The Writer as Traveler and the Gift of Prismatic Vision: An Interview with Stephanie McKenzie, by Tom Halford

Interviews   Photo by Sonette Watt Stephanie McKenzie is a poet and scholar who works for the English Programme at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her scholarly work has traced the flourishing of Indigenous literature in Canada during the 1960s and 1970s, undoubtedly contributing to the growing interest in studies of Indigenous authors. In 2007 she published Before the Country: Native Renaissance, Canadian Mythology with the University of Toronto Press, which has since been reprinted in 2019. In this text, McKenzie argues that Indigenous work needs to be understood on its own terms and that scholarly care needs to be given to the aesthetics and the languages of Indigenous authors. While her scholarly work has advanced consideration of underrepresented figures in Canada, her creative explorations have involved field work outside of the country. In order to write Bow’s Haunt: The Gusle’s Lessons (2018), McKenzie traveled to Serbia and lived there to study the gusle, an instrument that is integral to epic poetry. In Saviours in This Little Space for Now (2013), McKenzie explores the work and the lives of Emily Carr and Vincent van Gogh, tying threads together between these two disparate artists. Identity for McKenzie shifts and changes, but ultimately people are more connected than they might first appear to be. In Grace Must Wander (2009) and Cutting My Mother’s Hair (2006), she begins to explore these... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-09 21:39:45 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "The Writer as Traveler and the Gift of Prismatic Vision: An Interview with Stephanie McKenzie, by Tom Halford"


Review: Larry Elder complained we'd never reviewed his books. So we did, like it or not

David Ulin read four of the recall candidate's books, from the jeremiad "Showdown" to the memoir "A Lot Like Me," and found not a writer but a brand. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-08 13:00:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Three Girls from Bronzeville’ is a story about growing up on Chicago’s South Side — and so much more

Dawn Turner’s memoir gives a tutorial of urban decay, White privilege, poor city planning and the influence of fads and digital advances on Black urban teenagers. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hayley Mills became a Disney darling at 12. Her new memoir recalls how it went from there.

In ‘Forever Young,’ the 75-year-old actress opens up about life before and after ‘The Parent Trap’ Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Emma Gannon | 'I really want to us to fight back against the algorithm of life'

Five years ago, when in her late twenties, Emma Gannon released her first book: Ctrl Alt Delete: How I Grew Up Online. It’s a funny and thoughtful memoir which charts her formative experiences on the internet as a Millennial woman born in the same year as the World Wide Web. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-03 14:05:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A memoir that finds dignity in troubled people and places

Shawna Kay Rodenberg recounts her childhood in a religious sect and in rural Kentucky. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-03 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lessons to Learn From the Kate Clanchy Memoir Fiasco

Why did author Kate Clanchy get an opportunity to rewrite a memoir others called out as racist and ableist? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-09-03 10:34:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of September 6, 2021

A memoir from Congressman Jamie Raskin goes to Harper, Penguin signs Coll’s last Afghanistan book, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Between Grief and Fighting for Survival with Kat Chow

At Ploughshares, Kat Chow discusses Seeing Ghosts, her memoir that examines grief and sorrow through the lens of three generations of her Chinese-American family. “I’ve always been drawn to writing about the body—our physical selves and how they reflect our inner lives—and how our bodies are an... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2021-09-02 20:30:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How 'Parent Trap''s Hayley Mills survived kid stardom, bulimia and losing her Disney money

Hayley Mills, star of 'Pollyanna' and 'The Parent Trap,' is now 75 and has written a memoir about her life as a child actor under Walt Disney's watchful eye. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-02 13:00:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Misha and the Wolves review – Holocaust hoax doc plays like thriller

This film about Misha Defonseca, author of a ‘memoir’ about escaping the Nazis and sheltering with wolves as a child, is propulsively watchable“Sometimes a story is so astonishing it’s unbelievable.” So said a Massachusetts radio presenter in the 90s, introducing Misha Defonseca, a local Jewish... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-09-02 06:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘The Last Nomad’: Somali refugee, soccer mom, and everything in between

Shugri Said Salh’s memoir strives for an accurate – rather than sensationalized or simplified – account of growing up in, and then fleeing, Somalia. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2021-08-30 19:15:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


For ‘Unorthodox’ fans, Deborah Feldman’s new memoir offers intriguing update

“Exodus, Revisited” offers new insights about a woman’s break from her Hasidic community. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-28 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Donald Newlove, 93, Dies; Novelist Explored the Depths of Drink

His acclaimed fiction and a memoir had a common theme: alcoholism. After becoming sober, he called his former besotted muse “Drunkspeare.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-08-28 11:13:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: August 27, 2021

“By the time I was born, the city had been conquered thrice, by the British, the Japanese, and the military junta. Three enemies to symbolize the three torments of the mind.” Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint on war, reincarnation, and the changing names of Myanmar. | Lit Hub Memoir Jeffrey Webb revisits... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-08-27 10:30:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: Masterful memoirist Deborah Levy finds an empty nest of her own

Levy's memoir trilogy concludes with "Real Estate," pondering happiness and a new kind of home. Unlike Rachel Cusk, she keeps herself in the picture. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-08-24 15:00:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Kat Chow on How Mourning Is Like Taxidermy

In her memoir “Seeing Ghosts,” the author recounts her mother’s death and her immigrant family’s numerous migrations, separations and losses, evoking the way grief entails a particular, perpetual sorrow. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-08-24 09:00:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperCollins Ireland scoops memoir by warden of Skellig Michael

HarperCollins Ireland has scooped a "unique" memoir by the warden of Skellig Michael, a remote Irish island. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-22 23:51:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


James Whiteside isn’t a typical ballet star, and his memoir isn’t a typical ballet story

The American Ballet Theatre star has written a thoughtful collection of essays that gives readers insight into what it means to defy categorization. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-19 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Swan Dive’ gives voice to every suspicion you may harbor about professional ballet

Georgina Pazcoguin’s biting memoir is full of melodrama. It also has an important message. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-19 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bodley Head acquires Werner Herzog memoir in two-book deal

The Bodley Head has acquired two titles from German filmmaker and storyteller Werner Herzog, including a memoir.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-18 19:49:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this