Kobzar's Children

Danny's story featured in contemporary dance work

2011-02-02T00:30:00.000-08:00

Victoria dancer and choreographer Lori Hamar has produced a contemporary dance work, called Blood Line, based on the internment of Ukrainians during WWI.

Although she has Ukrainian blood herself, this was an event she knew nothing about. In the process of researching it, and her cultural heritage, she came across Kobzar's Children. She was touched by Danny's story, "Andriy's Break" which tells the story of an escapee from one of the internment camps. She then asked Marsha's permission to use spoken excerpts of it in her work, which debuted in Victoria last Sunday, January 30, 2011.

I had the honour of being invited to the performance to autography copies of the book, which were available for sale at the theatre. Since I now live on Vancouver Island, I gladly accepted!

See details and pix at my blog (here). Also a link to an interview with Lori which aired on Nash Holos the Sunday before.

Audio edition out

2008-01-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

An audio edition of Kobzar's Children: A Century of Untold Ukrainian Stories has been made for the CNIB.

To find the locations go here .

Kobzar's Children available in Winnipeg

2007-12-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

If you're in Winnipeg you can get a copy of Kobzar's Children at Sevala's Ukrainian Deli.

While you're there, pick up a dozen or two of perogies and/or cabbage rolls.

Just fair warning, tho ... don't leave it till the last minute!

2nd Ukrainian Canadian premier presented with copy of Kobzar's Children

2007-12-04T15:51:00.000-08:00

Last week I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the Premier of Alberta while on a trip to Edmonton.

Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to throw a few copies of Kobzar's Children in my suitcase before I left "just in case." Did they ever come in handy!

My hostess, Molly Anne Warring (author of Paradise Acres: The Stry-Ker Family Saga, Lost Paradiseand Return to Paradise) arranged the brief meeting and photo op with the Premier and his wife, Marie. (That's Molly next to Mrs. Stelmach and me next to the Premier.)

Premier Ed Stelmach, me (Pawlina), Molly Anne Warring, Mrs. Marie Stelmach

So, like the good but shameless self-promoter that I am, I whipped out a copy of the book and autographed it with my signature purple pen. In return, the Premier gave me a copy of a Ukrainian Christmas CD by the church choir he and his wife sing in (he sings bass and she sings soprano). Unfortunately, unlike when I gave a copy to BC's Premier Campbell last summer, I didn't have the presence of mind to get the book (or the CD) in the photo.

The visit was short but sweet. The Stelmachs are very hospitable and Alberta's Premier is every bit as warm and charming as BC's. What made this visit particularly thrilling is that Premier Stelmach is Alberta's first premier of Ukrainian descent, and he hadn't yet heard of the book. So the honour and pleasure of introducing him to Kobzar's Children: A Century of Untold Ukrainian Stories was all mine!

OK, now, someone better warn the premier of Saskatchewan. If there's a Ukrainian ancestor named Walchuk or Wollinsky or some such lurking in his past, I'll find out eventually! ;-)

(Cross-posted at the Nash Holos blog.)

Kobzar's Children available in Langley, BC

2007-11-07T23:00:00.001-08:00

Today I dropped off some copies of Kobzar's Children: A Century of Untold Ukrainian Stories for Judy at Prairie Cottage Perogies in Langley. If you're in the area, you can pick up a copy (or two!) there.

I've signed them so if you'd like to collect the autographs of all the contributors, you are already have a start!

BTW, if you haven't enjoyed Judy's cooking, you haven't lived. Get thee down to her fabulous little Ukrainian café for some of her hand-made perogies and other yummy dishes. And pick up a copy of Kobzar's Children while you're there!

Great as a Christmas gift ... along with a box of chocolates imported from Ukraine, or other goodies you'll find at Prairie Cottage Perogies!

What a combination - good food and good reading. Has to be Ukrainian!

World Storytelling Day in Vancouver

2007-03-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

Two of the BC authors of Kobzar's Children, Danny Evanishen and Steve Petelycky, will be among the storytellers at Vancouver's World Storytelling Day 2007. The theme is The Wanderer.

Dr. Natalie Kononenko, Kule Chair of Ukrainian Ethnography at the University of Alberta will be giving a workshop on Ukrainian Minstrels, and will also have her excellent book, Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing, available for purchase and autograph.

The event will be held on March 25, 2007 at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Centre, 3150 Ash St. Vancouver, starting at 1:00 p.m. with Dr. Kononenko's workshop.

Danny will be telling several Ukrainian folktales during the Children's Concert (beginning at 4 p.m.). During the evening Adults' Concert, at 7 p.m., Steve will recall his real-life experiences with UPA leading up to his imprisonment at Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps. He will be telling in Ukrainian, with a "team teller" providing the English version.

There will be copies of Kobzar's Children available for sale along with books and CDs of the event's various storytellers. More information in this e-zine and at this website.

Sonja Dunn

2007-02-25T11:38:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday, the UCPBA of Toronto hosted a book event for Kobzar's Children. Toronto contributor Sonja Dunn and I (Marsha Skrypuch) participated.

This was the first time that Sonja and I shared a launch and it was so much fun!

I chatted a bit about how the anthology came to be and then introduced Sonja. She held the audience captive as she read her story, Changing Graves.

Usually when I have done Kobzar events, contributors each only read a page or so from their story, but because it was just me and Sonja, I figured she should read her entire story. There isn't a good place to stop it and it's short and hilarious. The audience was in stitches.

Sonja has a fabulous presentation persona because she had her own TV show for 29 years. It was a pleasure to hear Changing Graves in the author's own voice.

I answered questions after her reading. There was an interesting and lively discussion.

The next event is in Hamilton at the end of March. Natalia Buchok and myself will be at that one.

Hardcover sold out

2007-02-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official. There is not a single hardcover copy of Kobzar's Children left in the Fitzhenry & Whiteside warehouse. Contributor Stefan Petelycky wanted to order a case of hardcovers, but there were only 7 left. He snapped those up and ordered the rest of the case in softcovers. There aren't many of those left either. I'm hoping when they reprint, they'll do it in both hard and soft.

Kobzar's Children on Ukrainian radio in Edmonton

2007-01-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Jan. 5, 2007 I spoke on with with Roman Brytan, host of the Ukrainian radio program on CKER Radio in Edmonton, about Kobzar's Children.

The interview took place about 6:15 p.m., Edmonton time. The programs are archived for 7 days on the station's website. If you'd like to hear the interview, go here .

We spoke in English. ;-)

Paulette

Cross-posted at Nash Holos.

Shevchenko monument stolen

2007-01-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

Read about it here.

Update: Part of the statue found at a smelter plant, and culprit has been found and charged. Details here and here.

Cross-posted at the UCCLA news blog. (Also info there on other recent thefts of Ukrainian monuments in Canada.)

Tale of two Kobzars

2006-12-23T10:34:00.001-08:00

CM online posted two reviews of Kobzar's Children yesterday. One, by teacher-librarian Gail Hamilton, was glowing -- 4 out of 4 stars. And the other, by an academic, trashed it -- 2 out of 4 stars.

I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Reviews by academics -- especially Ukrainian academics -- are finding fault because it's not what they expected, yet teacher-librarians and the general public are loving it because there hasn't been a book out like this before.

My goal in putting together this anthology was to get little-known incidents of Ukrainian and Canadian-Ukrainian history into story form and into the hands of the general public. History and story are the operative words here. I didn't want this to be an academic collection. I wanted it to be approachable by someone who had little or no prior knowledge about Ukrainian immigrants and their recent history. I wanted readers to be able to step into the shoes of these people.

The response I've had at readings and signings has been overwhelmingly positive. Ditto regarding the emails I've been getting. Most people tell me that their grandfather or their neighbour or friend is Ukrainian, and they're thrilled that there's a mainstream book of stories like this available. Here's an excerpt from a recent email I got:

"I have just now.. [read Kobzar's Children].. and have been so very moved and educated. I had absolutely no idea Ukrainian people had been treated so badly. I know that ..[my new daughter-in-law] and her siblings will also find it just so interesting and will help them understand the land and stories of their parents and ancestors.

I just wanted to let you know how much these books are enjoyed and appreciated. Thank you so very much for all your research, efforts, and hard work."

Here's another:

"Kobzar's Children knocked me out. Thank you so much for being part of bringing all this to light."

and another:

"Bravo !! You are so right. We Ukrainians have been stereotyped in the worst & negative way."

and another:

"I just finished reading Kobzar's Children, Well done, Humour, sadness and Ukranian history makes for a excellent read."

New website on pioneers

2006-12-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

For those who've read Kobzar's Children: A Century of Untold Ukrainian Stories and/or would like to learn more about Ukrainian Canadian pioneers, there's a brand-new and very nifty new website here!

Saskatoon!

2006-12-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

Saskatoon!
I flew in to Saskatoon on November 24th for a book event for Kobzar's Children that evening at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada. This was an amazing visit for so many reasons. The Ukrainian Museum of Canada is a phenomenal place. There are so many unique Canadian and Ukrainian artifacts that I could spend days there.

The museum also owns a large collection of William Kurelek original paintings and the Kobzar book event was held in the William Kurelek room. I had never seen a Kurelek up close and I was mesmerized by the minute detail. One could see the texture of every blade of grass and each wrinkle on every face. I could spend days in that room alone! William Kurelek grew up just miles from my father's childhood home and many of his paintings remind me of my father's stories about his childhood.

Added to this excitement was the fact that several of the anthology contributors were able to participate in the book event. Danny Evanishen came in from BC because the museum was holding a Christmas Yarmarok the same weekend. Danny has a number of Ukrainian folk tale collections through his own Ethnic Enterprises company. And his wife Jean makes beautiful Trypillian style pottery.

I had the opportunity to meet Larry Warwaruk for the first time at this event and was able to catch up with Linda Mikolayenko, who braved through a snow storm to get to Saskatoon.

Each contributor did a brief reading and gave some anecdotes about writing. Larry told a hilarious story about his first book launch. Linda was in her expressive storytelling mode and Danny was, well, Danny!

The room was packed to capacity. There were even people listening in from the hallway. The museum sold out of all the hardcovers of Kobzar's Children and most of the softcovers.

Here's a photo (above) of the contributors who participated. From left to right, Danny, Linda, Larry and me.

See you in Saskatoon!

2006-11-20T11:30:00.000-08:00

News Release:

Ukrainian Museum of Canada

910 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon SK

5 November 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHRISTMAS BELLS ARE RINGING . . .

We are pleased to announce that a Yarmarok (Christmas Bazaar) will be held in the Main Galleries of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada Friday, November 24 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. FREE ADMISSION

In Ukraine, the Yarmarok was the cultural hub of the community. People would travel from far and wide to peddler their wares, to visit with others and to share in the joy of the centuries old tradition of the artisan and farmers market. Join us for a Ukrainian Canadian market atmosphere with 25 different artisans and vendors, musicians, two book launches and Christmas carols.

Join us for a wine and cheese reception Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. when author Marsha Forchuk Skyrpuch will launch a new anthology of Ukrainian Canadian literature Kobzar’s Children. Several of the books contributors will also be present as will local musician Matthew Gruza. On Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. local author and choir director Stanislaw Hawryliw along with the Dibrova Seniors Choir and Mandolin ensemble will launch his new book Christmas Carols and Shchedrivky. At 2:30 p.m. the Children’s Choir from the Ukrainian bilingual program at Bishop Filevich School will perform and Danny Evanishen will story tell from his anthology of folk tales.

As an added feature, Marsha Forchuk Skyrpuch will give a one-hour writer’s workshop on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. The public is invited to pre-register for this workshop.

The new exhibition From Dust to Dust: the Life and Work of Peter Rupchan, a prairie potter’s story will be showing in the first gallery, and Ukrainian Pioneer Women by William Kurelek will show in the Special Collections Gallery.

We look forward to sharing this special season with you.

For further information, please call:

Janet Prebushewsky Danyliuk, Director

1-306-244-3800

directorumc@sasktel.net

link

Another lovely review

2006-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Linda came across this lovely (in fact, glowing!) review of Kobzar's Children. Here are some excerpts...

[The extermination of the kobzars] in the Stalinist purges was part of a systematic attempt to destroy Ukrainian history, and to some extent the Ukrainian people.

But stories are hard to silence, and history doesn’t always die with its keepers. New generations of historians have recovered the lost stories of their people and collected their efforts in Kobzar’s Children. ...

The one stylistic consistent is a brevity of language ... This economy of style and simplicity of language gives the collection an emotional force that would be lost in a more consciously picturesque narrative.

The memoirs avoid overt politicizing ... The stories insist only on being heard, without attempting to tell anyone how to feel; and so gain a great deal of power.

It would be easy for a collection full of stories about genocide, exploitation, and bigotry to be pessimistic, but Kobzar’s Children maintains an optimistic tone. ...

The book ends, fittingly, in the optimism of the Orange Revolution, when the people of Ukraine reclaimed their political future. Kobzar’s Children is the mirror of that effort, reclamation of the past, done with heart and hope and a surprising sense of humor.

Full review here.

Kobzar's Children almost sold out!

2006-10-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Marsha spoke with the publisher of Kobzar's Children today. She found out that the hardcover copies are almost all sold out, with few than 200 copies left. Wow!

The softcover is also selling well.

So if you were thinking of giving a hard-cover copy as a gift for Christmas, better hurry! Of course, soft cover copies also make fine gifts, and are a little less expensive. (Although $23 for a hardcover is certainly reasonable! The softcover is $15.)

If you can't find it in your local bookstore, ask them to order it in for you. It usually takes only a few days. (Call ahead and save yourself a trip.) This is actually a good thing to do, as it helps the bookstore staff know what books they should be displaying on their shelves.

You can also order online from the publisher or any online book vendor.

Lesley Simpson's fabulous Hamilton Spectator story

2006-10-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled when I opened up the Hamilton Spectator this morning and read this lovely profile piece about Michael Buchok, the real person behind Natalia Buchok's Kobzar's Children story, "A Bar of Chocolate." Check it out here.

Congratulations Natalia!

Kobzar's Children and Saskatoon!

2006-10-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Ukrainian Museum of Canada is hosting a launch for Kobzar's Children on Friday November 24th at 7pm. This will coincide with their Christmas Yarmarok. A Yarmarok is like a big bazaar with fabulous vendors from all over. There will be lots of traditional Ukrainian artisans there. I am looking forward to going to this event not only to launch Kobzar's Children in Saskatoon, but also to shop!

Danny Evanishen will also be there in a dual role. He and his lovely wife Jean have a booth at the Yarmarok. Danny has a fabulous variety of books that he has produced with his own publishing company, Ethnic Enterprises. Danny has done much to preserve Ukrainian pioneer stories and many other stories. I have a good collection of his books and am looking forward to picking up more.

Danny is also a contributor to Kobzar's Children, so he will be on hand for the launch as well.

I am also hoping that our two Saskatchewan contributors, Linda Mikolayenko and Larry Warwaruk will also be in attendance to participate in the launch.

On Saturday November 25th at 9am, I will do a presentation about the real people behind my Ukrainian stories. This will be held right at the Museum.

Kobzar's Children and Hamilton Ontario

2006-10-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I just found out that there will be a story on Kobzar's Children in the October 17th edition of the Hamilton Spectator! It will focus on the story behind Natalia Buchok's story, "A Bar of Chocolate". Natalia is originally from Hamilton, and her parents still live there. The story is a true one based on her father's experience as a teen in a displaced person's camp when he dressed up as a girl to go on a date with an American soldier in order to get a bar of chocolate.

Natalia and I will be signing copies of Kobzar's Children on October 22nd at the Ancaster Ontario Chapters from noon until 2.

Winnipeg Free Press Review

2006-10-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a review from today's Winnipeg Free Press.

I realize that writers have a tendency to hone in on the negative tidbits in reviews. That's natural, right? Overall, it's a good review but it really bugs me that the reviewer doesn't seem to realize that just because there were books in English on Ukrainian themes in Canada in the 1960s and 70s doesn't mean they were readily available. They were certainly not available at my local public library. In fact, I did not hear about Yellow Boots until I was in my late 20s. As for "transliteration" issues, the reviewer fails to realize that these are family stories. How a person chooses to spell their name is an individual choice. Her point about Brenda Hasiuk's story is also questionable. Has she read YA of late? This story is tame.

Kim Pawliw & plaque unveiling

2006-10-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

I was in Quebec City during the last week of September and had an opportunity to meet Kim Pawliw, the youngest contributor to Kobzar's Children: A Century of Untold Ukrainian Stories.

We were both on hand to witness the unveilings of plaques at two internment camp sites -- one at the Valcartier Military Base and the other at the Beauport Military Base. Kim was asked to read her poem at both plaque unveilings, and she also helped unveil at one of the sites.

The event was given extensive news coverage, including French language media interviews for Kim. Also, CBC am did a 14 minute story on Kim, her poem, and the internment of Ukrainians. The Montreal Gazette did an excellent story. And better yet, the Gazette story was reprinted in a number of newspapers across the country.

Here are the plaques.

Kobzar's Children in the news

2006-09-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am very pleased that several of the Kobzar contributors are being interviewed by their local papers about their anthology stories. I was interviewed by the Brantford Expositor a few weeks ago. Elizabeth Yates did a fabulous story on both Kobzar's Children and Aram's Choice.

The Hamilton Spectator has been interviewing Natalia Buchok about her story, A Bar of Chocolate. And the Montreal Gazette has interviewed Kim Pawliw, the teen who wrote a touching poem about her grandmother who was interned as a toddler as an enemy alien during WWI. I can hardly wait to see those stories in print!

Bloor West Ukrainian Festival and CFRB

2006-09-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

From August 21 to 25, I was plunged into the midst of Brantford's 3rd annual children's Book Camp and also our first annual adult Book Camp. By Friday, I was exhausted -- in a good way. The week was an outstanding success. Our best Book Camp yet.

Instead of resting after such a busy week, on August 26th, I signed at the Bloor West Festival. I was honoured that the Festival featured Kobzar's Children. It seemed that every 15 minutes or, the announcers broadcast the fact that Kobzar's Children had a booth and that I was there as well as Natalia Buchok, one of the anthology contributors.

Natalia and I decided to get there together. We wanted to arrive at about noon, so I drove to Natalia's Oakville apartment, arriving at 11am and from there we drove to the Kipling subway station. We figured there was no point in driving into Toronto, seeing as the parade was from 11am til noon and roads would be closed. Natalia brought some books with her -- 35 to be exact -- because the organizers only had about 100 copies and we were afraid of running out. Natalia fit her 35 copies into a rolling suitcase.

When you travel with a rolling suitcase, you find out all sorts of things about the public transit system. Like where the elevators are (and that there are elevators) and that it's impossible to roll a suitcase through the subway turnstiles.

So we got there. Our booth was supposed to be at the corner of Bloor and Glendowynne Streets. We got there just before noon. We saw a booth, but it was abandoned. We also noticed that the Festival stopped at Kennedy -- a full block east of where we were supposed to be.

So, with rolling suitcase in hand, we fought our way through the crowds, looking for someone (anyone!) identified as a Festival volunteer. We got to almost what we thought was the end of the festival before finally landing upon the Festival volunteer booth. There we met Natalia Wilson, volunteer extraordinaire. She explained to us that she was not happy with the placement of our booth and was waiting for a new booth location. No sooner had I used the portapotty and Natalia had purchased a plate of perogies than Natalia W and another volunteer led us down the street to the new location. I felt sorry for the other volunteer. He had a cart filled with boxes of books (and also Natalia B's rolling luggage) and he had to maneuvre it through dense crowds and heaving sidewalks. He valiantly pushed forward until Natalia Wilson found the ideal spot -- at Durie and Bloor, immediately to the east of the children's midway and close to the centre of the whole festival!

I stood there with the boxes and Natalia B's suitcase (Natalia was still struggling down the street, perogies in hand) while Natalia W went to find a table and accoutrements for our booth. In the meantime, I stood there with the boxes, feeling like a street hawker. I did get some interesting stares, so I took out one copy of Kobzar's Children and held it in front of me, smiling like an idiot.

Once the table arrived, in a flash, Natalia W got the tablecloth on, the display up and books spread. Within moments, clusters of people arrived. We had a steady cluster til after 4. In fact, neither Natalia B nor I even got a chance to sit down for the whole four hours because it was so busy!

In the midst of our signings, Melanie Melnyk fetched us to be interviewed at the CFRB booth with Ted Woloshyn. What a lovely man! Natalia B had never done live radio before and he put her immediately at ease. He asked intelligent and perceptive questions about the anthology and commented on the fact that such a collection was needed. And then Natalia had an opportunity to talk about her story contribution, based on her father's experience in a DP camp after World War II.

Natalia's story is fabulous. It's called A Bar Of Chocolate and is about a Ukrainian teen in a DP camp who dresses as a girl and goes on a date with an American soldier in order to get some chocolate. Not only is the story true, but it's hilarious.

Many people came to our booth and many had already read Kobzar's Children. Those people had lots of enthusiastic good things to say about the collection. This was Natalia's first signing experience, so I was glad that it was such a positive one. We also sold every book in Natalia's suitcase and almost all of the others on hand.

One problem we had was that both Natalia and I wanted to sign our names plus "Enjoy!" so we had a bit of a contest to see who could grab the book and sign first. Whoever got it second signed "best wishes".

On the Sunday, Connie Bilinsky and Sonja Dunn signed. I heard that their signing was also very well received.

Marsha Skrypuch
blog
website

RCI interview now archived

2006-08-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

That interview on RCI that aired on August 6 can be found here. It starts at about the 13:00 mark, right after a musical selection.

It felt a bit weird being on the other side of the mic, but I survived! Luba also interviewed Danny Evanishen who spoke in English. She also talked a bit about Marsha and gave a nice overview of the book.

If you get the chance, give it a listen!

Or tune in to Ottawa's Ukrainian radio program this weekend ... host Irena Bell will be rebroadcasting the segment Friday Aug 25 at 10 p.m. EST and Saturday Aug 26 at 8 a.m. EST. If you're not in the Ottawa listening area, you can catch it live on the internet.

Paulette

Radio audiences in Ukraine to learn about Kobzar's Children

2006-08-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Just got an email from Luba Demko of Radio Canada International ... a few weeks ago she'd interviewed several contributors to Kobzar's Children, including me.

The material about the anthology (including interview) will be broadcast this Sunday August 6 (12:00 Montreal time).