Canadian Author, and a Kobzar?

Each new Canadian arrives here with some experience of the ancestral, the cultural, language and traditions of another home - an older world. Leaving the older world gives way for exciting synergistic energies, the melding of old and new, the fusion of ideas that draw the world to our shores.

Perhaps it is too early in the evolutionary curve to see the unique trajectory Canada's culture is taking, however some subtle hints can be gleaned. Ideas like the rule of law, ethical standards, younger economies, respect for nature and care for her health all have some resonance.  Some of these values are cumulatively different from the lives in ancestral homelands, but the older lands are also deep wells of accumulated wisdom.

Thank heavens for the Ukrainian experience of of Taras Shevchenko - Ukraine's Great Kobzar (bard). Twice recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural leader - his work continues to be a beacon of truth and hope. Reading Taras Shevchenko's poetry, whether in English or in the original Ukrainian is such a grounding experience. The words written over a hundred fifty years ago still ring true. Learn, he says, all the languages of the world, and get to understand people around you! Learn from their wisdom! Look forward and plan using these things you have learned, but always remember whence you came - and whisper a thank you, acknowledge those whose steps led you here.

Because of this terrific perspective, the Ukrainian community has for 8 years running, honoured Canadian writers who have used the Ukrainian Canadian experience in their literary work, with a Kobzar Literary Award. Who are are these Canadian bards - kobzari?

Larissa Andrysyshyn wrote Mammoth (2010)- a debut collection of poems celebrating life and loss, tragedy and beauty. 

Rhea Tragebov wrote about the sometimes difficult immigrant/emigration process in Knife Sharpener's Bell: A Novel (2009).

Shandi Mitchell's Under the Broken Sky is an engaging read about Canadian pioneers, farm life, survival and loss.

Myrna Kostash's strong voice in depicting the Ukrainian Canadian experience is again taking us on an epic journey through the Prodigal Daughter: A Journey to Byzantium.

Myroslav Shkrandrij's Jews in Ukrainian Literature is a refreshingly warmer assessment of this interesting relationship.

So here is a recommendation for the reader on your Christmas list. Try these nominees, or opt for the winner of the 2012 Kobzar Literary Award - Shandi Mitchell's Under the Broken Sky. At least you know what is on my list for the holidays!

Giving Thanks

Breaking bread, communing with friends and family, we take this opportunity to give thanks.  Thanks, for the plenty on our tables; thanks, for living in a place of confidence, optimism and economic opportunity; thanks, for angels among us who teach, heal, serve, give generously, witness, and pray; thanks, for times to hope and dream, to love.  Calgary has much to celebrate this Thanksgiving. Vibrant Ukrainian programs for young people, Ukrainian dancing, culture programs, language classes, social club, spiritual homes to choose from, and purposeful opportunities to make a difference - it is hard not to see the lovely life we have created here.

Ukraine is, at this moment, facing tough decisions about its future.  While the diaspora may grumble about the weather and politics, people in the ancestral homeland have lived with less optimism.  One indicator is the fact that so many new immigrants from Ukraine have assertively sought to establish themselves in Calgary's cradle of economic opportunity.  They are glad to be here, glad to contribute to Canada, glad to receive the gifts of good education, health, economic freedoms, that lack at home.  We can collectively acknowledge that, though life here isn't perfect, and it may be human nature to complain, every now and then we should open our eyes, take an opportunity to speak to the new people to our city, and ask the interesting questions.  Given the choices, why here?

In the summer I had a chat with my friend Bohdanna from Montreal.  Understanding my love of reading she recommended a new book. Recently I picked it up, Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder.  It's not an easy read, but an excellent one.  Snyder carefully explains the many twists and turns that have befallen the Ukrainian (and other) ancestral homelands this past century.  And in trying to fathom the deeds, the mindset of those people who dominated Ukrainian history in the 1900's, who wickedly imposed inhuman, beastily tactics to shape the world in a manner to benefit the few and bereft the many, to....I am at a loss for words.  The English language simply doesn't have a sufficiently descriptive word to describe this evil.  Perhaps our level of morality dictates that such a word not exist. My curious mind wants to understand how and why...... 

How fortunate to live here, and now!  Ukraine will choose its path forward, in elections later this October,  while its Calgary diaspora lovingly gazes upon our families, generously sharing the good fortune that comes of sober thinking, serious consideration, and wise choices.  GIVING THANKS!