presentation was about my Kidnapped from Ukraine trilogy and how these novels can create empathy and understanding about Russia’s war on Ukraine in a way that other media cannot. Thank you, Borys, for taking these photos of this talk!
Hello there!
In July, I was honoured to Zoom in as a guest speaker at the Wyoming State School Library Interest Group Summer Summit. My novel, Kidnapped from Ukraine: Under Attack is shortlisted for the Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Book Award and so we spoke about the book, plus why I wrote it, but also why I write what I write and my personal struggles with dyslexia. The questions were fantastic, and I loved discussing why young people need gritty books.
One big challenge during this presentation was a tech glitch: they could see me, but I couldn’t see them! I was presenting to a blank screen!
Thank you, Ginny Nading for this photo. Hello! It’s so nice to see you all!
Teaching Genocide
Honoured to have contributed a chapter in this important book by Sarah J. Donovan. My chapter references Russia’s ongoing genocide in Ukraine. The chapter is titled, Creating With Empathy: Witnessing Genocide Through Historical Fiction
Under Western Eyes
Honoured to be included in this book! Here is the press release from Mateusz Świetlicki:
Together with Dagmara Drewniak, Sylwia Kamińska-Maciąg, and Izabella Kimak, we are happy to announce that our book, “Central and Eastern Europeans in North American Literature and Culture: Under Western Eyes,” will be published in the fall in Routledge’s Research in American Literature and Culture series. We gratefully acknowledge the University of Wrocław (Poland) for its support, as this publication was partially funded by the “Excellence Initiative—Research University” (IDUB) program.
The volume examines how Central and Eastern Europe and its peoples have been imagined, represented, and reinterpreted in North American literature and culture. We would like to thank all the contributors: Cecilia Woloch, Steven Seegel, Marsha J. Skrypuch, Erin Litteken, Gabriele Goldstone, Eva Stachniak, Amanda McCrina, Marina Scott, Norman Ravvin, Małgorzata Rutkowska, Marta Koval, Mariya Shymchyshyn, Elżbieta Tyszkowska-Kasprzak, Dorota Żygadło-Czopnik, Lukáš Perutka, Joanna Kula, Natalia Vysotska, Janusz Pasterski, Maciej Laskowski, Anastasia Ulanowicz, Gabriela Zimkowska-Wisłocka, Anna Boginskaya, Regan Lipes, Dominika Ferens, and Anita Jarczok.
Bringing together interdisciplinary scholars from several countries, the volume explores fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children’s and young adult literature, comics, film, television, the press, the internet, and video games. Its chapters address migration, diaspora, memory, identity, Jewishness, religion, war, gender, ethnicity, Indigenous relations, and stereotypes, placing literary and cultural representations within broader historical and political contexts. The collection also features original vignettes by bestselling and award-winning American and Canadian authors Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Eva Stachniak, Amanda McCrina, Erin Litteken, Marina Scott, Norman Ravvin, and Gabriele Goldstone, along with a foreword by Cecilia Woloch and an afterword by Steven Seegel containing unpublished poetry. Combining critical scholarship with creative voices, the book offers a wide-ranging account of the presence, influence, and representation of Central and Eastern Europe in North American cultural life.
Under Western Eyes / W oczach Zachodu
One more IBBY pic
At the Hans Christian Andersen Awards and Dinner with LE Carmichael, Joan Marie Galat and Margriet Ruurs — #IReadCanadian powerhouses!
Darting storms
My husband picked me up at the Ottawa airport in our itty bitty plane and we dodged weather the whole way back. At least it makes for pretty clouds.
IBBY Congress: Listening to the Whispers
It was so meaningful to meet my fellow panelists for the War and Trauma panel. I was particularly struck by the work that Hooria Rezaei is doing with children in Tehran during this current war, using books as a refuge and a way of dealing with trauma in kids who are in the midst of the unimaginable.
