Posts filed under ‘Reading’
A GG for Greener Grass
Last night Caroline Pignat received a Governor General’s award for her young adult novel, Greener Grass. Not surprising when you look at the reviews. And needless to say, she’s delighted. The book is set in Ireland, and she’s going to take her parents there with some of her prize money.
What makes Caroline’s win sweet for me and for my partner Peter Carver is knowing we both had a hand in helping this talented writer develop her story. Caroline brought her (very promising) manuscript to our first Nova Scotia Writing Workshop. I offered her feedback there, and she revised it. Peter, as editor at Red Deer Press, took it on, and the rest, as they say, is history. (A cliche, you might say, but an apt one, perhaps, given that Greener Grass is historical fiction.)
Peter and I will be setting dates for this year’s Nova Scotia workshop very soon. In the meantime, congratulations to Caroline Pignat!
(By the way, The Bite of the Mango which I wrote about in a previous blog post, also won a GG this week. Congratulations to Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland.)
1 comment November 27, 2009
The Bite of the Mango
I have just finished reading The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland. It’s Mariatu’s story of how her life in Sierra Leone was changed when the rebel army attacked her village and cut off her hands. The back cover says it’s a story of “immense courage, resilience, and hope.”
Reading of the atrocities of war, and the sadness and anger that naturally follow, it was difficult to imagine how hope could possibly emerge. (Not only did Mariatu Kamara lose her hands, she had a baby when she was only twelve years old after being raped.) But knowing that Annick Press would not publish a book that left its subject or its readers in despair, I read on.
The courage and resilience of this young woman is truly inspiring. I was especially moved by her description of meeting former child soldier Ishmael Beah in Toronto, when he was there promoting A Long Way Gone.
After six years of living in Canada, Mariatu Kamara returns to Sierra Leone. She can’t give up the life she knows is available to her in Canada. But seeing living conditions of loved ones in Sierra Leone, now through the lens of having lived in Canada, how could she just “look forward”, as they all urged her to do? It’s impossible not to have profound admiration and respect for how she resolves this dilemma.
I hope high school English teachers are recognizing what an eye-opening and enriching experience reading the two books – A Long Way Gone and The Bite of the Mango – would be for their students. (Teaching guides are available online for both books.)
I also hope booksellers are placing copies of The Bite of the Mango on both young adult and adult bookshelves. It would be a shame for any of its potential readers to miss it.
Add comment November 13, 2009
Bringing Robert Frost Home From Newfoundland
A man carried stacks of National Geographic magazines from his truck to a table in the Deer Lake Library. They dated back to the 1950s. One issue caught my eye. The face on the cover was not one I expected to see on a NG cover.
It was the April 1976 issue. Inside, unrelated to the boy’s face, was a feature on Robert Frost, which included excerpts from his poetry, matched with beautiful New England photographs. I began reading the feature on the spot and was encouraged to take it home.
This week I found time to read it. In case it’s been a while since you’ve dipped into Frost, I’d like to share a few of his words:
Oh, give us pleasure
in the flowers today;
And give us not to think
so far away
As the uncertain harvest;
keep us here
All simply in the springing
of the year.
Being November, the piece might more aptly read (with apologies to Robert Frost):
Oh, give us pleasure
in the frost today;
And give us not to think
so far away
As the uncertain crocus;
keep us here
All simply in the falling
of the year.
Or, being a writer, I might remind myself and my writing friends and students:
Oh, give us pleasure
in the flow of words today;
And give us not to think
so far away
As the uncertain kudos;
keep us here
All simply in the writing
of the thing.
How do Frost’s words relate to your life?
And . . . about that boy on the cover (photo by Linda Bartlett). His name is Paudie Boland of Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula. I wonder if he’s still there (he’d be 40 or thereabouts by now). I wonder if his grandfather’s farm is still in the family. Hmm. A writer could talk herself into a trip to Ireland with thoughts like these.
2 comments November 6, 2009
Kathy Stinson as Editor and Mentor
I’ve done plenty of ’shameless self-promotion’ here and would like to devote today’s post to the books of other authors I have had the pleasure to work with.
Rough Magic by Caryl Cude Mullin is not the kind of young adult novel I would ordinarily pick up and read, but when the managing editor at Second Story Press asked if I would like to edit it, I was so taken by the writing that I had to say yes. And so began the task of helping Caryl sort through the tangle of characters, points of view, and time lines so that her gem of a story would shine through. She dealt with comments, suggestions, and questions with great diligence and humour, and I hope I’ll have the chance to work with her again.
Kathryn Cole at Tundra Books was the editor of Bird Child by Nan Forler. I first met Nan in 1994 when she participated in a workshop I was leading in Toronto. I knew then that this was a writer whose work deserved a wide audience. She has since been in workshops I’ve led in Kitchener and Rockwood, and it was a real treat to see her first picture book launched last month.
2 comments October 5, 2009
Green Roofs Updated
I asked my son the other day, “If I say ‘Cornelia Oberlander’, do you know who I mean?” He’s a busy guy, working on his MBA while working full time, so I wasn’t sure how much he took in of the book I had written about her. “Yeah, she’s the Green Roof Lady,” he said. I don’t think Cornelia would be unhappy with that description.
Today Cornelia emailed me and others a link to a National Geographic article which cites examples of green roofs all over the world (including one of her creations). Including lots of great pics (as any National Geographic article does), it’s an article that will help inspire the building of more green roofs – for their many benefits to urban environments and to the health of the planet.
Happy Earth Day! Okay, I’m a bit early, but with the spring rains nudging open the buds outside my window, it feels like a good day to celebrate.
2 comments April 21, 2009
More On Africa
I’ve just finished reading The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (winner of the Best Book In Africa Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2007). I bought it while in South Africa, thinking it might offer me useful insight into the complex world of that beautiful country, and it did, to some extent, though of course there is a lifetime of learning to be done here.
The Native Commissioner is George Jameson, “deeply unsure of the morality of his work [during the early years of apartheid], but unable to escape it”. The novel is the story of his son, eight years old at the time of George’s death, piecing together a picture of his unknown father from papers in a box his mother has passed on to him.
There is a line in the novel about those white people who don’t seem to get that Africa is not just its wild animals and its dramatic landscapes; Africa is its people. It stood out among many great lines, perhaps in part because I had recently finished sorting through hundreds of photos taken in South Africa into “albums” – Kruger Wildlife, SA Plant Life, SA Scenery – knowing that different people will be interested in looking at different things. There’s also a SA Carver Family Connections album that I’ll send out to family, so maybe I’m not one of “those white people…”. Still, the line did give me pause.
I will go ahead, nonetheless, and offer up my South Africa albums for anyone interested in having a look.
Add comment April 13, 2009
The Bare Naked Talk
Who knew that talking about book censorship with university students (and assorted others) would be so much fun?
The room at St. Jerome’s in Waterloo was packed last night – a great start – and people responded with great laughter and affection to readings from a few of my books that have been deemed by some as ‘required reading’ and some as ‘inappropriate’ for their intended readership (101 Ways to Dance, Becoming Ruby, and yes, even The Bare Naked Book). They also responded with thoughtful and thought-provoking questions. And of course it was heartening to see all the books that Words Worth Books had brought to the event going home with future teachers, librarians, and family support workers.
Topping off the evening was a lovely, relaxed meal with two of my writer-friends from Waterloo, including Nan Forler whose first book, Bird Child, will be published this fall.
Freedom to Read Week is coming up soon. Find out about censorship issues, challenges to books in Canada, and events being planned in your community at the Freedom to Read website.
2 comments February 11, 2009
Kathy Stinson & Cornelia Oberlander Visit Crofton House
Imagine having the chance to meet the author of a biography you were reading, and the person the biography was about, too? That’s what happened for a group of Grade Six students in Vancouver on the last morning of my Book Week tour.
3 comments November 25, 2008
Children’s Book Week 2008 – A Few Highlights
Between November 17 and November 21 I met with roughly 900 kids and the many adults (teachers, librarians, and parents) who accompanied them to a total of 17 readings. Here are just a few moments from that week that I carry with me still, now that I’m home again.
1. When the bell rang to end my session with a group of Grade Eight students in Port Coquitlam, several approached me with their hands out. “Can we please just see how it ends?” I’d been reading from a short story in 101 Ways to Dance. (I’d waited till near the end of the session to introduce this book so I’d have a feel for the group and the teachers, and I could tell this was a book they’d welcome hearing about.) Eager to read how the game in “Chicken” would end, the students huddled together around my copy of the book so they could finish reading the story for themselves. As faster readers drifted away, others stepped in to take their places. Eventually one dark-haired teenage girl remained. The image of her bent over my book in that school library as she lost (or perhaps found) herself in something I’d written will most certainly help sustain me as I undertake revisions to my current ya novel in progress.
2. To a group of Grade Three kids, I was reading, in Seven Clues, the scene in which Matt’s elderly neighbour is introduced. “… His jowly cheeks pulled his mouth down in a permanent frown.” At this point, I glanced up and spotted a boy near the back of the room, his face contorted in a jowly frown, as he internalized the description he was hearing.
3. During a reading of A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It with Grade One students in Chilliwack, a lively discussion took place about all the things a tree can have in it. (Right after I read, “Can a tree have a cow in it? No. A tree can have a bird in it and a tree can have a swing in it.”) Those kids returned to their classrooms keen to get to work on writing their own books or making a big mural of all the clever things they thought of that a tree can have in it. (Or was that the group that got excited about all the things a muffin can have in it? It’s hard sometimes to keep all the groups straight!)
It’s a real treat to meet with readers as enthusiastic (and well mannered) as those I met during my BC (Vancouver & Lower Mainland) Book Week tour. Thanks Canadian Children’s Book Centre for sending me there!
Add comment November 25, 2008
Come See Me at “Word on the Street”
Yes, I’m back from summer holidays, have now moved house, and on Sunday I’ll be reading at Word on the Street in Toronto. Come find me there and you might even meet some of the inspiration for some of my books.
Add comment September 25, 2008
| Previous Posts |
RSS - Posts