For the past several Decembers I’ve been invited to attend the awards gala for the Peterson Literary Fund, but I’ve only been able to attend this year and last. Both years, the evening was profound in unexpected ways. This year’s event was to celebrate excellence in translation. The Turkish translation of Robert Paul Magosci’s iconic A History of Ukraine was the top prize winner. This recognition thrilled me not only because this translation will help educate Turkish readers about the history of Ukraine at a time when Russian disinformation is rampant, but also because two of the three translators are scholars who have generously assisted me with research for a novel set partly in the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s: Maryna Kravets and Victor Ostapchuk.
Another honoured book was the English translation of Iroida Wynnyckyj’s Extraordinary Lives of Ukrainian Canadian Women, translated by Marta Olynyk. Iroida has connected me with many people to interview for my books ever since I first began writing books. It was so nice to see her at this event and congratulate her in person. And by sheer coincidence, my husband and I were seated at the same table as the daughter of one of those key interviewees — Marta Varvaruk, the daughter of Anelia Varvaruk — whose crisp memories and spirited endurance of her time in a Nazi slave camp became key inspiration for my most popular novel, Making Bombs for Hitler.
Maryna Kravets (coral necklace), Iroida Wynnyckyj (blue dress) and Marta Varvaruk (white and black glasses).
There are few historians who can match Anne Applebaum’s authority on topics that I write about so I was thrilled to be invited again to attend the Peterson Literary Foundation dinner (this past Friday), and particularly thrilled with the opportunity to listen to Applebaum in person. My copy of Red Famine looks like a porcupine with yellow quills because it has so many sticky notes in it. It was at my side as I wrote Winterkill. Needless to say, the chance to chat with Anne Applebaum was a dream come true.
Halyna Kostiuk, Ukrainian teacher extraordinaire at St. Josephat Catholic School in Etobicoke, arranged for me to visit last Thursday with grade 7 and 8 students. They had been reading as a class my novel, Stolen Girl, the Ukrainian version. Many of the students are recent refugees from Ukraine, fleeing Putin’s brutal war.
It was poignant for me to speak with them about the real history behind Stolen Girl — victims of Hitler’s Lebensborn program — the kids who were kidnapped by the Nazis and brainwashed into thinking they were German and placed into German homes. This novel was written to fulfil a promise I made to my mother-in-law before she died. She had lost half of her classmates to the Lebensborn program in WWII and she felt very guilty the rest of her life for surviving while her friends didn’t.
For these students to be able to read this book in their own language is bittersweet, seeing as Putin is now channeling Hitler, and doing his own Lebensborn program, kidnapping Ukrainian children, brainwashing them, and placing them in Russian homes. So much for “never again.”
I cannot post photos of the students for privacy reasons, but here are pics with teachers. On the table that was prepared for me to display my books, note the beautiful orange roses the students presented me with, and the Roshen chocolates — yum! It was a Ukrainian-themed day because after the visit, I dropped by Pelman Perogies factory outlet for a LOT of mushroom potato perogies, then off to Koota Ooma to buy my sister a Christmas present.
With Halyna Kostiuk and Olga ShklarWith Halyna Kostiuk and Mar’yana Chornij
Olesia Elvey, the Ukrainian language and literature teacher at Sophia Ukrainian school in Dubai, contacted me a couple of months ago about the possibility of doing a virtual visit with her students, using my picture book Enough, which is set during the Holodomor, as part of their commemoration on Holodomor Memorial Day, which was yesterday. She also wanted her students to see the lighting of the candle in Kyiv at 4pm Kyiv time. It took a fair bit of coordination with three time zones and several languages for Olesia to arrange this but it all came off beautifully. The students read my works about the Holodomor that were available in Ukrainian, so that was Enough, and The Rings. They asked their questions in English, and their English was perfect. Their perspective was quite interesting. They wanted to know how and why I was so interested in Ukrainian topics, because to them, I was Canadian through and through. I don’t speak Ukrainian and not only was I born in Canada, but so were my parents. They were surprised that I could have such a deep tie with the country, but this is true of many Ukrainians in the diaspora. My heart is solid Ukrainian.
I told them that Ukrainians who were able to find refuge in Canada were like seeds of memory (Mateusz Świetlicki has written a brilliant book on this very topic). Those who stayed were often subjected to gulags, imprisonment, death, re-education, not to mention propaganda and disinformation. Stalin specifically targeted for extinction the storytellers, journalists, artists. How do you tell your stories when you’re dead?
The diaspora had challenges, but nothing like Ukrainians. Memories were shared and recorded and passed down. Memories of WWI, WWII, the Holodomor, as well as Ukrainian pioneer life in Canada, interwar life, DPs, and so on were all preserved. Many of my books are inspired by these experiences. I am deeply moved when Ukrainian read and respond to my books, and when they recognize their own history on the pages.
Here are some of the questions the students asked:
Dmytro and Alina:
.- Are there episodes in your stories (in particular, in the fairy tale “Enough”) that related to the history of your family?
Чи є у Ваших творах (зокрема, у казці “Досить”” ) епізоди, які пов’язані з історією Вашої родини?
Timur:
– Where did you get information about the Holodomor?
Де ви брали інформацію про Голодомор?
Tamara:
– How did the idea to write the story “Enough” come about?
Як виникла ідея написати твір “Досить”?
Marianna:
– Is the story about the grain being buried in graves true, actual history, or did you make it up? If true, how did you hear about it?
Чи ви чули справжню історію про те, що ховали збіжжя у могилах чи це Ви вигадали?
– How old is Marusia in your story? (Usually older girls have a hope chest). Якого віку приблизно Маруся у Вашій історії? (Вона має скриню для приданого, тож хочеться уявити, якого вона віку).
Maya:
– How big was the sack of grain that Marusia brought to the village on a stork? Approximately how many kilograms did the village need to survive? Наскільки великим був мішок із зерном, який Маруся привезла на лелеці в село. Скільки приблизно кілограмів потрібно було, щоб село вижило?
General
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Anjey:
– What was your childhood like? Яким було Ваше дитинство?
– What made you write stories related to war? Що спонукало вас пистати історії, повязані з війною?
Ameli:
– Which of your stories is your favorite and why? Яка з Ваших казок найулюбленіша?
– What encouraged you to write fairy tales? Що Вас спонукало писати казки?
Dmytro and Alina:
– In recent years, many Ukrainian children have become victims of Russian aggression, forced migrants in other countries, many children were actually kidnapped by Russia, and Ukraine is fighting for their return. Which of your books could become a source of support and hope for young Ukrainians and their parents?
Багато українських дітей в останні роки стали жертвами російської агресії, стали вимушеними переселенцями в інших країнах, багато дітей були фактично викрадені росією, і Україна бореться за їх повернення. Які Ваші твори могли б стати джерелом підтримки, надії для маленьких українців та їхніх батьків?
On Friday, on the lead-up to the Nov 25th Holodomor Memorial Day, I had the honor to speak with 16 classes of 8th grade students in the morning and one class of high school students in the afternoon, all from the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board. It’s a difficult subject to speak about but students asked perceptive and intelligent questions. Many thanks to HREC Ed for funding these sessions and also for their wonderful resource materials. Thank you, Betty Hicks, Evelin Niemiec, Paola Kontic and Mary Holadyk for coordinating and organizing.
Participating 8th grade students from St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Elementary SchoolMs. Cave’s class at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton.
I have been corresponding with Cristofer Mattern, librarian-extraordinaire at Deretchin school for several years so when I finally got to present in person, it felt like coming home.
All of the presentations and lunches were in the library, which was a cozy and comfortable place to do them. I got so many heartfelt questions and responses from kids and educators — just wonderful!
