St. Catharines WWI internment presentation
Tag: Ukrainian
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
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.
new banner!
Bookbird!
So honoured to have two articles referencing my novel, Stolen Child (Stolen Girl) in the newest edition of Bookbird! Thank you Mateusz Świetlicki and Sharon Smulders for writing such interesting pieces. Stolen Child holds a special place in my heart. It was the first of my Scholastic WWII novels, and is the only one set in Canada. It was written as a tribute to my dear late mother-in-law, whose own WWII experiences inspired the story. Here’s a pic of her as a child:
Dance Camp!
Just had the most wonderful visit with Green Grove Camp — a summer Ukrainian dance camp in Saskatchewan for Ukrainian Orthodox children and youth! Their teacher, Anya Shyian, let me know that the board had provided each participant with a copy of one of my books, so I mailed a personalized book plate for each of them. The questions were fantastic! So detailed and specific from so many different books and and times in my own life. I extended the session so that all questions could be answered, and extended again when a cluster of kids had more questions. I asked them to show me some of their dance moves — beautiful! And we ended with them dancing out of the room!!