Author: Marsha

I write historical fiction, mostly from the perspective of young people who are thrust in the midst of war.

Witnesses, Deniers and Bourgeois Troublemakers. The Holodomor and Ukrainian-Canadian Collaboration in Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s Winterkill (2022)

Thank you, Dr. Mateusz Świetlicki, for this thorough examination of Winterkill, particularly in terms of historical veracity and how the novel gives needed context to the Russian Federation’s current genocidal war against the Ukrainian nation and culture. This paper is a great resource for educators who are doing a novel study with Winterkill. Here’s the link.

Pic from Oct 13th HREC ED Webinar about Winterkill with Dr. Mateusz Świetlicki and Valentina Kuryliw

Cedar Hill ES, Lawrenceville, Georgia

Some really great questions about the Holodomor and Winterkill, particularly about individual characters in the book and what their lives looked like after the book was over. But my favorite question of the virtual session was, “What’s it like to be over 60 years old?” I told him that inside, I still feel 12 years old. Another student asked if I would ever work with an illustrator to make one of my books into a graphic novel and I said that was a great idea and would love to see it happen with Making Bombs for Hitler. I showed them Five Stalks of Grain by Adrian Lysenko and Ivanka Galadza and suggested they would like it. I also showed them Sylvia McNicholl’s What the Dog Knows when asked about my current fave book. Thank you, HREC ED, for funding this presentation.

Loved speaking with 190 5th grade students at Cedar Hill this morning.

Thaden School virtual visit

It was so nice to visit with 6th to 8th grade students from Bentonville Arkansas. We talked about my WWII novels and the real people behind the stories as well as what it’s like to be dyslexic and to write books. Middle School Student council members fielded the questions and did the introductions. Very well organized and great questions. There were 140 students participating and Sarah the librarian got this snap of one of the classes. Thank you so much for the invitation, Sarah!