writes about war from a young person's view #bannedbyrussia
Erin Woods of Pajama Press came in early on the train so I picked her up and took her to the Blue Dog Cafe so she could fortify herself for the book launch and plaque unveiling. Here she is, about to fortify herself with carrot cake.
Erin snapped this of me, chugging down mint tea:
Erin Woods of Pajama Press and freelance publicist Kim Therriault were both on hand to help out with the book signing table. It was so nice to see many familiar faces, including Helen Kubiw, who had posted this fabulous review just hours earlier.
It was also wonderful to see Suleyman Guven, who helped me tremendously with cultural and historical details of Alevi Kurdish life from a century ago. He too had just published an interview that we had done. It is published in Turkish and English in Yeni Hayat, the Toronto Kurdish/Turkish newspaper, of which he is the editor. He brought me a paper copy of the newspaper as well and it is beautiful!
Lada and Olya, women I met on my first trip to Ukraine back in 2001 drove in from Toronto together, and CANSCAIPers Lynne Kositsky (and husband Michael) and Judy Robinson also came out, as well as a mother-daughter avid reader blogging team.
I was especially honoured to see so many people from the Armenian Canadian community. One young man who towered over me said he’d heard me speak about my first novel, The Hunger, when he was in elementary school. How nifty is that?!
And Joan Mailing, I am glad that you did get postcards and bookmarks this time!
What an honour it was to be part of the wave of plaque unveilings across the country on Friday at 11am, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Canada’s first national internment operations. The hundred plaques project, known as CTO (Ukrainian for 100) was the brainchild of Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk and was organized and funded by the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
Since there were only 100 plaques for the entire country, as soon as I heard about this project, I put Brantford down for one. Here’s what the plaques look like:
There were about 80 people in attendance, many driving in from Toronto and Cambridge including people of Alevi and Armenian heritage. The prayers and hymns were a moving tribute to those who had been unjustly imprisoned by Canada one hundred years ago. Both priests spoke eloquently, as did our government representatives.
What sets Canada apart from many countries is that we do acknowledge injustices. That’s what these 100 plaques are all about — commemorating a past injustice so it will never be repeated.
Check this out — TWO maps, French flaps, the word Banished is in turquoise foil and breathtaking landscape painting by Pascal Milelli that wraps from front cover to back.
When I was writing Underground Soldier, there was a ton of research to do. I had to figure out what was going on in Kyiv before Luka was captured by the Nazis, and I needed to find out what the underground bunkers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army looked like, and figure out what an escaped slave would eat on the run, and where he would hide.
But there were also small day to day scenes that needed to be accurate. For example, what was growing in the field that Luka walked through once he jumped out of the wagon of corpses? Another thing I had to figure out is what the interior of the barn that he hid in would look like. I’ve been in barns before, but not until you have to write a scene inside a barn do you realize all that you need to know.
For my barn research, I called upon Marna Hamilton, a berry grower who lives not far from me. For years I have been buying berries in season from her farm, but while I was writing Underground Soldier, I noticed her barn. It’s about the same age as the one Luka would have hidden in. It’s in Brant County, not the Third Reich, but all barns of an era have some things in common. Marna kindly took me on a tour of her barn and answered all my questions. That was two summers ago. This week the strawberries are lush and so I dropped back by to get berries, but also to thank Marna for her help and to give her a copy of Underground Soldier. Here she is:
Signing:
With Erin Woods, Pajama Press:
They have just announced the finalists:
And here they announce the winner! Do I look a little bit SHOCKED?!
Thanks, Pat Thornton, for the great shots!
I got home from Book Week late Saturday afternoon, had one day to do laundry and rest, then on Monday, drove to London for their first Forest of Reading event. It was held at the Western Fair Grounds and the volunteers were absolutely spectacular, thinking of EVERYTHING.
The audience! 1900 strong!
In London, I won the Silver Birch non-fiction award, David Carroll won the Silver Birch fiction award, and Eric Walters won the Red Maple. Here’s the stunningly amazingly beautiful plaque I was given:
I gave it to Tuyet, who was THRILLED:
She and her husband are also holding footstep shaped letters from the students of Our Lady of Lourdes.
There was lots of news coverage for the London event. Like this article on CTV. And this one in the London paper. And this CTV video.
I drove to Quebec City after leaving Shawinigan High School. I didn’t get stuck in traffic and arrived at the Courtyard Marriott in the heart of old Quebec City at around 6:30pm. There was enough time to walk through town and find a place to eat, and what a treat it was.
Friday May 9, 2014
I packed up and checked out early, then headed to Corcelette for a visit to the students of Dollard des Ormeaux School.
Librarian Kerry Ann King asked me to time my arrival for just after the buses had departed, so I waited, then parked in the bus lanes. I followed the last students into the school.
Here’s a photo of Kerry Ann, standing beside the TD Book Week poster. She is wearing red in honour of our veterans.
I did three sessions in speedy back to back to back without even a minute break in between. The first two sessions were 30 minute ones for the primaries and the final session was for grades 3 and 4. Some parents attended as well, and many students and adults wore red in honour of our veterans. I wish I had known, and I would have worn red as well! When I finished, Kerry Ann helped me pack up quickly. “There’s a parade starting up soon,” she said. “And you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of it.” I was so thankful for my good parking spot. I dashed out and made it out of town just before the parade.
I drove back into Quebec City to meet Guy Dubois of La Maison Anglaise Bookstore at Cosmos restaurant. How wonderful to have good food and good company. When we finished, I followed Guy’s car to St-Charles Garnier School where I presented to French students who were in the advanced English language program.
I finished at about 3:30, then hopped into the car and drove to Cornwall, where I stayed overnight (running into friends from Brantford there too!). On Saturday, I drove the rest of the way back to Brantford.
A fabulous adventure! I met many wonderful students and many devoted teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents. I’d do it again in a flash.
Thank you, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, for organizing all of the author visits across the country. One school visit at a time, we can transform the country into passionate readers.
